The Indian Institute of Technology Madras has opened applications for the October 2026 cohort of its School Connect programme, offering Class 9 to 12 students access to 17 certificate courses across emerging and interdisciplinary fields. The initiative, run through the institute’s Centre for Outreach and Digital Education, aims to give school students early exposure to…

A major food-labeling controversy has emerged from Navi Mumbai after authorities discovered packaged food products carrying allegedly altered manufacturing and expiry details at a warehouse. The seized stock included popular names such as Maggi, Lay’s, Kurkure, Thums Up, Limca, Knorr and Hellmann’s, with officials saying many products were expired or close to expiry. The discovery…

For decades, Old Monk has stood as a cultural icon in India. Generations of drinkers have raised glasses of the dark, slightly sweet spirit, calling it rum without a second thought. That long-held assumption has now been challenged in a significant way. The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India has told the Bombay High…

After nearly eight years in space, the joint European-Japanese mission BepiColombo has entered the final phase of its journey to Mercury. The two science spacecraft that make up the heart of the mission are now closing in on the Solar System’s innermost planet, preparing for orbit insertion later this year and the start of detailed…

NASA has selected Blue Origin to develop and deliver a new Mars telecommunications orbiter under a contract valued at up to approximately 700 million dollars. The firm-fixed-price award tasks the company with designing, building, launching and operating the Mars Telecommunications Network, a dedicated communications hub intended to provide reliable, high-bandwidth links between spacecraft at Mars…

Air Marshal (retd.) Jeetendra Mishra has been appointed as the first full-time Chief Executive Officer of the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust, the body responsible for the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya. The decision was taken at a meeting of the Trust on September 2, 2026. Mishra brings nearly four decades of experience from the…

Novak Djokovic’s first-round exit from the 2026 US Open was more than a surprising result. The 24-time Grand Slam champion, long celebrated for outlasting opponents through superior conditioning and mental fortitude, confronted an opponent he could not overcome: the accumulating limits of his own body. At 39, the Serbian star fell in five sets to…

Imagine telling your AI assistant to order groceries, find the best available deal, and complete the payment without asking you to approve every single transaction. That sounds futuristic today, but AI agents could soon get limited permission to make payments through UPI in India. A proposed framework being developed around agentic payments could allow artificial…

Onion prices have risen sharply across India, adding pressure on household budgets soon after a similar spike in sugar. By late August 2026, the all-India average retail price had climbed about 59 per cent year-on-year to Rs 43.53 per kg, while wholesale rates rose 68 per cent. In major cities and states such as Delhi…