Less than a month after she became the youngest Woman Grandmaster (WGM) in history, 11-year-old Bodhana Sivanandan became the youngest woman to earn the International Master (IM) title. In becoming the youngest female International Master at the age of 11 years, seven months, and 16 days, Bodhana broke the female age record held by chess legend Judit Polgar since 1988.

In overall charts, the Indian-origin British chess prodigy is now the seventh youngest player (male or female) to become an International Master. In terms of ranks of youngest International Masters in chess history, Bodhana (ranked 7th) is behind Javokhir Sindarov (ranked 6th) by a month while pipping Gukesh (ranked 9th) in the youngest IM ranks.

The Assam Cabinet has approved a Rs 300 crore investment proposal by the Welspun Group to establish an industry at Rangia in Kamrup district, a project expected to generate employment for 300 people, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma announced on Thursday.

Addressing the press conference, sharing key decisions and important developments from today’s cabinet meeting, he said, "The Assam cabinet has today approved an investment proposal. Welspun Group will establish an industry at Rangia in Kamrup district with a cost of Rs 300 crore. 300 people will get recruitment in this industry."

The Chief Minister also announced that the state government will institute the Dr Bhupen Hazarika National Award, with singer Usha Mangeshkar selected as its first recipient.

India’s Paralympic and World champion Sumit Antil added another feather to his cap as he defended his Asian Para Games gold medal by clinching the top prize in the Men’s Javelin Throw F42–F44/F61–F64 at the Nagoya City Mizuho Park Athletic Stadium, Nagoya on Friday.

Antil won his second gold at the continental showpiece with a huge 72.46m throw in the final, while India swept the podium places. Mahendra Gurjar (F42) and Sandip Sargar (F44) brought the silver and bronze medals.

Mahendra hurled the spear to 59.03m and collected 1066 Raza points, while Sandip achieved a distance of 64.48m and accumulated 1006 Raza points. Both the athletes broke the Games record in their categories.

The Raza point system is a mathematical way to compare and rank athletes from different disabilities on a fair and level playing field.

Lionel Messi received Spain's most prestigious sports award on Friday in recognition of his glittering career and his work for disadvantaged children's access to health and education.

The Argentine forward, 39, was named winner of the Princess of Asturias Award for Sports in June, with the jury hailing "the most successful footballer of all time" and his social work.

Dozens of fans wearing Argentina football shirts cheered and chanted Messi's name as he arrived to the sound of bagpipes and drums at the ceremony in Oviedo, capital of the northern Spanish region of Asturias.

Messi collected a formal roll of parchment from Princess Leonor, the heir to the Spanish throne after whom the awards are named, who lauded his "unique career".

Mysuru’s Dasara celebrations reached a new milestone when 3,473 drones lit up the night sky to create a giant dancing peacock. The display took place on October 18 at the Torchlight Parade Ground in Bannimantap, Mysuru, and earned a Guinness World Records title.

The show brought together modern technology and Karnataka’s rich culture, with the peacock, India’s national bird, taking centre stage. The colourful display was organised as part of the annual festival and added a new highlight to the city’s celebrations.

Thousands Of Drones Create A Record-Breaking Peacock

The Chamundeshwari Electricity Supply Corporation Limited (CESC) organised the show, while Delhi-based BotLab Dynamics handled the drone display.

According to reports, the team created the largest aerial display of a bird using multirotor drones. BotLab Dynamics, a company incubated at IIT Delhi, shared a video of the display on Instagram. The footage showed the peacock taking shape in the sky, with its colourful feathers appearing to move as the drones changed positions in sync.

Defence Secretary RK Singh on Friday said that the Ministry of Defence (MoD) is working with the AI Mission to develop a dedicated military layer, offering secure domestic computing infrastructure for decision-making support, target acquisition and data fusion, leading to a sensor-to-shooter loop.

In a fireside chat at a KPMG event, Singh also said that the Ministry would piggyback on companies already working with the AI Mission to develop an AI layer for the military and sustain technological sovereignty in such critical capability domains.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to undertake a two-hour visit to Odisha on October 25 to inaugurate the Reserve Bank of India's Rs 169-crore data centre on the outskirts of Bhubaneswar, officials said on Friday.

According to the tentative itinerary shared by the chief secretary's office, PM Modi is scheduled to land at Biju Patnaik International Airport here around 4.30 pm aboard a special Indian Air Force aircraft.

From the airport, the PM will take a helicopter to Khurda helipad and then proceed by road to the RBI facility at Info Valley-II in Jatni for the inauguration ceremony.

He is likely to spend an hour at the RBI's data centre and return to Bhubaneswar by road before departing the state around 6.30 pm, according to the itinerary.

Green baize baron Pankaj Advani of India came up with a splendid display to outclass Robert Hall of England 1906-1206 in the final of the WBL World Billiards Championships at Great Wyrley, England, late on Thursday night.

The runaway victory in the five-hour final was the Bengalurean’s 29th World title of his career and his 21st in billiards. The 41-year-old Indian also avenged his loss to Hall in the semifinals of the English Open, a prelude to the World Championships.

In the eight-player women’s draw, India’s Shruthi L defeated Australia’s Anna Lynch 347-222 to retain her title. Shruthi, who also competed in the men’s division but failed to make the knockout rounds, had defeated fellow Indian Keerath Bhandaal in the semifinals.

Home Ministry will launch a first-of-its-kind pilot initiative to strengthen Civil Defence preparedness by providing specialised training to Civil Defence Master Trainers through the Indian Army. The Directorate General of Fire Services, Civil Defence and Home Guards will provide the training, with an aim to establish a vibrant Civil Defence Network in the country.

The Ministry said that the three-day training for Civil Defence Master Trainers will be conducted in 12 States and Union Territories in the first phase by the second week of November this year. The Ministry said, in the first phase, a total of 600 Civil Defence Master Trainers, with 50 from each participating State and Union Territories, are proposed to be trained. The participating states and UTs are Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Delhi, Meghalaya, Sikkim, Assam, Uttar Pradesh, Kerala, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.

A newly-created international climate fund that seeks to provide financial assistance to countries affected by climate disasters decided on Thursday to earmark US $20 million for Nepal to help it recover from the devastating flash floods in August, making it the first beneficiary of international funding for loss and damage – a long-pending demand of developing countries.

The Fund for Responding to Loss and Damage (FRLD), created in 2022, convened an emergency board meeting on Thursday at the request of Nepal and several other developing countries. The Board decided to “provisionally set aside” a sum of $