On the final day of the three-day Chintan Shivir in Srinagar, the Srinagar Khel Sankalp document was released by Dr. Mansukh Mandaviya, along with State Sports Ministers and leading sporting stalwarts.
The document outlines a collective national vision to strengthen the sports culture through cooperative federalism, with a focus on athlete-centric development, expansion of sports infrastructure, talent identification, development of regional sports clusters, and leveraging sports for unity, youth empowerment, health, tourism, and economic growth.
The final day of the Chintan Shivir began with the Fit India “Sundays on Cycle” Cyclothon, led by Hon’ble Union Minister Dr. Mansukh Mandaviya and MoS Smt. Raksha Khadse, reinforcing the message of fitness, discipline, and mass participation.
Symbiosis Skills and Professional University (SSPU) has launched Asia’s first UNESCO Chair on Gender Inclusion and Skill Development, positioning India at the forefront of global conversations on gender and skilling.
The Chair was recently inaugurated by Jayant Chaudhary, Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, during an international conference titled “Women Leading the Future of Work”, organised in collaboration with UNESCO.
The event also saw participation from Aditi Tatkare, Maharashtra’s Minister for Women and Child Development, and Monica Nagelgaard as Guests of Honour.
The conference brought together over 300 delegates, including policymakers, industry leaders, academic institutions, and global organisations.
Under its framework, the university has already trained over 10,000 underprivileged girls in areas such as robotics, automation, semiconductor technology, advanced manufacturing, and defence technology, with many securing employment and competitive salaries.
Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday said the government has formed a panel under SBI Chairman C S Setty, who also leads the industry grouping Indian Banks’ Association, to assess risks emanating from AI platform Mythos and come up with mitigating measures.
There will be a lot of interaction among banks over the next few weeks to understand the threats and also look at the areas where additional investments will be required, Sitharaman said on the sidelines of an event to inaugurate SBI’s newly created local head office here.
Anthropic’s AI model Mythos has raised a global debate over vulnerability in the financial system as the model has the capability to find weaknesses in their operating system and launch a potential cyber attack.
Mythos’ advanced coding capabilities give it an unprecedented potential to detect cybersecurity weaknesses and develop methods to exploit them, sparking concerns that it could be used to disrupt banking systems.
Regulators across Asia, Europe, and the US have already warned banks to review their defences and preparedness.
Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal launched the Bharat Taxi app in Mumbai, saying the initiative would free auto-rickshaw and taxi drivers from dependence on foreign apps that charge heavy commissions and subscription fees, while offering zero commission, free insurance cover of Rs. 5 lakh, and access to Mudra loans.
Goyal said the app would provide affordable, authorised fares to the public while ensuring drivers receive fair rights and ownership for their hard work. He said that drivers will also receive free insurance and access to Mudra loans through this app.
Through this app, drivers will also receive free insurance cover of Rs. 5 lakh, and access to Mudra loans to modernise or upgrade their vehicles, including shifting to electric vehicles to increase earnings, Goyal said.
External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar launched the logo, theme and official website for the fourth edition of the India-Africa Forum Summit (IAFS-IV), marking a key step towards strengthening India’s partnership with African nations.
The launch event was attended by African ambassadors and stakeholders associated with India-Africa cooperation.
The Guntur Municipal Corporation (GMC) has secured the 4th Gender Equality Mobilisation (GEM) Award, presented by the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) at the International Day of Women in Industry 2026 celebrations in Vienna on April 22, 2026.
Municipal Commissioner K. Mayur Ashok said the award was received on behalf of GMC by Sustainable Cities Project Manager and Industrial Development Officer Olga Rataj. Former Finnish President Tarja Halonen and senior UNIDO officials were among those at the event.
The award was given for GMC’s initiative combining women’s empowerment with environmental sustainability. Over 200 women previously engaged in informal waste collection were identified, trained and employed as drivers of electric autos for door-to-door garbage collection.
The initiative runs under the UNIDO-supported Sustainable Cities Integrated Approach Pilot (SCIAP), which promotes zero-emission waste management while bringing women into the green economy.
The GMC has also earned State-level recognition for its performance in property tax collection during the 2025-26 financial year.
The union government appointed eminent economist and MLA in West Bengal Assembly, Ashok Kumar Lahiri, as the Vice-Chairperson of the Niti Aayog on April 25, 2026.
Mr. Lahiri, a former Chief Economic Advisor to the government, replaces Suman K. Bery, who has been the Vice-Chairperson of the government’s think-tank since May 2022.
Economist K.V. Raju, Director of AIIMS M. Srinivas, Secretary of the Department of Science and Technology Abhay Karandikar, noted scientist Gobardhan Das and former Cabinet secretary Rajiv Gauba are the full-time members in the re-constituted panel.
Mr. Gauba was a member of the outgoing panel as well. Vijay Kumar Saraswat, Ramesh Chand, Vinod Kumar Paul and Arvind Virmani were the other members of Niti Aayog.
Mr. Lahiri, MLA from Balurghat constituency, did not contest the ongoing election in West Bengal. He has also been a member of the 15th Finance Commission.
Coca-Cola India has entered into a three-year Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Invest UP, Government of Uttar Pradesh to strengthen their shared vision of supporting environmental stewardship, community well-being, and enhancing access to safe hydration solutions across the state of Uttar Pradesh.
The collaboration will focus on developing on-ground solutions such as water access infrastructure, strengthening waste collection and recycling systems, and enabling skill-building and livelihood opportunities for local communities, particularly across high-footfall tourism destinations.
With this MoU, Coca-Cola India continues to reinforce its commitment to Uttar Pradesh as a key partner in advancing community-focused development and environmental stewardship through scalable and collaborative CSR-led interventions.
Olympic hockey medallist Gurbax Singh Grewal has died following a heart attack in Zirakpur near in Chandigarh. He was 84.
Grewal, who was part of the Indian team that secured a bronze medal at the 1968 Mexico City Olympics, died on April 24, 2026.
In a rare distinction, he represented India at the same Olympics alongside his brother Balbir Singh Grewal, marking one of the few instances of siblings featuring together in the national hockey side at the Games.
Beyond his playing career, Grewal served as a senior sports officer with Western Railways, where he played a key role in identifying and inducting talent, including several players from Rajasthan, into the Railways hockey setup.
After retiring from service in Mumbai, he remained actively involved in the sport's administration, serving as honorary secretary of the Mumbai Hockey Association.
Virat Kohli scripted history as he became the first batter in the Indian Premier League (IPL) to hit 800 fours. Kohli achieved the milestone during his knock of 81 runs in the Royal Challengers Bengaluru's (RCB) match against the Gujarat Titans (GT) on April 24, 2026.
Virat Kohli now has 807 boundaries to his name in 274 IPL matches, the most by any batter in the tournament's history. He is well clear of the second-placed Shikhar Dhawan on the list of batters with the most boundaries in IPL. Dhawan has 768 fours to his name.
Virat Kohli also became only the third batter to smash 300 sixes in IPL history, after Chris Gayle (357 sixes) and Rohit Sharma (310 sixes). Kohli now has 303 maximums to his name.Kohli scored 81 runs off 44 balls against GT, hitting eight boundaries and four sixes.
With the knock, he also claimed the Orange Cap for being the highest run-scorer in the IPL 2026 at the moment.
RCB now have 10 points in seven matches with five wins and two losses.
The Reserve Bank of India, in exercise of the powers conferred under sub-section (4) of Section 44A read with Section 56 of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949, has sanctioned the Scheme of Amalgamation of The Mattancherry Mahajanik Co-operative Urban Bank Ltd, Cochin, Kerala with The Peoples’ Urban Co-operative Bank Ltd., Tripunithura, Kerala.
The Scheme will come into force with effect from April 27, 2026. All the branches of The Mattancherry Mahajanik Co-operative Urban Bank Ltd, Cochin, Kerala, will function as branches of The Peoples’ Urban Co-operative Bank Ltd., Tripunithura, Kerala with effect from April 27, 2026.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has, by an order dated April 21, 2026, imposed a monetary penalty of Rs. 80,000/- (Rupees Eighty Thousand only) on Muthoot Housing Finance Company Limited (the company) for non-compliance with certain directions issued by RBI on ‘Fair Practice Code’.
Sabastian Sawe made history at the London Marathon by becoming the first athlete to run a sub-two-hour marathon in a competitive race. The 31-year-old Kenyan crossed the line to win in one hour 59 minutes 30 seconds, more than one minute faster than the late Kelvin Kiptum’s previous record of two hours and 35 seconds, set in 2023.
Already on world record pace as he crossed the halfway mark in one hour and 29 seconds, Sawe was able to speed up over the second half of the race to run even faster than Kipchoge’s time. Sawe made his decisive move before the final 10km, with only debutant Yomif Kejelcha able to cover his surge off the front.
Remarkably, Kejelcha, making his marathon debut, became the second man to run under two hours in race conditions, finishing runner-up in one hour 59 minutes and 49 seconds.
International Chess Federation joined the International World Games Association (IWGA) at the Annual General Meeting (AGM) held at the Olympic Museum in Lausanne. The decision raises IWGA membership to 40 federations and expands the range of sports in the World Games movement.
FIDE President, Arkady Dvorkovich, stated that Chess is a global sport that unites millions of players across all continents through strategy, discipline, and creativity. Its inclusion within the IWGA reflects the growing recognition of mind sports alongside traditional athletic disciplines.
This year marks the 40th anniversary of the Chornobyl (Chernobyl*) disaster.
An explosion at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in 1986 spread a radioactive cloud over large parts of the Soviet Union, now the territories of Belarus, Ukraine and the Russian Federation. Nearly 8.4 million people in the three countries were exposed to the radiation.
On 8 December 2016 the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution designating 26 April as International Chernobyl Disaster Remembrance Day.
To provide support to international, national and public programmes targeted at the sustainable development of these territories, in 2009 UN launched the International Chernobyl Research and Information Network (ICRIN).
In 2000, WIPO's member states designated April 26 – the day on which the WIPO Convention came into force in 1970 – as World Intellectual Property Day with the aim of increasing the general understanding of intellectual property (IP).
World IP Day offers a unique opportunity to join with others around the world to consider how a balanced IP system helps the global arts scene to flourish and enables the technological innovation that drives human progress.
