Take a deep breath and think of your happy place: "rage bait" is the 2025 Oxford Word of the Year.

After three days of online voting by more than 30,000 participants, Oxford University Press announced on Monday that "rage bait" is the official pick, beating out fellow shortlist nominees "aura farming" and "biohack."

Defined as "online content deliberately designed to elicit anger or outrage by being frustrating, provocative, or offensive," rage bait is "typically posted in order to increase traffic to or engagement with a particular web page or social media account," according to Oxford's definition.

In Table Tennis, India’s three-time Olympian and Commonwealth Games medallist Manika Batra and Manav Thakkar will lead India’s eight-member squad at the ITTF Mixed Team World Cup 2025 at Chengdu in China, beginning today. The team also features Akash Pal, Sathiyan Gnanasekaran, Payas Jain, Diya Chitale, Yashaswini Ghorpade, and Swastika Ghosh. With the mixed team format set to make its Olympic debut at LA 2028, this year’s championship carries added significance. The 2025 edition marks the third ITTF Mixed Team World Cup, with Chengdu hosting the tournament for the third consecutive year. Alongside Manika and Manav, Olympian Sathiyan Gnanasekaran will also represent India in the week-long competition in Chengdu.

Belgium edged past India 1-0 in a closely fought final to lift the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup 2025 in Malaysia on Sunday, clinching its maiden title in only its second appearance at the prestigious invitational tournament. Thibeau Stockbroekx scored the decisive goal in the 34th minute as India settled for silver.

It was Belgium’s second win over India in the tournament, having also beaten the host 3-2 in the league stage. For India, it proved to be the only two defeats of an otherwise strong campaign.

Coming into the final on the back of a thumping 14-3 win over Canada on Saturday, India earned three Penalty Corners but failed to convert any of them. Jugraj Singh, Amit Rohidas and Sanjay, who had been effective from set-pieces earlier in the tournament, found the Belgian defence unyielding on this occasion.

In Football, India stunned Iran 2-1 in the men’s Under 17 AFC Asian Cup 2026 Qualifiers at the EKA Arena in Ahmedabad. With this win, India have booked their ticket to the 2026 AFC Under 17 Asian Cup to be held in Saudi Arabia.

Union Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports, Dr. Mansukh Mandaviya congratulated the Indian team for their historic win and qualifying for the AFC Under 17 Asian Cup.

In a social media post, Dr. Mandaviya praised the efforts behind the achievement, stating that the win reflects the dedication and hard work of the young players, their coaches, and the entire support staff.

This win has helped the Blue Colts earn three more points to take their tally to 7. Iran already had 7 points, and they will remain on 7 points.

Sweden’s pole vault star Armand Duplantis and American sprinter Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone were named the World Athletes of the Year at the 2025 World Athletics awards ceremony.

In 2025, Duplantis broke the men’s pole vault world record four times and was unbeaten in all 16 of his competitions, including sweeping both the indoor and outdoor world titles.

The 26-year-old has become the first male pole vaulter in modern athletics history to remain undefeated in a single event for two consecutive years.

American McLaughlin-Levrone won the women’s 400 metre title in Tokyo with a time of 47.78 seconds, breaking a 42-year-old World Championships record. She became the first athlete in history to win world titles in both the 400 metre flat and the 400 metre hurdles.

Calling the government’s new SIM-binding mandate a “first-in-the-world regulatory step,” private telecom operators said the move finally delivers the accountability and traceability it has long pushed for on communication apps, a shift the industry body believes will strengthen national security, curb cyber fraud, and restore consumer trust.

Telcos through their representative body, the Cellular Operators Association of India, said continuous SIM-app linkage will close long-standing loopholes that enabled anonymity and misuse, helping reduce spam, fraudulent communication and financial scams.

COAI, which represents Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea also urged the DoT to extend similar compliance requirements across all communication platforms to ensure uniform protection for users.

Nagaland is celebrating its 63rd Statehood Day, marking the day it became the 16th state of India in 1963. Governor Ajay Kumar Bhalla extended warm greetings to the people of the State, paying tribute to the resilience and aspirations of the Naga people.

Recalling Nagaland’s journey since 1st December 1963, he highlighted the vision of its pioneers and leaders.

The Governor called for renewed commitment to peace, development, and unity-pillars, he said will continue to shape the State’s future.

Mr. Bhalla reaffirmed the Government’s focus on inclusive development, improved connectivity, transparent governance, and expanding opportunities for all.

India superstar Virat Kohli extended his 50-over international dominance with a record-breaking 52nd ODI century against South Africa in the first match at the JSCA International Stadium in Ranchi on Sunday.

Walking in at 25 for one after India were put to bat by Aiden Markram’s South Africa, Kohli was quickly sped off the blocks in his first innings at home since February 2025. A classic off-drive against the pacy left-arm seamer Nandre Burger set up his innings after finding a streaky outside-edge to the third-man boundary first ball.

Kohli then forged a solid partnership with Rohit Sharma, with the pair deflating the South African attack progressively on a belter of a strip and lightning-quick outfields. The 37-year-old Kohli was particularly offensive, smacking five sixes by the time he moved into the 70s.

At 38, Rohit Sharma continues to pile records. The former India captain, on his return to playing ODI cricket on home soil, hammered Shahid Afridi’s record (351) to smash the most sixes in one-day internationals. Rohit, two shy of levelling Afridi, went past him in some really good time too, getting to the landmark in his 277th match and in 100 innings quicker than Afridi. With this, Rohit leads the pack in a list that features some of the greatest six-hitters in world cricket, such as Chris Gayle, MS Dhoni, Sanath Jayasuriya, AB de Villiers and more.

Rohit, coming into the series on the back of a century in the third ODI against Australia in Sydney, enjoyed some luck early on, as he was dropped on 1. Tony d Zorzi, coming in from deep third man, failed to hang on to a pull from Rohit. That was the opening Rohit was looking for. Rohit then got some confidence back with the arrival of Virat Kohli. The fact that Kohli was going great guns at the other end gave Rohit the time to settle in, and once he did, the boundaries began to flow. A backfoot punch off Marco Jansen and back-to-back fours against Corbin Bosch meant that Rohit was now in full flow.

India’s economy delivered a surprisingly strong performance in the July–September quarter, with GDP rising 8.2 percent year-on-year, a sharp jump from 5.6 percent in the same period a year earlier and well above most market forecasts. The growth acceleration signals a clear recovery from the softer momentum seen earlier in the fiscal year, underscoring resilience in parts of domestic demand while also revealing persistent weaknesses in investment and urban consumption.

The expansion was primarily powered by a broadening of rural demand. Higher agricultural output, steady farm incomes and improving labor market conditions across rural districts strengthened private consumption, which remains a core pillar of India’s GDP. The demand uplift in villages and small towns translated into better volume growth for sectors tied to mass consumption, including two-wheeler sales, fast-moving consumer goods, fertilizers, construction materials and rural credit. This rural rebound offset tepid discretionary spending in urban centers, where consumption remained constrained by uneven wage growth and high household leverage in parts of the middle-income segment.