The ministry of petroleum and natural gas launched GOBARdhan, a central sector scheme for development of the compressed biogas (CBG) sector, on Thursday. The ₹23,731 crore scheme provides a framework to accelerate CBG development from FY27 to FY36 and increase domestic biogas production almost 10-fold to 5 million metric standard cubic metres per day (MMSCMD).

Mint explains how the wider adoption of biogas will help achieve energy security amid a globally volatile crude oil and natural gas market.

The scheme aims to increase India's domestic CBG production almost 10-fold, mobilize large-scale private investment and create a vibrant circular bioeconomy across the country. It plans to achieve stronger rural livelihoods through new income opportunities for farmers, feedstock aggregators, cooperatives and rural entrepreneurs.

India are set to open their 2027 ODI World Cup campaign in South Africa against Australia on October 7 next year, in a rematch of the 2023 final, as the International Cricket Council (ICC) unveiled the schedule in Cape Town on Thursday, a year out from the quadrennial event. The tournament itself starts on October 2.

The 14th edition of the Cricket World Cup will be co-hosted by South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia.

India will be part of Group A, beginning their campaign in the second round of the tournament, involving 12 teams across two groups. India are grouped alongside Pakistan, Afghanistan, Australia, Zimbabwe and a qualifier from the Super Series in this stage of the event. India will need to finish in the top three of their group to proceed to the Super 7s stage before the semi-finals.

Taiwan received its first two US-made F-16V fighter jets on Friday, as the island democracy upgrades its military capabilities to deter a potential Chinese attack.

The warplanes are part of an $8 billion deal for 66 F-16Vs approved during US President Donald Trump's first term and scheduled for delivery this year.

The arrival of the aircraft comes as Taiwan awaits Washington's approval of a separate $14 billion arms package that Trump paused after Chinese objections.

China claims Taiwan is part of its territory and has threatened to use force to seize it.

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Joseph Vijay on Friday will launch the expanded 'Vetri Payanam Thittam' scheme in Chennai on the occasion of Gandhi Jayanti.

Currently, women are travelling free of cost in ordinary buses operating in metropolitan and urban areas. Now, the scheme has been expanded to include Express, LSS, and Deluxe buses in metropolitan and urban areas, ordinary suburban buses between districts and ordinary buses in hill areas beyond 40 kilometres for women to travel free of cost.

A total of 12,692 buses operating under 7 transport corporations of the Tamil Nadu government have been brought under this scheme.

Nasa, SpaceX and international partner teams have given the green light for the Crew-13 mission to the International Space Station (ISS), clearing the way for four astronauts and cosmonauts to begin a six-month stay in orbit.

Mission managers completed the Launch Readiness Review, a final assessment of the spacecraft, rocket, ground systems, crew and weather conditions, before polling teams on whether to proceed with the launch. The teams returned a unanimous “go” to continue the countdown.

Crew-13 is now targeting liftoff no earlier than 11:10 a.m. EDT on Thursday, October 1, from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.

The crew will travel aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft, continuing Nasa and SpaceX’s commercial crew operations to the space station.

Indian jurist and academician Bimal N Patel on Thursday took oath as a Judge of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) at the Tribunal’s headquarters in Hamburg, Germany.

Currently the Vice-Chancellor of Rashtriya Raksha University (RRU), Gandhinagar, Patel assumes the international judicial office for a nine-year term. This marks a significant milestone in his career devoted to international law, law of the sea, ocean governance, maritime security, legal scholarship and public institution-building.

He assumes the office at a time when the international law of the sea has acquired increasing significance in addressing questions relating to maritime boundaries, freedom of navigation, marine environmental protection, sustainable use of ocean resources, deep seabed activities and peaceful settlement of maritime disputes.

Union road transport and highways minister Nitin Gadkari on Wednesday announced that the Centre has approved Rs 1,175.59 crore for the construction of a six-lane bridge over the Teesta river at Sevoke in Bengal’s Darjeeling district.

The proposed bridge, which will be 6.91 km long including its approaches, will be constructed on NH-10, formerly known as NH-31, Gadkari wrote on X.

The project is aimed at strengthening road connectivity between Sikkim, the northeastern states and the strategically important Siliguri Corridor, said the minister.

“The proposed bridge will significantly strengthen connectivity between Sikkim, the North-Eastern states and the Siliguri Corridor,” Gadkari wrote.

Elon Musk-led SpaceX has successfully launched its Falcon 9 rocket carrying 130 payloads into low-Earth orbit as part of its Transporter-18 smallsat rideshare mission from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.

Among the payloads was Google’s Project Suncatcher, a prototype satellite designed to test how the company’s Tensor Processing Units (TPUs), its AI chips, perform in space and support artificial intelligence and machine learning workloads.

Google CEO Sundar Pichai had announced the project on X on September 25, saying the prototype satellite was being launched in partnership with Planet.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has approved the appointment of Anup Kumar Saha as managing director and chief executive officer (MD & CEO) of Kotak Mahindra Bank for a three-year term beginning January 1, 2027, the private sector lender said in a regulatory filing on Thursday.

The bank said the RBI approval was received on September 30. The appointment is subject to further formalities, including approval from the bank’s members.

“Based on an application made by the Bank, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has, vide its letter dated September 30, 2026 … accorded its approval under Section 35B of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949 for the appointment of Mr. Anup Kumar Saha as the new Managing Director & CEO of the Bank, for a period of three years, with effect from January 1, 2027,” Kotak Mahindra Bank said in its filing to the stock exchanges.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said that over the 100-year journey of UPSC, the generations, governments, technology, and syllabi have changed, but the trust in this institution remains as unwavering as ever.

Addressing the Centenary Celebrations of the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) at Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi today, Mr Modi stressed the need to bring young people into public services who are drawn not to public office, but to public service. He said, today, 21st-century India is moving forward with a new work culture and its core principle is Pro-People, Pro-Active, and Good Governance.

The Prime Minister said his Government’s mantra is Nagarik Devo Bhava and serving the citizens is paramount. He said, for a Viksit Bharat, the kind of governance the country now needs will be enabled to a great extent by institutions such as the UPSC and the State Public Service Commissions. Mr Modi said that the young people being recruited today will play an important role in building a Viksit Bharat.