Anuj Shrivatri from Madhya Pradesh achieved his final Grandmaster norm and won the 7th ASEAN Chess Championship, scripting history as India’s 100th Chess Grandmaster. India’s GM milestone began with Viswanathan Anand in 1988, followed recently by S. Ashwath (98th) and V. S. Rathanvel (99th).

During the regional committee meeting held in Java, Indonesia, UNESCO inscribed three foundational Indian Sanskrit works onto the Memory of the World Asia-Pacific Regional Register: the epic Mahabharata (manuscript preserved at BORI, Pune), Chanakya’s political treatise Arthashastra (preserved at ORI, Mysuru), and Kalhana’s 12th-century historical chronicle of Kashmir Rajatarangini (preserved at SPS Library, Srinagar).

Two-time Olympic medalist shuttler P. V. Sindhu was elected Chairperson, and Indian Men’s Hockey team captain Harmanpreet Singh was elected Vice-Chairperson of the Athletes’ Commission of the Indian Olympic Association (IOA). Weightlifter Mirabai Chanu and swimmer Sajan Prakash were also inducted as members for the four-year term (2026–2030).

The armed forces (Army, Navy, and Air Force) of India and Myanmar conducted their inaugural joint tri-service HADR exercise, named ‘Rahat Mitra’, in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. Featuring over 300 military personnel, the exercise focused on disaster response coordination, standard operating procedures (SOPs), and joint relief capabilities during coastal and regional natural calamities.

A Supreme Court bench comprising Justice Prashant Kumar Mishra and Justice Augustine George Masih ruled that the National Book Trust (NBT) falls under the definition of ‘State’ under Article 12. The court observed that NBT operates under extensive administrative governance, deep financial oversight, and pervasive functional control of the Central Government (Ministry of Education) to fulfill public duties.

Former Vice President Pedro Alliana (Colorado Party) was sworn in as the President of Paraguay to complete the presidential term until 2028. This followed the impeachment and removal of President Santiago Peña by the Paraguayan Congress over corruption allegations linked to the insolvency and collapse of digital lender Ueno Bank.

The Government of Karnataka designated the Malabar Tree Toad (Pedostibes tuberculosus) as the official State Amphibian. Endemic to the Western Ghats, this arboreal amphibian was first recorded in 1876 and later rediscovered in Karnataka in 2005. It is categorized as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List.

The Bahamas officially deposited its Instrument of Accession to the ISA Framework Agreement during the 9th International Solar Alliance Assembly in New Delhi, becoming the 116th full member nation. Headquartered in Gurugram, India, the ISA is a treaty-based international organization dedicated to scaling solar energy deployment worldwide.

Chennai-based Indian NGO REACH (Resource Group for Education and Advocacy for Community Health) won the Kochon Prize 2026 at the 40th Stop TB Partnership Board meeting in Bali, Indonesia. Established in 2006 by the South Korea-based Kochon Foundation, the annual global award recognizes exemplary contributions toward ending tuberculosis.

India and the European Commission concluded negotiations for India’s formal association with Horizon Europe (a €93.5 billion fund running from 2021 to 2027). Effective from January 2027, the association allows Indian researchers, universities, and biotech/clean-energy enterprises to participate in and access direct EU research grants on equal terms with European counterparts.