An Indian-born cheetah has given birth to five cubs at Kuno National Park in Madhya Pradesh’s Sheopur district, Chief Minister Mohan Yadav said on Monday. The birth takes the total number of cheetahs in India to 60, marking an increase in the country’s cheetah population. The announcement highlights the continued presence and reproduction of cheetahs at Kuno National Park, where the latest litter contributes five new cubs to the national population. The development was shared by Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav, who confirmed the birth and the updated total number of big cats in the country. No further details about the mother, father, or cubs were provided in the supplied excerpt.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said the world is entering an “age of flux” marked by conflicts, tariff volatility and geopolitical uncertainty, describing the situation as “choppy waters” while expressing confidence that India will meet the challenges. Speaking at the Kautilya Economic Conclave in New Delhi, Jaishankar highlighted pressures involving energy, food and fertilisers, along with conflicts and other frictions. He said India’s experience, including during the Covid pandemic and conflicts, showed its ability to overcome challenges. Jaishankar discussed a global order moving towards multipolarity, UN gridlock, non-market practices, dialogue and diplomacy for resolving conflicts, and India’s role in articulating Global South concerns about maritime safety, food, fuel, fertiliser and finance.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said India and the US have reached a “plateau” in trade deal talks. She said it would be “very very difficult” for either country to give or take more. Speaking at the Munich Security Conference, Sitharaman called the proposed agreement “hard and rigorously negotiated.” India and the US have been discussing a wider Bilateral Trade Agreement since February 2025. The two countries aim to increase bilateral trade to $500 billion by 2030. Talks continued through 2026, but no final deal has been reached. Tariffs, market access and the trade imbalance remain key issues.  

A Russian drone attack on a Turkish-owned cargo ship in the Black Sea killed its captain on Monday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said. The ship was carrying corn and had Indian and Azerbaijani citizens among its crew. Eleven crew members were rescued, with one injured. The fate of one person was still being checked. Zelensky condemned the attack and accused Russia of targeting civilian vessels. Separately, a Russian drone strike hit an Indian-owned pharmaceutical warehouse in Ukraine’s Sumy region on Sunday. A 52-year-old worker was killed and three others were injured. The Ukrainian embassy in Delhi also condemned the attack.  

Kolkata-born Sharmila Mona Sinha has been inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame in Seneca Falls, New York, becoming only the second woman of Indian origin to receive the honour after Indra Nooyi. Sinha grew up as the third daughter in a family where sons were traditionally valued more. She later moved to the US at 18, studied at Smith College and earned an MBA from Columbia Business School. After working at Morgan Stanley and major companies, she shifted towards philanthropy and women’s rights. She has led Women Moving Millions and Raising Change and has served as CEO of Equality Now since 2022. (PC: The Times of India)

Israeli-American musician Itay Benda paid tribute to Captain Smit Machchhar, the Indian Flydubai pilot who confronted his co-pilot during an alleged attempt to crash a Dubai-Tel Aviv flight. Benda specially learned Hindi and performed Shah Rukh Khan’s popular song “Tujh Mein Rab Dikhta Hai” as his “small way of saying thank you” to the “brave” captain and Indians worldwide. Originally sung by Roop Kumar Rathore, the song features in Shah Rukh Khan’s 2008 film Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi. The video went viral across social media, drawing praise from viewers for Benda’s Hindi pronunciation and choice of song. On September 30, FZ1073 made an emergency landing in Tabuk after the co-pilot allegedly attacked Machchhar; all 174 people survived.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said India has moved beyond advocating dialogue to becoming more directly involved in efforts to help resolve the Russia-Ukraine conflict. Speaking at the Munich Leaders’ Meeting in New Delhi, he said India is holding conversations with both Moscow and Kyiv on Black Sea shipping safety, grain exports, energy exports and “non-attack possibilities”. Jaishankar reiterated that India wants an end to the conflict through dialogue, diplomacy and negotiations. His remarks came days after Russian President Vladimir Putin said Prime Minister Narendra Modi has “good ideas” for a mutually acceptable solution, while Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said Kyiv received separate ceasefire proposals from India and three other countries. Jaishankar also discussed India-Russia ties and changing global competition.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said the global landscape is marked by a “radical repositioning of the United States,” describing it as a “posture of choice” in which America has deliberately become “a lonelier power.” Speaking at the Munich Leaders Meeting in Delhi, he identified China’s growing influence as another major feature of the changing global order. Jaishankar said strategic competition was no longer limited to the US and China, with countries increasingly weaponising whatever leverage they possess, even as economic and political interdependence deepens. On the Iran conflict, he said India’s primary concerns were disruptions to energy supplies, trade and mobility. He called for uninterrupted flows and an outcome consistent with international law.

A 31-year-old Indian Navy sailor, Pradeep Mukherjee, was arrested on October 3 for allegedly passing classified maritime information to a Pakistani intelligence operative, PTI reported, citing official sources. The Andhra Pradesh Police Counter Intelligence cell detained him at INS Agrani in Coimbatore, where he was attending a management development course.   Investigators say a woman posing online as an operative contacted him months ago, and the relationship was used to extract details on naval assets, fleet movements and the Visakhapatnam base. A native of West Bengal, he joined the Navy in 2014 and was posted with the Eastern Naval Command. (PC: India Today)

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Sunday defended India's ties with Russia, saying Moscow has stood by New Delhi when its security and territorial integrity were under threat. Speaking at the Munich Security Conference in New Delhi, he recalled Soviet support since the 1950s, when much of the world backed Pakistan's military regime. He said each country judges relationships by its own experience, and India's has been consistently positive. His remarks come amid US and European criticism of India's Russian oil purchases, which the MEA has called "unjustified and unreasonable." On Ukraine, Jaishankar reiterated India's call for an end to the war through dialogue and diplomacy. (PC: India Today)