Current Affairs

72nd National Film Awards announced; Yami Gautam wins best actress award for Article 370

Hindi film Article 370 has won the Best Film Award in the 72nd National Film Awards. Announcing the awards today in New Delhi this evening, Chairman of Jury (Feature Film) Jayaraj said Mammooty and Kartik Aryan have won the National Film Awards in the Best Actor category for their movies Bramayugam and Chandu Champion. He said Yami Gautam will be given the Best Actress award for her performance in the film Article 370.

Chairman of Jury (Non-Feature Film) Asim Kumar Sinha said, Bhangaaar directed by Sumira Roy has bagged the Best Non-Featuring Film Award. The best short film is Hamasafar in Marathi. He said the Best Direction Award will be given to Anand L Rai for Statue of Unity-Ekta Ka Prateek.

Best Film Critic award will be given to Sanjeev Srivastava. The award for best writing on Cinema will be given to K. Pradeep Kumar Shetty for his Kannada Book Naaniruvude Nimagaagi Naadiruvude Nanagaagi Kannada Cinemaada Thathva matthu Rajakeeya.



Spain beat Argentina to win World Cup

Describing a result as a 'victory for football' might seem like a trite cliche - but you won't find many neutrals disagreeing with that description of Spain's win in the 2026 World Cup final.

When Ferran Torres slammed in the extra-time winner, and Rodri lifted the trophy high in New Jersey, it is hard to imagine many will have had sympathy for Argentina.

Spain triumphed in a battle of endurance, for players and spectators, to beat the Argentines and win their second men's World Cup.

On every football metric - and, some would say, morality too - this was the right result.

"There is no doubt that the right team won," former England captain Alan Shearer said on BBC One. "From start to finish, Spain controlled possession. They were the ones looking to play football, create chances and get in behind.



Indian-Origin Tech Executive Uday Ruddaraju Named OpenAI's CTO Of Compute

OpenAI has promoted Indian-origin tech executive Uday Ruddaraju to the role of Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of Compute, just a year after he joined the company from Elon Musk's xAI. Announcing the news on LinkedIn, Ruddaraju reflected on his first year at OpenAI, calling it an incredibly rewarding experience. He said his team had focused on rapidly expanding the computing infrastructure needed to train increasingly advanced AI models.

According to Ruddaraju, the compute team spent the past year bringing massive new computing capacity online while building systems for networking, storage, and machine learning that power frontier AI models, including GPT-5.6.



All 4 students from Team India won Gold Medals at the 58th International Chemistry Olympiad, Tashkent, Uzbekistan

India performed exceptionally well at the 58th International Chemistry Olympiad (IChO) 2026 held in Tashkent, Uzbekistan from 10 to 19 July 2026, with all four students bagging gold medals!

The students were:
Debadatta Priyadarshi (GOLD) from Bhubaneshwar, Odisha
Harshit Singla (GOLD) from Mandi Gobindgarh, Punjab
Kabeer Chillar (GOLD) from Delhi
Sandeep Kuchi GOLD) from Hyderabad, Telangana

There were four Jury Members from India: Prof. Subhajit Bandyopadhyay as Head Mentor, Dr. Indrani Sen (HBCSE, Mumbai) as Mentor, Dr. Anubendu Adhikary (IIT Kharagpur) and Dr. Jayasree Gopalakrishnan (NES Ratnam College of Arts, Science and Commerce, Mumbai) as Scientific Observers.

In the country-wise medals tally, India was placed at the first position, jointly with China, Vietnam, and Individual Participants Group B (from Russia). This year's IChO had 363 students from 93 countries, making it the biggest IChO till date. This is India's best performance in IChO with the first-ever all-gold haul!



Bangladesh-US army begins "EXERCISE TIGER LIGHTNING (TL)-2026" in Sylhet

The opening ceremony of 'Exercise Tiger Lightning (TL)-2026' was held at the Para Commando Brigade in Jalalabad Cantonment, Sylhet on Sunday, with the joint participation of the Bangladesh Army and the United States Army Pacific Command (USARPAC), the Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) said in a statement.

The ceremony was attended by the US Ambassador to Bangladesh, Brent T. Christensen and the Chief of General Staff of the Bangladesh Army, Lieutenant General Md Mainur Rahman, OSP, SUP, awc, psc, who was present as the senior representative of the Bangladesh Army.



PM Modi flags off India’s first Hydrogen train in Jind

Prime Minister Narendra Modi today flagged off India’s first hydrogen-powered train between Jind and Sonipat at Jind railway station in Haryana. The Prime Minister also laid the foundation stone and dedicated development projects worth around 14,700 crore rupees, including National Highway projects including Delhi-Amritsar-Katra Expressway, which will reduce travel time between Delhi and Katra to about six hours. Addressing the gathering, Prime Minister Modi said Indian Railways has undergone a major transformation over the past twelve years and described the hydrogen train as a historic milestone that has given Jind a special place in India’s history. Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini and Railway Minister Ashwani vaishnav were also present on this occasion. Speaking on the occasion, Railways Minister Vaishnaw called the launch of the country’s first hydrogen-powered train a historic achievement, saying it reflects India’s resolve to develop indigenous hydrogen technology.

Among the projects, Prime Minister Modi dedicated to the nation include a 157.92 km four lane fully access controlled Delhi Amritsar Katra Expressway developed at a cost of around rupees 9680 crore rupees. The Prime Minister also dedicated to the nation the 33.81 kilometer long four lane partially access controlled Ambala-Kala Amb highway on NH- 7 and NH-344. Another project was the 40-60 km long Jind -Gohana Greenfield highway on NH-352A.



Small rivers need distinct conservation strategy, says NMCG draft framework

The National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) on Friday unveiled a draft framework for rejuvenating small rivers, saying they require a distinct approach from large river conservation programmes such as Namami Gange.

The draft Small River Rejuvenation (SRR) Framework was presented at a national workshop attended by experts, scientists, government officials, researchers, representatives of state governments and civil society organisations.

Delivering the keynote address, NMCG Director General Rajeev Kumar Mital said the challenges facing small rivers are fundamentally different from those confronting medium and large rivers and, therefore, require a separate template for their rejuvenation.



Exercise Pitch Black 2026: India’s Rafale fighter aircraft & C-17 arrive in Australia for air combat exercise

India’s Rafale fighter aircraft and C-17 transport aircraft have reached Australia to participate in the Royal Australian Air Force’s premier multinational air combat exercise, Pitch Black 2026. The deployment marks another step in expanding defence cooperation between India and Australia.

The High Commission of India in Canberra announced the arrival of the Indian Air Force contingent in a social media post. The contingent comprises four Rafale fighter aircraft, two C-17 transport aircraft and over 120 Air Warriors.

The High Commission said the deployment reflects India’s commitment to strengthening defence partnerships and enhancing operational coordination with friendly countries. It said the Indian Air Force personnel will train alongside their counterparts from participating nations over the next three weeks.



India's first and deepest geothermal wells commissioned in Ladakh’s Puga Valley

In a major boost to India's clean energy mission, the country's first and deepest geothermal wells were commissioned at Puga Valley in the Union Territory of Ladakh on Friday.

The two geothermal wells, executed by the ONGC Energy Centre, were commissioned by Ladakh Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena.

The wells are critical to the implementation of the 1 MW pilot geothermal power project at Puga, which will be India's first demonstration-scale geothermal power project.

“The commissioning of the two 1000-metre-deep wells, at a high altitude of over 14,000 feet, would significantly advance Ladakh's journey towards becoming a clean energy hub, powered by renewable sources, as envisaged by Prime Minister Narendra Modi,” Saxena said.



India gets a new rocket: Skyroot's Vikram-1 performs textbook launch on first try

India's private space sector reached a defining milestone on Saturday as Skyroot Aerospace successfully launched Vikram-1, the country's first privately developed orbital-class rocket, from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC-SHAR) in Sriharikota.

The rocket not only aced the launch but also satellite deployment, with all four stages performing nominally on first attempt.

The landmark mission, named Mission Aagaman, marks the arrival of Indian private industry into the orbital launch business, placing the country among a select group where commercial companies have independently developed and launched orbital rockets