All the news worth your morning chai
Roughly 94% of the 3.3 million Delhi voters flagged for logical discrepancies or for having no link to the 2002 base roll have made their case and will stay on the final roll, the chief electoral officer said. Pending cases must be resolved by November 30.
Read more at Hindustan Times →
A door-to-door audit by civil society groups across four polling booths in Delhi's Trilokpuri found that 416 of 1,236 deleted electors were living at their registered addresses. They had been marked absent, shifted, dead or duplicate. Only 87 had filed Form 6 to get back on the roll.
Read more at The Hindu →
The court refrained from directing the Election Commission to preserve its files, internal notings and communications in the dispute over allegedly unilateral SIR decisions. It gave petitioners time to respond to the Commission's affidavit, which says all SIR decisions were taken unanimously.
Read more at Hindustan Times →
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge has called INDIA bloc leaders to his Delhi residence on October 30 for a public impeachment programme against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. The bloc has been protesting against the special intensive revision of electoral rolls for weeks.
Read more at Hindustan Times →
Rahul Gandhi and other INDIA bloc petitioners, represented by A M Singhvi and Menaka Guruswamy, argued that the Election Commission appeared to have accepted the charges relating to Form 6. They asked the court to order the preservation of SIR files and file notings.
Read more at The Times of India →Congress spokesperson Jairam Ramesh said CEC Gyanesh Kumar has been taking unilateral decisions and that the Commission's claims about Form 6 contradict each other. He argued that two election commissioners had objected on record even though major SIR orders were said to be approved by all three.
Read more at The Times of India →In counting for 11 Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council graduate and teacher seats, the BJP retained the Meerut graduates' and teachers' seats and the Bareilly-Moradabad teachers' seat, and led in four more. The Samajwadi Party won the Varanasi teachers' seat for a second term.
Read more at Hindustan Times →Early trends from counting for five legislative council seats showed the opposition Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi ahead in the Aurangabad, Pune and Nagpur graduates' constituencies. The ruling Mahayuti alliance led in the Pune and Amravati teachers' constituencies. Polling was held on Friday.
Read more at Hindustan Times →NDA candidate Narendra Prasad Singh of the BJP won the Tirhut teachers' constituency with 2,945 votes, defeating independent Bhushan Jha, who got 2,351. CPI candidate Sanjay Singh came third. Counting continues for seven of the eight Bihar council seats polled on October 23.
Read more at The Hindu →The office of Uttar Pradesh's chief electoral officer apologised for the tone and sharpness of posts on its X handle. The row began when AAP MP Sanjay Singh questioned an error in which 'Ramhit Yadav' appeared in a voter list as 'Ram ne Yadav ko Maara'.
Read more at The Hindu →India has invited Pakistan's heritage minister, Aurungzeb Khan Khichi, to the inaugural meeting of the SCO civilisational dialogue forum it hosts next month. Prime Minister Modi proposed the forum at last year's Tianjin summit to foster people-to-people ties within the grouping.
Read more at The Times of India →The 12th BRICS Parliamentary Forum ended in New Delhi with a joint declaration supporting reform of the UN Security Council, zero tolerance for terrorism and greater Global South representation in world decision-making. It also condemned the Pahalgam attack and voiced concern over West Asia.
Read more at Hindustan Times →India told the UN that as long as the veto exists, all permanent members of a reformed Security Council must hold it. Its position is that there should be no second class of permanent members. Fairness and justice demand equal powers, India said.
Read more at The Times of India →India plans to raise Pakistan's failure to act against Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar at the FATF plenary beginning on October 28, people familiar with the matter said. Its case rests on the Taliban's recent denial of Pakistan's claim that Azhar is in Afghanistan.
Read more at Hindustan Times →Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha swore in Ali Mohammad Sagar, Shamima Firdous, Mir Saifullah and Altaf Ahmad Kaloo, taking the Jammu and Kashmir cabinet to nine. The expansion triggered open dissent in the National Conference, with legislators accusing the party leadership of shutting them out.
Read more at The Times of India →Facing women-led protests over new liquor shops, the Ladakh administration agreed to discuss declaring the region a dry union territory. The chief secretary said the demand needs careful deliberation and consultation with all stakeholders. The administration has asked groups to build consensus.
Read more at The Hindu →Courts cannot order multiple life sentences from a single trial to run consecutively, a bench of Justices K V Viswanathan and Arun Palli held. The sentences must instead be superimposed on each other, so that remission or commutation granted in one does not automatically extend the other.
Read more at Hindustan Times →Concerned by rising acid attacks, the court told the Centre that existing guidelines have failed and asked it to consider heavily regulating retail acid sales. The bench asked why acid should be sold in the open market at all and sought a robust preventive mechanism.
Read more at The Times of India →The court regretted a policy deficit on compulsory rural service for medical graduates and asked the Centre whether it plans a national policy and stakeholder consultation. It indicated it may lay down constitutional principles to guide states in framing such rules.
Read more at Hindustan Times →Reserving orders on two petitions, the court asked why all medicines are not under price control. It cited a case where a distributor offered an anti-cancer drug for Rs 1,100 while a private hospital charged Rs 1.30 lakh, and asked why economic interests should outweigh lives.
Read more at Hindustan Times →The state cancelled short-term power procurement tenders after bidders quoted between Rs 37 and Rs 41 per unit. Energy Minister Nirmal Kumar called the prices unreasonable and said supply is sufficient. Opposition leader Udhayanidhi Stalin had warned the costs would land on consumers.
Read more at India Today →At a performance review meeting, Cabinet Secretary T V Somanathan presented a classification of 12 types of secretaries, including file throwers, file sitters and latecomers. The presentation, delivered with humour, is believed to have left many of the officials present uncomfortable.
Read more at The Times of India →Union education minister Pralhad Joshi used the launch of CBSE's Experience Centre in New Delhi to criticise a culture obsessed with exam scores and rote learning. He said the fixation on marks was hurting students' self-confidence and that rote learning needs to go.
Read more at Hindustan Times →The Election Commission directed Goa, Manipur, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand to transfer certain categories of officers linked to election work. It set a tenure cut-off of March 31, 2027 for four states and May 31 for UP, with compliance reports due by November 30.
Read more at Hindustan Times →The Delhi Police reiterated that permission has been granted for the Congress rally at Ramlila Maidan on November 1. It denied allegations that organisers had been stopped from preparing for the event, after reports suggested permission had been withdrawn.
Read more at Hindustan Times →Hearing the Digital News Publishers Association's challenge to parts of the Digital Personal Data Protection Act and an RTI Act amendment, the court said media freedom must be balanced against citizens' privacy and dignity. It asked the association to suggest how both rights could coexist.
Read more at The Times of India →The Solicitor General told the Supreme Court the government is drafting a bill to stop social media circulation of child sexual abuse material, vindictive uploads of intimate videos and morphed videos used to defame people. It would let any person file a police complaint about such content.
Read more at The Times of India →Ashwani Kumar, a 1992-batch officer, and Ashish Chandra Verma, from the 1994 batch, were transferred from Jammu and Kashmir to Delhi with immediate effect. Both are senior to newly appointed Chief Secretary Sajjan Singh Yadav, a 1995-batch officer.
Read more at The Indian Express →Dharmendra Kashyap, a former BJP MP from Aonla in Bareilly district, joined the Samajwadi Party in Lucknow with his daughter Kirti Kashyap. He had resigned from the BJP and met SP president Akhilesh Yadav on October 11, fuelling speculation about the move.
Read more at The Hindu →
GIFT Nifty futures were quoted at 22,593, down 156 points, signalling a gap-down open for the Nifty 50 on Wednesday as crude climbed above $115 a barrel. Asian markets traded higher. Jio Platforms' stock market debut is the session's main event.
Read more at Business Standard →
Excess funds with lenders fell from about 11 trillion rupees in early September to 462 billion rupees on October 26, according to a Bloomberg Economics index. The squeeze intensified after the RBI took sweeping measures this month to defend the rupee near a record low.
Read more at The Economic Times →
Maruti Suzuki's consolidated net profit for the September quarter fell 26.36% to Rs 2,466.1 crore from Rs 3,349 crore. Total expenses rose to Rs 50,619 crore from Rs 39,018.4 crore. The company blamed global geopolitical tensions, higher input costs and adverse currency movements.
Read more at BusinessLine →
Former RBI governor Raghuram Rajan told Reuters' Global Markets Forum that policymakers should not fixate on a number for the rupee or rapidly deplete reserves defending it. High crude prices, rising US Treasury yields and foreign outflows are pressuring the currency.
Read more at Mint →
Bajaj Auto reported net profit of Rs 3,436 crore for the July to September quarter, with revenue up 60% to Rs 25,125 crore. Exports, a favourable exchange rate and better EV margins helped. The company also flagged emerging signs of rural distress that could weigh on demand.
Read more at Mint →Larsen and Toubro's consolidated profit after tax rose 33% for the September quarter as revenue grew 16% to Rs 78,750 crore. International revenue was Rs 45,870 crore, or 58% of the total, and the company booked orders worth Rs 1,47,665 crore in the quarter.
Read more at The Hindu →Tata Motors' 3.43 billion euro offer for Italian truck maker Iveco cleared the 80% acceptance threshold, with 238.16 million shares tendered by the October 26 close, an Italian filing showed. It would be the group's biggest buyout since it bought Jaguar Land Rover.
Read more at Mint →Jaguar Land Rover has begun assembling the Defender in India, cutting prices by as much as Rs 34 lakh, or 22.4%, and bringing it back below Rs 1 crore. It plans up to four EVs and may expand Pune output beyond about 12,000 vehicles a year.
Read more at BusinessLine →Government sources told Business Today TV that the Centre may not wait for the next Budget to address foreign portfolio outflows. It may soon hold a consultation on long-term capital gains tax and the securities transaction tax, including a possible review of the 12.5% LTCG rate.
Read more at Business Today →After seven months of thin supplies due to the West Asia conflict, India's LNG imports from Qatar recovered sharply this month, making Doha its second-largest source again, vessel tracking data shows. The rebound comes as Qatar steps up dark transits through the Strait of Hormuz.
Read more at The Indian Express →The Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs issued clarifications on GST registration that bar officials from rejecting applications on flimsy grounds. Requests with successful Aadhaar authentication must now be processed within seven working days, which should help MSMEs and firms in co-working spaces.
Read more at The Economic Times →The Finance Ministry set November 1 for simpler rules on post-supply discounts, 90% provisional refunds under the inverted duty structure and the removal of the Rs 1,000 minimum refund threshold for goods exported with tax paid. The changes come through the Finance Act, 2026.
Read more at BusinessLine →The road transport ministry notified an annual toll pass for eligible residents living within 20 km of national highway toll plazas. It offers unlimited crossings at one designated plaza for up to Rs 3,000 a year, as barrier-less tolling makes informal local arrangements harder.
Read more at Mint →Scheduled domestic airlines carried about 1.18 crore passengers in September, down 6.49% from a year earlier, DGCA data showed. Industry insiders blamed a traditionally weak travel month, high airfares and capacity constraints. Planes, it turns out, are hard to fill when tickets cost more.
Read more at BusinessLine →Indian nationals with e-passports can use Digi Yatra on Air India and IndiGo overseas flights at Delhi, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Cochin, Mumbai, Chennai and Amritsar from November 1 to December. Kochi's CIAL already processed India's first international Digi Yatra passenger, bound for the Maldives.
Read more at BusinessLine →Private hospitals will soon have to upload their charges, specialities, registration details and grievance officer contacts to a central portal under the Clinical Establishments Act, two officials told Mint. The aim is to let patients compare costs. Hospital bills may finally get a preview.
Read more at Mint →Food safety officials in Uttar Pradesh inspected 218 establishments, including online grocery warehouses and quick-commerce dark stores, and found cockroaches, fungus-infested racks and food stored beside medicines. Affected sites were ordered shut until the lapses were fixed. Delivery in ten minutes, inspection pending.
Read more at Hindustan Times →Venu Srinivasan, his son Sudarshan Venu, wife Mallika Srinivasan and daughter Lakshmi Venu have filed a total of eight caveats in two Chennai courts as an ownership dispute hangs over the TVS Group, a Mint review of court records showed. The first was filed on October 12.
Read more at Mint →Raymond's net profit attributable to owners doubled to Rs 22 crore in the September quarter on better realisation. Revenue rose 24% to Rs 655 crore and EBITDA climbed 30% to Rs 103 crore. Aerospace and defence contributed Rs 139 crore, up from Rs 81 crore.
Read more at BusinessLine →Cipla's September quarter net profit fell 35% to Rs 878 crore, hit by geopolitics and US pricing pressure. Global CEO Achin Gupta still expects US revenue to reach $1 billion a year by year-end on its existing pipeline, regulatory issues notwithstanding.
Read more at BusinessLine →Reckitt, maker of Dettol, Harpic and Lizol, said its India business posted double-digit growth in the September quarter with broad category expansion. The company said its AI-enabled sales transformation continues to enhance execution. Disinfectant demand, apparently, now runs on machine learning.
Read more at BusinessLine →Maruti Suzuki said it is aligned with SIAM's representation asking the government to delay Bharat Stage VII norms so the impact on the car market can be discussed. The company said there will certainly be an impact on pricing once the rules arrive.
Read more at BusinessLine →Jewellers in India are holding back purchases as prices move, a Bloomberg report carried by ET said. Demand in the world's second-biggest gold consumer has stayed subdued since the government more than doubled the import duty to 15% in May, and the prime minister has urged restraint.
Read more at The Economic Times →Premium basmati varieties are fetching up to Rs 5,200 per quintal in Punjab, cheering farmers. Exporters are concerned about vessel movements through the Strait of Hormuz amid the conflict involving the US, Israel and Iran, along with stuck payments and rising freight costs.
Read more at Hindustan Times →Tamil Nadu's state dairy cooperative Aavin raised prices of butter, ghee, UHT milk, packaged sweets and premium curd from Wednesday, citing rising production costs. It said the small revision is in no way motivated by profit. The ghee simply became more expensive on its own.
Read more at BusinessLine →Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal said India is open to Chinese suppliers meeting its import needs while acting through legal process against unfair pricing. He hopes India becomes a major exporter to China and ASEAN, and said he met his Chinese counterpart in Yaounde and New Delhi.
Read more at BusinessLine →The government is considering simplifying applications under Press Note 2 for local entities with less than 10% investment from countries sharing a land border with India, sources told ET. The rules were relaxed in March for neighbours such as China and Pakistan.
Read more at The Economic Times →Sigma Advanced Systems received a $102.23 million export order, about Rs 973.64 crore, to make base bleed units for 155 mm artillery ammunition for a NATO customer. It must deliver within 12 months and called the order a significant milestone in its strategy.
Read more at BusinessLine →Akasa Air will shift its Mumbai to Jeddah service from Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport to Navi Mumbai International Airport in December, joining a growing list of airlines making the move. Bookings opened on October 26, Akasa and Adani Airport Holdings said.
Read more at Hindustan Times →Kamaljeet Singh, director-general of the Semiconductor Laboratory in Mohali, said India must strengthen manufacturing, materials, research and specialised skills across the semiconductor value chain to reduce dependence on foreign technology. He spoke at the Semiconductor Summit 2026 organised by SRM and The Hindu.
Read more at The Hindu →
Jio Platforms lists on Wednesday after raising $3.1 billion at Rs 1,119 a share in an offering subscribed more than 22 times, valuing it at about $107 billion. Shares traded at a grey market premium of about 22% late on Tuesday, against a weak run for India's mega listings.
Read more at Mint →
Sarvam signed an MoU with Headquarters Integrated Defence Staff to develop and deploy AI applications across the armed forces, covering operational capabilities, decision support and training. The agreement sets an umbrella framework for AI projects across the three services and tri-service organisations.
Read more at BusinessLine →
Preventive health startup Cent raised a $15 million Series A of equity and debt led by Blume Ventures and South Park Commons. Former Vodafone chief Arun Sarin and Srinivas Narayanan, formerly of OpenAI, also invested. Most of the equity will go into research and development, the company said.
Read more at Mint →
Cognizant is in talks to join Sarvam's latest round, which is expected to value the Indian AI startup at $3.5 billion to $4 billion, more than double its previous valuation, people aware of the matter told ET. Sarvam is seeking to raise around $300 million.
Read more at The Economic Times →
AI inference infrastructure startup Simplismart raised a $14 million Series B led by Dallas Venture Capital, with Nvidia, Accel, Shastra VC and Micromax joining. It will use the money to develop its inference platform and expand partnerships with cloud providers.
Read more at YourStory →Bengaluru-based Live2.ai raised Rs 130 crore, about $13.7 million, in a pre-Series B round led by IvyCap Ventures, including a secondary component giving early investors partial liquidity. Its SaaS platform helps enterprises monitor campaign engagement across channels. Sony Innovation Fund and SOSV are existing backers.
Read more at Inc42 →Healthy snacking brand Troovy raised Rs 100 crore in a Series B led by existing investor Fireside Ventures, with Sharrp Ventures participating. It will expand manufacturing, research and distribution across quick commerce and offline channels, and plans to move into namkeen, biscuits and cookies.
Read more at Inc42 →Gurugram-based independent watchmaker Rotoris raised Rs 70 crore in a Series A led by Blume Ventures, with 9Unicorns and Centricity participating. The money goes to research, expanded production and Rotoris House, its appointment-only space for meeting clients, in India and abroad.
Read more at YourStory →Bengaluru enterprise AI startup QwikBuild raised $2.3 million in a pre-seed round led by Globalway, with Blume Ventures, DeVC, Marsshot, Groww founder Lalit Keshre and Curefoods CEO Ankit Nagori joining. Most of the money goes to go-to-market work, including a US team and South East Asia expansion.
Read more at Inc42 →New York-based Hyphenate, which builds autonomous finance software for CFOs, raised a $45 million Series A led by Nexus Venture Partners, with B Capital, Foundation Capital, BoldCap and Gaia Ventures. The company says revenue grew 86 times in twelve months. Accountants have been notified, presumably automatically.
Read more at Sahyadri Startups →Ola Electric shares rallied 19.5% to Rs 35.78 on Tuesday ahead of September quarter results. Its Rs 1,000 crore rights issue of 37.03 crore partly paid shares at Rs 27 opened on October 22 and closes on October 30, with Rs 16.20 payable upfront.
Read more at Entrackr →Paytm said a proposed 0.4% merchant discount rate cap on select UPI payments above Rs 2,000 would lift its payments processing margin by about 2.5 basis points based on its current mix. It said the margin already sits comfortably above 4 basis points.
Read more at MediaNama →PhonePe founder Sameer Nigam told the BFSI Insight Summit that the company wants to take UPI to a billion Indians over the next ten years. He questioned proposed market share caps and backed merchant discount rates to sustain digital payments.
Read more at Business Standard →Flipkart dropped commissions on fashion in July but now penalises sellers Rs 30 when an order misses its dispatch date and another Rs 60 if it is cancelled, Inc42 reports. Higher fees and logistics costs are denting margins just as festive demand peaks. Free, with conditions.
Read more at Inc42 →Punjab-based Nalwa Aero reported successful preliminary flight tests of a scaled electric vertical take-off aircraft for a planned five-seat air taxi. Civil Aviation Minister Rammohan Naidu met its founder and said Indian startups are set to redefine how we fly.
Read more at Mint →SuperYou, the nutrition brand co-founded by actor Ranveer Singh and Nikunj Biyani, launched its fermented yeast protein powder on Walmart.com, with Amazon and TikTok Shop expected next. The brand is already sold in Canada, Nepal and Bangladesh among other markets.
Read more at Mint →Maasi raised Rs 6 crore in a pre-seed round led by Better Capital with Antler India, plus angels including Rapido's Rishikesh SR and Shadowfax's Vaibhav Khandelwal. It will scale caregiver recruitment and training, build technology and expand its team in Bengaluru.
Read more at Entrackr →Swipe-based trivia and puzzle app dubdub raised $1.3 million co-led by 3one4 Capital, Antler and Stellaris Venture Partners. Launched in March by Kaustubh Priye and Supan Shah, it plans to hire, add interactive formats and deepen feed personalisation. Doomscrolling, now with quiz answers.
Read more at Entrackr →LinkedIn's annual list of top Indian startups, ranked on growth, job interest and talent attraction, is led by Zepto and Sarvam. LinkedIn data cited in the report says four in ten professionals globally credit AI with helping them start a business.
Read more at The Daily Jagran →India has 2,50,046 DPIIT-recognised startups reporting more than 25.42 lakh jobs across over 770 districts, the government said. The figures combine progress across Startup India and the National Single Window System, as the initiative marks ten years since its January 2016 launch.
Read more at Indian Startup Times →The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade launched the sixth edition of the National Startup Awards under Startup India to recognise innovation and entrepreneurship. The edition coincides with ten years of the Startup India initiative, which began in January 2016.
Read more at India Education Diary →
Cyclone Arnab began its landfall process near Narsapur in Andhra Pradesh's West Godavari district at around 1.30 am on Wednesday, while heavy rain battered Visakhapatnam. IMD experts said the process may continue for a long time and the exact landfall point can be confirmed only afterwards.
Read more at The Hindu →
Odisha closed schools in 16 of its 30 districts and moved about 48,000 people from vulnerable areas to safety as heavy rain and strong winds preceded Cyclone Arnab's expected landfall on the Andhra Pradesh coast early on Wednesday.
Read more at Firstpost →
Delhi's city-level AQI rose to 228 at 7 am on Wednesday from 167 on Tuesday, moving into the poor category, CPCB data showed. Vivek Vihar recorded 316 and Jahangirpuri 305, with PM2.5 the main pollutant. Noida and Greater Noida also reported elevated levels.
Read more at Business Standard →
The tenth Lancet Countdown report says health risks from climate change accelerated between 2016 and 2025 as action failed to keep pace. People in India were exposed to over 2,600 hours a year in which heat posed at least a moderate risk of heat stress during outdoor activity.
Read more at Hindustan Times →
The Commission for Air Quality Management has set up an in-house integrated command and control centre to monitor polluting activities across Delhi NCR in real time, officials said. It will be operationalised soon, just ahead of peak pollution season. The smog now has a dedicated audience.
Read more at Hindustan Times →A CPCB reply under the RTI Act dated October 26 says National Ambient Air Quality Standards notified in 2009 still apply, while a revised IIT Kanpur report remains under review by a steering committee formed on May 6, 2020. The review is now five years old.
Read more at The Times of India →Grid-India's National Load Despatch Centre warned that high demand and renewable power flowing from Rajasthan have pushed key transformers and lines carrying electricity north beyond safe operating limits during daytime solar hours. In a September 30 letter, it urged faster network upgrades.
Read more at The Indian Express →Tamil Nadu's emergency purchases at Rs 37 a unit highlight a widening gap between daytime solar surpluses and evening shortages, ET EnergyWorld explains. Growing renewable generation is exposing how hard it is to match supply with demand across the day.
Read more at ET EnergyWorld →AM Green will supply around 70,000 tonnes of green ammonia a year for five years to JERA, which produces a third of Japan's electricity, under a binding heads of agreement. The ammonia will come from AM Green's planned facility at Kakinada in Andhra Pradesh.
Read more at The Hindu →Transformers and Rectifiers India announced Rs 12.5 billion of investment in three greenfield projects at its Chiyada complex in Gujarat to make transformer components, including bushings, insulation materials and continuously transposed conductors. Grid upgrades need parts, and someone has noticed.
Read more at Mercom India →The Central Electricity Regulatory Commission approved tariffs for SJVN's procurement of 448 MW of firm and dispatchable renewable energy on a round-the-clock basis from interstate transmission-connected renewable projects, Mercom India reports.
Read more at Mercom India →The Tribal Affairs Ministry told the Calcutta High Court that Nicobarese leaders seeking to join a petition on Great Nicobar forest rights were neither necessary nor proper parties. The petitioners say the 2022 settlement enabling the island's mega project relied on consent from non-tribal settlers.
Read more at Mongabay India →The Maharashtra State Board for Wildlife on Monday cleared eight projects in the eco-sensitive zone of Sanjay Gandhi National Park, which will lose 468 trees. Opposition to cutting over 32,000 trees for a Karjat power plant had earlier forced the government to pause that plan.
Read more at Hindustan Times →The Vasai-Virar civic body fined more than 60 builders Rs 1 lakh each for flouting air pollution control norms at construction sites. The crackdown follows Mumbai topping India's most polluted cities list on October 15.
Read more at Hindustan Times →Telangana declared 365 mandals across 31 districts drought-affected for the 2026 kharif season, with 111 classified as severely affected. The state received 615.5 mm of rain against a normal 740.6 mm between June 1 and September. The order remains in force for six months.
Read more at The Hindu →The Maharashtra cabinet approved Rs 5,000 each for around 15 million farmers in 304 drought-affected talukas whose crops suffered over 33% damage, paid directly from Thursday. It allocated Rs 7,500 crore for this, and a Rs 40,000 crore relief package is also in the offing.
Read more at Hindustan Times →The hot dry climate zone of peninsular India shrank from about 30% to 16% of the region between 1951 to 1980 and 1991 to 2020, IMD and IITM Pune scientists report in MAUSAM. Much former hot semi-arid land has shifted into the tropical savannah zone.
Read more at IndToday →Forest minister Ramalinga Reddy said Karnataka will build a 5,000-acre elephant soft-release centre near Tyagadabagilu in Tarikere taluk and rail barricades along a 20 km stretch in Chikkamagaluru district to reduce human-wildlife conflict and crop damage.
Read more at The Times of India →The Indian Paper Manufacturers Association asked the Prime Minister to intervene over inadequate coal supplies and irregular railway rake availability. It said coal costs have risen over 50% in two months and some mills may stop production because the economics no longer work.
Read more at BusinessLine →Tesla recorded 990 registrations in India between January 1 and October 26, Vahan data compiled by Flash Finance shows, closing in on Mercedes-Benz at about 1,369 electric cars but far behind BMW at 4,014. An Rs 86 crore equity infusion backs its expansion.
Read more at BusinessLine →Amazon India plans to grow its fleet from around 15,000 vehicles to more than 20,000 by next year, mostly electric, from two-wheelers to trucks, vice president Abhinav Singh said. The vehicles will move shipments between facilities, across cities and along freight corridors.
Read more at BusinessLine →HCLTech expanded its Climate Action Grant, launched in the Americas in 2023 with $5 million over five years for 10 countries, to 24 countries. It will give $1.25 million to four non-profits working on climate, ecosystem restoration and biodiversity.
Read more at BusinessLine →Harsha Tej quit his job to restore water bodies in a city that floods every monsoon yet runs short of water. Through the BlueDot Foundation he has helped restore 18 lakes across Karnataka and plant more than 1.5 lakh native trees, The Better India reports.
Read more at The Better India →Speaking at CSIR-CFTRI's 77th Foundation Day in Mysuru, R Kumar of DRDO's Defence Institute of Bio-Energy Research urged less dependence on imported packaging technology. Experts said sustainable, affordable packaging and cutting farm-to-consumer food losses should be priorities for food security.
Read more at The Hindu →PMK floor leader Sowmiya Anbumani urged the Tamil Nadu State Wetlands Authority to notify Pallikaranai marshland under the Wetlands Rules, 2017, and include all 65 water bodies flowing into it. She also demanded removal of a newly built compound wall and walkway on the marsh.
Read more at The Hindu →TeamLease RegTech audited 52 sites across 17 states and union territories, covering 342 regulations, and found 4,694 instances of non-compliance, some of which could attract imprisonment and daily fines. Labour, environment and safety violations accounted for 92% of the gaps.
Read more at BusinessLine →
An updated Channel 13 poll early on Wednesday put the blocs of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and challenger Gadi Eisenkot at 51 seats each in the 120-seat Knesset, the Times of Israel reported. A coalition needs 61. Channel 12 and Kan 11 showed Eisenkot's bloc slightly ahead.
Read more at CNBC →
Exit polls suggest the Joint List and Ra'am could take 18 Knesset seats after turnout among Palestinian citizens of Israel reached about 80%, the highest in decades, early indicators show. The Arab-led parties belong to neither of the two main blocs.
Read more at Al Jazeera →
The International Atomic Energy Agency said it has not identified any activity to repair or rebuild Iranian nuclear facilities damaged in the US and Israeli strikes of 2025 and 2026. Tehran continues to block inspectors from most of its atomic sites.
Read more at The Straits Times →
The US military has spent over $47 billion on the Iran war, Reuters reported, more than 25% above the Pentagon's July estimate of $37.5 billion. More than $29 billion is expected to replace munitions and over $6 billion for lost equipment, ahead of the November 3 election.
Read more at The Straits Times →
Iran says peace talks require the US to end its naval blockade of Gulf ports and lift sanctions, while Washington wants nuclear concessions. Mediators from Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Pakistan and China are pushing to halt further strikes. Tehran also wants control of the Strait of Hormuz.
Read more at The Straits Times →Defeated presidential candidate Flavio Bolsonaro left Brazil for the United States despite a court order barring him from leaving, US media reported. The son of jailed former leader Jair Bolsonaro lost Sunday's election to Lula and has refused to concede. His campaign manager expressed shock.
Read more at CNA →Brazil's benchmark stock index fell 13.9% on Monday, its sharpest drop since the start of the pandemic, and the real fell nearly 8% against the dollar, the most since 1999, after Lula's surprise re-election. Investors fear a fiscal crisis as he balances his base and the markets.
Read more at CNBC →President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Ukrainian troops are on the offensive, including a previously unannounced operation in which they used gas pipelines to outflank Russian positions. He said Kyiv's battlefield position was the strongest in some time and could improve with more air defence deliveries.
Read more at The Straits Times →Finnish President Alexander Stubb and Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store held what they called a frank and substantive discussion with Vladimir Putin on efforts to end the war in Ukraine. They said the war's outcome will directly affect European security.
Read more at CNA →Energy Secretary Chris Wright told CNBC the US could allow more Russian diesel onto the market depending on Moscow's behaviour, calling this month's sanctions suspension an incentive to end the war in Ukraine. The Russian-flagged tanker Talisman is due on the US East Coast on November 9.
Read more at CNBC →Finance minister John Healey unveils his first budget on Wednesday under Prime Minister Andy Burnham's new government, balancing defence commitments and household bills. Rising inflation and borrowing costs, largely a result of the US-Iran war, leave little room to manoeuvre.
Read more at CNA →Washington and Ottawa increased the pace of trade negotiations after Donald Trump and Mark Carney spoke by phone on October 21, Politico reports. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, who helped sink a previous round over the summer, is involved again.
Read more at Politico Europe →Quebec Premier Paul St-Pierre Plamondon accused Ottawa of barring the province from staging a function at the Canada-EU summit, alleging a serious lack of respect. He said Ottawa would rather he serve shrimp cocktail at a function than host one.
Read more at Politico Europe →Olivia Chow beat Brad Bradford by 13 percentage points, 54% to 41%, in a record-turnout election that many expected to be far closer. She promised more rental housing, free school lunches and cheaper fares for frequent transit riders.
Read more at The Guardian →More than 10,000 people have been infected since the outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo was declared in May, the fastest-spreading Ebola outbreak on record, government figures show. The International Rescue Committee said responders were surprised to pass the milestone so quickly.
Read more at NPR →A drone strike on a major power substation left large parts of Sudan's capital without electricity for more than 12 hours on Tuesday, an electric company official said. Hospitals and bakeries relied on generators and water supplies were limited across the city.
Read more at ABC News (AP) →King Charles confirmed he will discuss the legacy of slavery at a Commonwealth summit as he began a nine-day Caribbean tour in the Bahamas. Caribbean nations have renewed calls for Britain to apologise for transatlantic slavery and engage in reparations talks.
Read more at The Guardian →A Cairo court ordered Mada Masr, one of Egypt's last prominent independent news outlets, shut and fined editor Lina Attalah three million Egyptian pounds, about $53,400, for running a website without a licence. She later learned of a one-year sentence passed in her absence.
Read more at Al Jazeera →The Senate voted 229 to 105 for a bill that could make people pay up to 10,000 euros for damage linked to protests and riots, possibly by seizing welfare and housing aid. Critics call it collective punishment. The National Assembly will debate it next.
Read more at The Straits Times →Thousands protested outside Portugal's parliament as it debated the 2027 budget, over a housing crisis in which prices and rents have nearly doubled since 2017, and over police raids on activist camps. Watchdogs opened inquiries into police conduct during the October 25 operations.
Read more at The Straits Times →China's ratio of dependent elderly people to the working-age population rose to 23% last year, overtaking the figure for children at 22%, official data shows. It is the first time the elderly ratio has been higher, a closely watched sign of a shrinking workforce.
Read more at BBC News →International brands from Volkswagen to Toyota are losing ground to domestic rivals in China as cash-strapped buyers turn away from expensive imports and the market tilts towards EVs, SCMP reports. Their combined share has slid below 30% and strategies are being rewritten.
Read more at South China Morning Post →Lithium deposits formed by ancient volcanic activity may lie beneath parts of China's battery manufacturing region along the southeastern coast, a new study suggests, SCMP reports. The factories may have been sitting on their raw material the whole time.
Read more at South China Morning Post →The Commodity Futures Trading Commission is investigating whether Polymarket broke a 2022 settlement banning US users from its offshore platform, a person familiar said. It is part of a wider probe opened after a WSJ report that the company paid creators to post videos of simulated wins.
Read more at CNBC →Costa Rica locked up the first 123 inmates in a mega-prison built with help from El Salvador's government on the outskirts of San Jose, the justice ministry said. Images showed shaved, uniformed inmates in poses resembling those from El Salvador's CECOT.
Read more at The Straits Times →Pakistan raised the threshold at which banks must file currency transaction reports to its Financial Monitoring Unit by 50%, from Rs2 million to Rs3 million, under the anti-money laundering framework, Dawn reports. The National Executive Committee approved the change.
Read more at Dawn →English champions Arsenal lost on penalties, 5-3, to League Two side Fleetwood Town after a 1-1 draw, with 84 places separating the clubs on the English pyramid. Fleetwood sit 18th in League Two. Arsenal's squad cost slightly more than Fleetwood's.
Read more at ABC Australia →
OpenAI plans to buy Google's TPUs to add computing power, a person familiar with the matter said, with terms unknown. It also plans to use its own Jalapeno chips made with Broadcom. Google says its TPUs, first built for search, now rival Nvidia's chips.
Read more at The Straits Times →
SK Hynix reported third-quarter revenue of 104.62 trillion won against 98.34 trillion expected and operating profit of 83.33 trillion won against 76.72 trillion. It announced over $25 billion in dividends and buybacks, and its shares jumped more than 8%.
Read more at CNBC →
Anthropic disclosed $112.4 billion in cash and $19.3 billion in short-term investments as of June 30. Its $131.7 billion total tops every non-bank US company except Berkshire Hathaway and Alphabet, CNBC and S&P Capital IQ data shows. The company is nearly six years old.
Read more at CNBC →
Menlo Ventures, Sequoia, Sound Ventures and Spark Capital should make billions when Anthropic lists, but none owns 5%, the threshold for the principal stockholders table in its S-1, TechCrunch reports. At a $965 billion private valuation, Amazon's stake dwarfs them. A rounding error, for some.
Read more at TechCrunch →
Anthropic was founded in 2021 to ensure humanity can control AI. As it heads for its IPO, TechCrunch reports that buyers of its stock will be shut out of control by what it calls a truly baroque governance structure built around AI safety. Humanity in charge, shareholders less so.
Read more at TechCrunch →Cathedral, an AI-driven cybersecurity firm with a military focus run by former DOGE members, says it broke into Anthropic's internal data and messaging systems in less than 12 hours. Cathedral raised $160 million in July at a $1.4 billion valuation, Fast Company reports.
Read more at Fast Company →Reservoir Media Management filed two lawsuits on October 21 accusing Suno and Anthropic of using songs and lyrics by Madonna, Johnny Cash and Joni Mitchell to train AI. It says Suno scraped 1,050 copyrighted songs, including Ring of Fire and Both Sides Now.
Read more at CNET →Google previewed Genie 4, the latest in a series of world models it began launching in 2024. It is better at rendering fluid movement and complex detail than its predecessor and can generate accompanying audio, such as the sound of crashing waves.
Read more at SiliconANGLE →Oracle announced an expanded OpenAI collaboration that brings ChatGPT and Codex into its software to make databases more actionable. Cloud infrastructure president Mahesh Thiagarajan told CNBC that ChatGPT allows anybody to build an application, deploy it and manage it. Database administrators may wish to sit down.
Read more at CNBC →Apple won another ruling in its lawsuit accusing former employees Chang Liu and Tang Tan, OpenAI and io Products of trade secret misappropriation. Earlier this month Judge Edward Davila granted some of its requests for expedited discovery, 9to5Mac reports.
Read more at 9to5Mac →OpenAI added plugins for iCloud Mail and iCloud Calendar, letting ChatGPT search inboxes and update events the way it already does with Gmail and Google Calendar. Users log in with an Apple account to enable them. Your calendar will now be double-booked with more confidence.
Read more at Engadget →An Amazon memo circulated in September and posted publicly on Tuesday sets AI usage guidelines for software engineers and discourages tokenmaxxing in the push to adopt AI tools. It redefines engineering roles and says the company is just seeing the beginning of AI's effect on software.
Read more at CNBC →Walmart asked its 2.1 million associates in June how they experience AI, and got more than 1.7 million survey responses. Familiarity and comfort with the technology vary, but training is boosting confidence, the company told CNBC.
Read more at CNBC →Fresh-graduate job postings in Hong Kong fell 22% in the first nine months of this year from a year earlier, according to one of the city's biggest job platforms. An industry leader warned that advances in technology will deepen the decline, SCMP reports.
Read more at South China Morning Post →Waymo is expanding its driverless service area by nearly 250 square miles over the next week across Los Angeles, Nashville, Orlando, San Diego and the San Francisco Bay Area, Electrek reports. That is roughly the size of Tesla's entire Houston robotaxi zone.
Read more at Electrek →Elon Musk claimed Ukraine's military used Starlink for offensive drone strikes in violation of its terms of service and said the loophole was closed last week. Ukrainian officials have denied this happened or that it is even possible, The Verge reports.
Read more at The Verge →A New Mexico judge ordered Meta to pay $25 billion over claims it misled users around the 2018 Cambridge Analytica scandal. Most other states had settled similar claims for $17 billion this summer, which now looks modest, The Verge reports.
Read more at The Verge →Robinhood's third-quarter earnings of 51 cents a share missed the 56 cents expected, while revenue of $1.42 billion matched estimates. Net income fell to $468 million from $556 million, despite growth in options trading and prediction markets.
Read more at CNBC →Sanxingdui: Future Past opened on October 23 on more than 10,000 screens with a reported $1.5 million budget and took in about $181,000, roughly $20 per screen, Digital Trends reports. The machines made the film. The audience did not show up to check.
Read more at Digital Trends →From November 16, Discord's Discoverable Servers will get Server Web Pages showing descriptions and summaries of public channel discussions. By mid-December, public channel messages may become searchable on the web, though users can opt out, Engadget reports.
Read more at Engadget →Ford's Fathom electric truck, expected early next year, will be able to send power from its battery back to the house during an outage. At $28,350, it costs about half the average new EV transaction price of close to $55,000, CNET reports.
Read more at CNET →Gemini Notebook on Android and iOS now has a microphone button to capture lectures and record thoughts, with recordings living alongside sources so users can chat with and cite them. It follows last week's Connected App integration, 9to5Google reports.
Read more at 9to5Google →Weibo leaker Digital Chat Station says the next entry-level iPhone will use an A20 chip, so far linked only to Pro models, while keeping a 60Hz display, Engadget reports via 9to5Mac. The front camera may also improve.
Read more at Engadget →Workers at Rockstar's UK offices are reportedly scheduled to vote on recognising their branch of the Independent Workers' Union just as Grand Theft Auto 6 releases on November 19. A legal case alleging union-busting at the developer also wraps next month.
Read more at Engadget →The five-on-five battle arena game, launched on Switch in July 2021 and on mobile months later, will close on March 23, 2027, Engadget reports. Another live-service game ends its journey, and the Pokemon presumably return to their balls.
Read more at Engadget →
Concentrations of carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide all rose to unprecedented levels in 2025, the World Meteorological Organization's 22nd Greenhouse Gas Bulletin says. It warns the rise locks in long-term warming, ahead of the COP31 summit in Antalya from November 9 to 20.
Read more at Kuwait Times →
Heat caused three million deaths from 2016 to 2023, including 710,000 in 2023, more than 70% of them linked to human-caused climate change, The Lancet said ahead of COP31. It noted more clean energy investment and better health warnings, but said fossil fuels still dominate.
Read more at The Straits Times →Isotopic analysis alongside the WMO bulletin offers first evidence that climate-fuelled wildfires are altering methane in the atmosphere globally, Earth Sciences New Zealand says. Its stations at Lauder, Baring Head and Antarctica's Arrival Heights feed the WMO network, which recorded new methane highs.
Read more at Earth Sciences New Zealand →
Donald Trump announced a rollback of methane rules that he says will save consumers and energy firms $45 billion and unlock vast quantities of Texas natural gas. Critics call the new rules toothless. The changes target the super emitter programme, marginal wells and routine flaring.
Read more at The Straits Times →
The European Commission unveiled its first law to boost resilience to global warming, conceding that cutting emissions alone is insufficient as heat, storms and wildfires hit Europe. The package aims to improve the bloc's response to mounting disasters, Politico reports.
Read more at Politico Europe →Former officials and scientists say sweeping cuts to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration under Donald Trump, including staff losses and cancelled grants and contracts, have hampered US capacity to forecast and respond to extreme weather as a potentially historic El Nino approaches.
Read more at The Guardian →Greenland lost around 135 billion tonnes of ice in the twelve months to August 2026, its 30th straight year of net loss, Danish Meteorological Institute scientists Martin Stendel and Ruth Mottram write in Carbon Brief.
Read more at Carbon Brief →Negotiations will begin on the first international protocol targeting environmental crimes such as wildlife trafficking, illegal deforestation and waste smuggling, under the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime. It will be drafted over two years to ease investigation and prosecution.
Read more at Mongabay →Renewables' share of US generating capacity will rise from 37.7% to 40.4% over the coming year, surpassing natural gas and outstripping nuclear fivefold, EIA data reviewed by the SUN DAY Campaign shows. Renewable generation grew by more than 10% over the past year.
Read more at Electrek →Singapore raised its solar ambition to 4 GWp by 2035, alongside its existing 3 GW goal for 2030, Minister of State Gan Siow Huang told the Asia Clean Energy Summit. The country had 2.3 GW installed as of October. For a small island, that is a lot of rooftops.
Read more at pv magazine →A preliminary survey found Singapore's geothermal technical potential is more than 60 times its annual electricity use of around 60 TWh. Energy minister Tan See Leng called it a very good start but said no decision has been made on whether to build plants.
Read more at Eco-Business →Western Australia aims for 75% renewable electricity on the South West Interconnected System by 2030-31, doubling its previous 40% goal, backed by solar, wind and battery projects. The state is preparing to exit coal-fired power by 2030.
Read more at pv magazine →The 300 MW El Oued Foullia solar station in El Oued province, owned by state utility Sonelgaz, is Algeria's largest operational solar project, the energy ministry said. GEM lists China State Construction Engineering Corporation as the operator.
Read more at pv magazine →Bangladesh is renegotiating power purchase agreements with solar developers who signed high tariffs years ago but never built their plants, prompting investor warnings about contract risk. A committee formed in April is meeting more project owners on October 27 and October 29.
Read more at pv magazine →UAE developer Masdar raised $600 million through its inaugural blue bond to finance marine-based renewable projects, including offshore wind. It follows last month's update to its Green Finance Framework to include blue projects tied to sustainable use of the oceans.
Read more at ESG Today →Documents reported by the Los Angeles Times show industry scientists long knew ingested microplastics could reach vital organs, Yale e360 says. In 1974 German scientist Gerhard Volkheimer presented research showing ingested PVC particles could do so. Science is only now catching up with the minutes.
Read more at Yale Environment 360 →More than 9,000 Audi Q4 e-tron and Q4 Sportback e-tron vehicles are now recalled, and owners are told to limit charging to 80%, as with 22,524 recalled ID.4s from model years 2023 to 2026. The risk is thermal propagation, or a battery fire, above 80% charge.
Read more at Electrek →Scottish households recycled 42.8% of waste in 2025, down from 44.3% the year before, according to the Scottish Environment Protection Agency. A 2010 government roadmap said the rate should have reached 70% last year.
Read more at BBC News →November usually brings air pollution above global health guidelines to Pakistan's Punjab, endangering people and wildlife, Mongabay reports. Experts want specialised monitoring of effects on animals, and a veterinary surgeon says birds, cats, dogs and wildlife suffer severe respiratory irritation.
Read more at Mongabay →Endangered Persian leopards have been sighted just three times in Georgia and ten in Armenia in 20 years. Scientists are tracking one named Aren, presumed to have travelled 240 km through cold mountains on three legs in a region still holding decades-old minefields.
Read more at Mongabay →After 20 years of snorkelling southern US rivers, researchers used DNA to describe five new freshwater mussel species that looked like known ones. Mussels filter river water but are North America's most imperilled animal group, and only one new species has been proposed for protection.
Read more at Mongabay →A sea aster mining bee, usually found along England's south and east coasts, was spotted at Steart Marshes in Somerset by naturalist Nigel Phillips, who called it a huge surprise. The Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust credits saltmarsh restoration for creating its new home.
Read more at BBC News →As the EU deforestation regulation nears enforcement after several delays, Mongabay's Solutions Desk looks at how soy traders in Brazil, cocoa firms in Ghana and palm oil farmers in South East Asia are adapting to traceability rules, and where data and supply chain gaps remain.
Read more at Mongabay →Conferences and summits coming up, each checked against its own page this morning. Dates do move, so click before you book the train.
It sits on your phone like an app and has never once asked for an update.
iPhone