AIIMS will re-conduct the CRE-5 examination for affected candidates in Jaipur on September 7. The August 31 morning shift was disrupted by a power failure at the iON Digital Zone Sitapura centre. The examination at centres RJ0101 and RJ0102 was cancelled after the disruption. Only candidates who were scheduled to appear in the affected morning shift can take the re-examination. The exam city will remain Jaipur, but the new centre details will be given in revised admit cards. AIIMS said the revised admit cards will be released soon. Candidates have been asked to check the official examination portal for updates.  

India recorded its hottest August since 1901, the India Meteorological Department said on Monday. The country's mean temperature was 28.01 degrees Celsius, higher than the normal of 27.34 degrees Celsius.   The average minimum temperature was also the highest on record for August. Rainfall during the month was below normal at 213.3 mm.   The weather office said September rainfall across India is likely to be below normal. Monthly rainfall may remain below 91 per cent of the long-period average. Average maximum temperatures in September are also expected to be above normal. Strong El Niño conditions are influencing the weather.

Lionel Messi has announced that he will retire from international football after a 20-year career with Argentina. His final match for the national team was the 2026 FIFA World Cup final, where Argentina lost 1-0.   Messi said he made the decision two days after the final. The death of his father, Jorge, made him even more certain.   The 39-year-old captained Argentina to the 2022 World Cup title. He also won two Copa América titles and the Finalissima. Messi scored 125 goals in 207 matches. He will continue playing for Inter Miami.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to use India’s “extensive contacts” with various countries to help pull warring sides away from conflict and towards dialogue and agreement. Speaking during their meeting on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in Bishkek, Pezeshkian thanked India for its support and cooperation during the recent war and called for stronger diplomatic efforts to restore regional peace and security. He criticised the United States for choosing “the path of war” instead of diplomatic mechanisms and said Iran had never welcomed war. Pezeshkian stressed that continued conflict serves neither Iran, the region nor humanity, and urged greater international efforts to strengthen peace, stability and security. (PC: X)

Prime Minister Narendra Modi told Russian President Vladimir Putin that India would continue supporting peaceful efforts to resolve the Ukraine conflict, stressing the need to move from “endless wars to the end of war.” Meeting on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in Bishkek, Modi said every day of war sets humanity back and called for efforts to end hostilities. He said India and Russia could move forward while keeping their respective interests in mind. Modi also said he carried a message of peace from the land of Mahatma Gandhi and Gautam Buddha. Putin said Russia-India relations were strengthening with Modi’s personal attention, while tourist exchanges between the two countries grew 16% in 2025, according to Sputnik.

India on Monday rejected the latest award by the Court of Arbitration concerning the Indus Waters Treaty, calling the body “illegally constituted” and saying the 1960 treaty remains in abeyance. The Ministry of External Affairs said the tribunal was established by the World Bank in “patent breach” of the treaty’s terms and reiterated that India has never recognised its legal existence or participated in its proceedings. New Delhi said the tribunal has no jurisdiction over India’s sovereign decisions and that its current or future pronouncements would have no impact on projects being undertaken by India. The tribunal, meanwhile, ruled that India must continue observing its treaty obligations and imposed interim measures on the Ratle Hydroelectric Power Project. (PC: ANI)

Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on Monday on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. The meeting marked their first bilateral talks since the US-Iran war began in February. The talks took place just hours after the US and Iran engaged in direct military exchanges for the first time in several weeks. Details of the Modi-Pezeshkian meeting were not immediately released. The Iranian Embassy in India confirmed the meeting in a post on X, saying Pezeshkian met and held talks with Modi during the first leg of his visit to Kyrgyzstan to attend and address the SCO Summit and the Shanghai Plus Summit.

The US and Iran traded fresh strikes after weeks without direct attacks. US forces hit two rocket launchers on Iran's Larak Island near the Strait of Hormuz. Iran said two people were killed and two others were injured. The US said Iran was preparing to launch rockets and place sea mines in the vital waterway. Iran later fired missiles at US military bases in Jordan. Jordan said it intercepted eight missiles. Iran also claimed it targeted a UAE air base with drones. The UAE denied this but confirmed that it shot down a drone. Tensions remain high in the region. (PC: Reuters)

Rescuers searching for 93 missing workers at a hydropower project in Nepal found no sign of anyone inside a tunnel. The workers went missing after severe flooding hit the Rasuwagadhi project in Rasuwa district. The Nepali Army, engineers and a drone team searched the tunnel, including dangerous areas. A thermal drone was used to check the far end, but found no survivors or workers. The search inside the tunnel was later stopped. Nepal has been badly hit by floods since Wednesday. More than 900 people have died and around 4,500 are still missing, according to official reports.

Delhi Police has told the Supreme Court it no longer wants to pursue 13 FIRs registered in connection with student protests held across the national capital between July 20 and 25. The decision follows the Central government’s July 25 decision not to pursue the cases linked to the protests. However, police have sought the court’s permission to register a fresh and separate FIR against 2,873 individuals identified as having serious criminal antecedents. Delhi Police has requested that the 13 FIRs be quashed and said no other fresh case would be filed over the incidents, apart from the proposed FIR. (PC: India Today)