Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Bhupender Yadav, today delivered India’s National Statement at the High-Level Segment of the 17th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD COP-17) in Yerevan, Armenia.

He reaffirmed India’s commitment to conserving biodiversity and strengthening collective efforts to live in harmony with nature.

Yadav emphasized that the implementation of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework must align with national priorities, circumstances, and legislation, and should be supported by adequate and predictable finance, capacity building, and technology transfer from developed countries.

Indian Olympic Association (IOA) president PT Usha today congratulated Indian para-athletes for their record-breaking performance at the Asian Para Games 2026 in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan, where India finished fourth with 114 medals. India secured 30 gold, 35 silver and 49 bronze medals, surpassing its previous best of 108 medals at the 2023 edition in Hangzhou, China.

In a post on social media, Usha praised the athletes for their determination and hard work, while acknowledging the contribution of coaches and support staff to the team’s achievement. Para-athletics led India’s medal tally with 65 medals, followed by para-badminton with 16 and para-swimming with 11.

Among the standout performers, Sumit Antil defended his gold in men’s javelin throw, while Simran Sharma won gold in both the women’s 100m and 200m T12 events, setting Games records in both races. Shooter Mona Agarwal also claimed gold in the women’s 50m rifle three positions SH1 event.

In Tennis, India’s top-ranked doubles player, Yuki Bhambri, with his American partner Ryan Seggerman, clinched the Almaty Open title in Kazakhstan today. The fourth-seeded Indo-American pair defeated top seeds Lucas Miedler and Neil Oberleitner of Austria 7-6, 6-7, 10-2 in the final of ATP 250 tournament. The victory marks Bhambri’s first ATP Tour title of the 2026 season and the fifth doubles title of his career on the ATP Tour. The 34-year-old had previously won ATP 250 titles in Mallorca in 2023, Gstaad and Munich in 2024, and the ATP 500 Dubai tournament in 2025. 

India is seeking South Korean expertise in shipbuilding, manufacturing and maritime technology as it works towards becoming one of the world's top five shipbuilding nations by 2047, Union Shipping Minister Sarbananda Sonowal said on October 25, as reported by PTI.

Beginning a four-day visit to South Korea, Sonowal called on Indian professionals working in the country's shipbuilding industry to help strengthen domestic shipyards, improve productivity and develop a skilled maritime workforce.

The minister's visit comes six months after India and South Korea adopted the VOYAGES framework to expand cooperation in shipbuilding, shipping and maritime logistics.

The Centre plans to build a 10,000-strong workforce of medical and allied healthcare professionals for de-addiction services by 2029 as part of its goal of achieving a Nasha Mukt Bharat, Union Health Minister JP Nadda said on Monday.

Launching a capacity-building programme for healthcare professionals engaged in drug de-addiction services, Nadda said the ministry aims to train 2,000 service providers in the current financial year, followed by 3,000 in 2027-28 and 5,000 in 2028-29.

The programme aims to improve access to evidence-based, patient-centred addiction care and strengthen the prevention, identification, assessment, treatment and management of substance use disorders.

The 61st Meeting of the International Committee of Legal Metrology commenced in New Delhi today. For the first time, India is hosting this international meeting, bringing together delegates, senior officials and technical experts from across the world to advance cooperation in measurement standards, consumer protection and fair trade.

Addressing the gathering, Consumer Affairs Secretary Nidhi Khare emphasised that accurate and internationally harmonised measurements are fundamental to fair trade, consumer confidence, industrial innovation and economic growth. Highlighting India’s commitment to consumer protection alongside ease of doing business, the Secretary referred to the Jan Vishwas reforms of 2023 and 2026.

She said that these reforms have introduced measures such as decriminalisation of specified offences, improvement notices and graded penalties, promoting a more proportionate and business-friendly regulatory framework while retaining essential consumer safeguards. She highlighted the expansion of Government Approved Test Centres to augment verification capacity and the development of the e-Maap National Portal to provide integrated digital services in legal metrology.

India and Canada today held the inaugural meeting of the India-Canada Migration and Mobility Dialogue in New Delhi. The meeting was co-chaired by Secretary (Consular, Passport, Visa and Overseas Indian Affairs) in the External Affairs Ministry Sripriya Ranganathan and Deputy Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship of Canada, Ted Gallivan.

During the meeting, the two sides signed the Terms of Reference for the Dialogue and reaffirmed their shared conviction that people are the strongest bridge between India and Canada. Discussions also focused on the mobility of students, skilled workers, professionals and business visitors as well as cooperation on migration management. The next meeting of the dialogue will be held in Canada.

Tata Communications will invest close to $450 million to build a 10,000-km high-speed fibre network connecting India's artificial intelligence (AI) data centre corridors and key business hubs, as the company looks to meet growing demand for connectivity from cloud providers and enterprises.

The company disclosed the investment in a stock exchange filing on Monday, October 26, saying the proposed expansion would add around 6 petabits per second (Pbps) of network capacity. The additional capacity is planned to be added between FY2030 and FY2036.

The investment will be funded through operating cash flows, according to the filing submitted to the National Stock Exchange (NSE) and BSE.

In a significant push to retain experienced and talented judges at the grassroots, the Supreme Court on Monday expressed it a satisfaction with the fact that 14 states have consented to raise the retirement age of district judicial officers from 60 to 62 years.

The Bench of the Supreme court, headed by the CJI Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul M. Pancholi, however, firmly shut the door on individual judges rushing to the apex court for personal extension.

Refusing urgent listing of pleas by judges who are about to demit office at 60 or have just retired, the CJI also clarified that "This pertains to the persuasive jurisdiction of this court. The issue is between the Supreme Court and the states."

Renowned Indian painter and former Rajya Sabha member Jogen Chowdhury has passed away at the age of 87. He breathed his last at a private hospital in Kolkata this morning following a prolonged illness. Chowdhury used to be considered as One of India’s most celebrated contemporary artists. Born in Faridpur, now in Bangladesh, in 1939, he moved to Kolkata after Partition.

He studied at the Government College of Art and Craft in Kolkata and later got training from Paris. He received the Kalidas Samman in 2001 and also served as Keeper of Art at Rashtrapati Bhavan and as a professor at Kala Bhavana, Visva-Bharati University, Santiniketan. Apart from his artistic career, he was active in public life and represented West Bengal in the Rajya Sabha as a Trinamool Congress member from 2014 to 2020.