Three of the six books on this year’s Booker Prize shortlist explore masculinity and male sexuality. Interestingly, last year’s Booker Prize winner, David Szalay, also placed modern masculinity at the centre of his story, Flesh.
The 2026 shortlist, announced, features two previous Booker Prize winners — Marlon James and Douglas Stuart,
as well as Pulitzer Prize winner Elizabeth Strout.
James’s The Disappearers, described by The New York Times as “the novel of the decade, if not the century”, centres on an attack on a group of gay men in late-1980s Jamaica, while they are rehearsing a play. At 640 pages, it is the longest book on the list.
Ayushman Bharat – the Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana has completed eight years today. Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched this scheme in September 2018 from Ranchi, Jharkhand, which has become the world’s largest government-funded health assurance scheme.
Prime Minister Modi said that the scheme has enabled record savings on medical expenses and benefited the poor and middle class. In a social media post, Mr Modi said that eight years ago, Ayushman Bharat was rolled out with the idea that every Indian should have access to top-quality and affordable healthcare.
He said, today, more than 60 crore beneficiaries have access to five lakh annual health cover, making it the largest healthcare scheme in the world. The Prime Minister said, Ayushman Arogya Mandirs have already recorded over 500 crore visits, strengthening primary healthcare at the grassroots.
Under the scheme, a total of 38 thousand government and private hospitals have been empanelled. The scheme is now being implemented across all 36 States and Union Territories, marking a significant milestone in expanding healthcare access and strengthening the delivery of secondary and tertiary care services across the country.
Recently, the Modi government has extended the benefits of this scheme to senior citizens of 70 years and 37 lakh families of ASHAs and anganwadi workers. The main aim of the scheme is to provide universal health care to the poor, needy and vulnerable sections of the country.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has revised valuation norms for Infrastructure Investment Trust (InvIT) and Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) units held by all-India financial institutions (AIFIs), introducing separate and standardised treatment for quoted and unquoted units.
The central bank said the changes are aimed at removing ambiguity and ensuring uniform valuation practices across institutions. The revised framework takes effect immediately and has been incorporated into the RBI (All India Financial Institutions - Classification, Valuation, and Operation of Investment Portfolio) Amendment Directions, 2026.
The US, Denmark and Greenland have signed a defence deal that allows Washington to build two new military bases in the Arctic territory, while reaffirming Copenhagen's sovereignty over it.
The three leaders then inked the deal, seemingly ending more than a year of tension over the Arctic territory.
The deal amends and updates a 1951 defence agreement between Denmark and the US.
The new pact says the US "shall be allowed to establish an additional Defence Area at Narsarsuaq and Mestersvig" - referring to locations in Greenland's south and east.
Narsarsuaq is a former civilian airport and World War Two base.
The Mestersvig outpost is remote, far less developed, and used by a Danish naval dog sled unit.
Washington currently operates its Pituffik Space Base in Greenland's north-west, and the new deal allows the US to "modernise and expand its activities" there.
It also says that "no state that is not a member of Nato shall be allowed to establish its own manned or unmanned military installations in Greenland nor shall they be allowed a persistent presence of military forces in Greenland".
Although the militaries of non-Nato countries are now explicitly barred from the island, it was highly unlikely that non-allied troops would have been allowed access in the first place.
US President Donald Trump.
Greenland's PM: Jens-Frederik Nielsen
Denmark PM: Mette Frederiksen
India stands out with the strongest growth outlook globally, but has slipped to fourth place in terms of favourable business environment for multinational companies, a new survey showed.
India was ranked second in the previous quarterly Chief Economists' Outlook survey published by the World Economic Forum in May this year.
The latest survey found that a majority (56 per cent) of chief economists surveyed expect the global outlook to remain stable or improve — a sharp improvement from May, when 89 per cent expected conditions to weaken.
The report said the US leads the ranking of favourable business environments for multinational companies, followed by South-East Asia and Europe (both up one position).
India dropped from second to fourth place compared to the last outlook, with only 40 percent of respondents including it in their top three destinations (down from 56 percent in May)
China came in fifth with 31 per cent of respondents including it in their top three destinations.
Globally, 97 per cent chief economists expect AI adoption to rise, but 79 per cent foresee data-centre expansion facing significant backlash, with 61 per cent not expecting significant global job creation, the WEF said.
Mera Yuva Bharat (MY Bharat), the national youth engagement platform of the Department of Youth Affairs, Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports, has crossed the landmark milestone of 3 crore + registered youth.
Launched by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi on 31 October 2023, MY Bharat was established with the vision of creating a technology-enabled platform through which young Indians can participate in the nation's development journey.
The platform crossed 2 crore + registrations in October 2025 and subsequently expanded its reach to more than 2.46 crore + registered youth by August 2026. The crossing of the 3 crore + mark within the next phase of its expansion reflects the continuing growth of youth participation on the platform.
The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has approved acquisition of certain additional equity share capital of IIFL Capital Services Limited (Target) by FIH Mauritius Investments Ltd. (Acquirer).
The Acquirer is a private company limited by shares incorporated in Mauritius. It is an investment holding company which is focused on long-term capital appreciation while preserving capital through investments in equity securities and debt instruments of Indian businesses and businesses primarily connected to India.
FIHM is a wholly owned subsidiary of Fairfax India Holdings Corporation, a company listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange.
The Target is a public limited company incorporated in India. It is a Securities and Exchange Board of India-registered financial services company which, directly and through its group companies.
The Competition Commission of India (CCI) approves acquisition of Onesto Labs Private Limited by L’Oréal India Private Limited.
The proposed combination pertains to the acquisition of 100% shareholding in Onesto Labs Private Limited (Target) by L’Oréal India Private Limited (Acquirer).
The Acquirer is engaged in the research, innovation, manufacture, marketing, sales, and export of beauty and personal care (BPC) products in India, including skin care and hair care, via various distribution channels. The Acquirer markets its products in India under several globally recognized brands.
President Droupadi Murmu on Saturday appointed 14 judicial officers as Judges and Additional Judges of the Delhi, Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, Jharkhand and Karnataka High Courts.
In the Delhi High Court, Nivedita Anil Sharma and Nisha Sahay Saxena have been appointed as Judges.
Sanjay Sharma, Bharat Parashar, Dr. Aditi Choudhary, Dinesh Bhatt and Arun Bhardwaj have been appointed as Additional Judges of the Delhi High Court.
Yash Paul Bourney has been appointed as a Judge of the Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh High Court.
In the Jharkhand High Court, Manoj Prasad, Akhil Kumar and Ram Sharma have been appointed as Judges.
Usharani, K.S. Bharath Kumar and Nerale V. Bhavani have been appointed as Additional Judges of the Karnataka High Court.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Sri Sri Vishwaprasanna Tirtha Swamiji of Sri Pejavara Adhokshaja Matha, Udupi, along with other dignitaries in New Delhi.
On the occasion, Mr Modi unveiled the logo of the Birth Centenary Celebrations of Padma Vibhushan Yatikula Chakravarti Sri Vishwesha Tirtha Swamiji.
In a social media post, Mr Modi said, the life of devotion, learning and service of Sri Vishwesha Tirtha Swami continues to inspire countless people. He said, the various initiatives being undertaken in the run-up to his birth centenary will further carry forward his noble ideals.
Global payments solution major Mastercard on Tuesday exited Pine Labs by selling its entire 4.31 per cent stake in the fintech firm for Rs 933 crore through separate block deals on the BSE.
American multinational Mastercard, through its affiliate Mastercard Asia/Pacific Pte Ltd, sold 4,97,24,182 shares in 13 tranches, representing a 4.31 per cent stake in Noida-based Pine Labs, according to exchange data.
The shares were offloaded at an average price of Rs 187.75 apiece, for an aggregate value of Rs 933.57 crore.
Meanwhile, a clutch of mutual Funds managed by Kotak Mahindra, Edelweiss and Franklin Templeton, along with ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Company, bought an equal number of shares at the same price.
Foreign investors include Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Citigroup Global Markets Singapore, BNP Paribas Arbitrage, Ghisallo Capital Management, Rams Equities Portfolio Fund, Societe Generale, Susquehanna International Group and NRSGVCC.
Shares of Pine Labs rose 2.07 per cent to close at Rs 197.55 apiece on the BSE.
In June this year, financial services company Actis divested a little over 2 per cent stake in Pine Labs for Rs 371 crore.
Prior to this, in the same month, Actis Pine Labs Investment Holdings sold nearly a 1 per cent stake in Pine Labs for Rs 152 crore. Actis is a part of global growth investor General Atlantic.
The 2026–2027 World Maritime Day theme, "From Policy to Practice: Powering Maritime Excellence," places a spotlight on one of the most fundamental challenges in global maritime governance: ensuring that the rules developed at the international level translate into real-world improvements.
For the first time, the IMO World Maritime Day theme will run for a biennium. The 2026–2027 theme highlights IMO’s clear commitment to putting policies into practice by providing technical assistance, training, capacity-building, knowledge sharing and other essential services to support Member States and partners across the maritime sector.
World Maritime Day 2026 is observed on September 24. The selected theme aligns closely with the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and supports several Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In particular: SDG 9 on industry, innovation and infrastructure; SDG 13 on climate action; SDG 14 on life below water; and SDG 17 on partnerships.
