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)

External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar said emerging and middle powers must carefully navigate the growing rivalry between the United States and China. Speaking at the Munich Security Conference, he described the situation as a “Goldilocks scenario”, where the rivalry should be neither excessively confrontational nor overly cooperative, but maintained at the “right temperature.” He said countries are increasingly pursuing diversification, de-risking and resilient supply chains while developing cooperation based on shared interests. Jaishankar argued that complete agreement between countries is no longer necessary; sufficient areas of convergence can enable cooperation. He also highlighted multi-alignment as an increasingly important strategy in today’s interconnected world. (PC: X)

An Indian Navy sailor, 31-year-old Pradeep Mukherjee, was arrested on October 3 by the Andhra Pradesh Police Counter Intelligence (CI) cell at INS Agrani in Coimbatore for allegedly transmitting classified maritime intelligence to a Pakistani intelligence operative. Mukherjee, a West Bengal native who joined the Navy in 2014, was posted with the Eastern Naval Command in Visakhapatnam. Officials said a female Pakistani operative allegedly contacted him through social media and developed an online relationship to obtain sensitive information about naval assets, fleet movements and the operational framework of the Visakhapatnam naval base. Investigators detected suspicious digital activity before placing him under surveillance. 

Flydubai captain Smit Machchhar has recalled the moment his co-pilot attacked him in the cockpit of flight FZ1073. Speaking to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the 39-year-old said the Omani co-pilot stood up to pray, and he looked ahead out of respect. "Suddenly, after about four or five minutes, there was a big blow to the back of my head," he said. He first feared the aircraft was damaged, then realised the blows came from inside the cockpit. Though injured, he reached the door's twist knob and opened it, letting crew and passengers intervene and save all 174 on board. (PC: X)

A pharmaceutical plant run by India's Kusum group in Ukraine's Sumy region has been mostly destroyed in Russian drone attacks, killing one person and injuring several others. Officials said the casualty figures could change. Visuals showed a large plume of smoke over the site. The group, led by Indian national Rajeev Gupta, began in 1994 as an exporter of Indian medicines and opened the Sumy plant in 2009. The facility had kept working through the war. The loss is estimated at least Rs 400 crore. The group calls itself a Ukrainian company with Indian roots, making over 50 mostly generic medicines for nine-plus countries. (PC: NDTV)