Much of the work had been done by K.L. Rahul and Pathum Nissanka with their century stand for the opening wicket, but Delhi Capitals still needed somebody to finish the job, in its desperate bid to end a losing streak and to keep itself in contention in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026.

Ashutosh Sharma put his hand up. His unbeaten 25 off 15 balls, and his unbroken fourth-wicket partnership of 49 with Tristan Stubbs, helped Capitals score a seven-wicket victory against Rajasthan Royals at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium here on Friday (May 1, 2026) night.

Punjab Kings losing its first match of the IPL 2026 after remaining unbeaten for seven games is a reality check. Still, there’s no doom and gloom in the dressing room, fast-bowling coach James Hopes said after the loss to Rajasthan Royals here at the Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Stadium on Tuesday (April 28, 2026).

“We’ve been flying, winning games, everyone’s happy, the environment is great. But you’re not going to go through the IPL without losing a game,” Hopes told the media post the six-wicket defeat, defending a 222-run total.

Rodrigue Kwizera blitzed through the field to set a new men’s event record at the TCS World 10K Bengaluru 2026 here on Sunday. 

Kwizera stepped on the pedal in the final stretch to finish with a timing of 27:31s, well under the previous mark of 27:38 set by Nicholas Kipkorir Kimeli in 2022. 

Kwizera, who missed the top spot to Kenya’s Sebastian Sawe in a photo finish here three years ago, won $34,000 (including the event record bonus of $8,000).

The Burundi runner accelerated at the 8km mark — after passing the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium — to pull away from his rivals. Kwizera kept a high pace in the long straight finish on Cubbon Road to eclipse Kimeli’s record. 

“The challenge was the heat. I have been training in Spain, where it is much cooler this time of the year. Today, I told myself that I will push at the 5K mark, and again in the final kilometre. I wanted to go for the event record; I am glad I did it,” Kwizera said. 

Rwanda’s Florence Niyonkuru overcame a stiff challenge from favourite Brenda Jepchirchir to claim the international women’s title. 

At the 7km stage, it was Florence, Brenda, Ethiopian Melal Biratu and Kenya’s Judy Chepaskwony who formed the leader pack. 

Florence took over in the last right turn, at the Cubbon Park metro station. Now on her own, Florence eased off and missed the event record (30:35, Irene Cheptai, 2022) by ten seconds. The Rwanda athlete took home $26,000. 

Harmanjot Singh and Sanjivani Jadhav recorded the best timings among Indian men and women respectively. 

Harmanjot clocked 29:13, falling short of the Indian record by just one second. 

“I had the event record in mind. I tried to stay with the international elite pack as far as I could, which was till 5K. After that, I decided to rely on my own judgement,” Harmanjot said. 

Sanjivani, the 2017 Asian Championships 5,000m bronze medallist, took top Indian honours here for a third time in a row. 

Harmanjot and Sanjivani won ₹3,00,000 and ₹2,75,000 respectively. 

The results: International: Men: 1. Rodrigue Kwizera (Burundi) 27:31; 2. Harbert Kibet (Uganda) 27:39; 3. Gilbert Kipkosgei Kiprotich (Kenya) 27:43s.

Women: 1. Florence Niyonkuru (Rwanda) 30:45; 2. Brenda Jepchirchir (Kenya) 30:59; 3. Chaltu Dida Diriba (Ethiopia) 31:03.

Indian (winners only): Men: Harmanjot Singh 29:13. Women: Sanjivani Jadhav 35:01.

A captain, they say, must lead from the front. By that measure, Ruturaj Gaikwad has endured a quiet start to the Indian Premier League 2026. But Chennai Super Kings’ bowling coach Eric Simons insists there is little concern within the camp over the skipper’s lean run.

“It’s a cliche that class is permanent. Tilak (Varma) had been struggling, hadn’t he? And then he has gone and played an incredible knock. We don’t doubt Rutu at all and he doesn’t doubt himself,” Simons said on Wednesday, on the eve of CSK’s marquee clash against Mumbai Indians.

The first batch of Hajj pilgrims for the year 2026 are expected to depart April 18 from varied embarkation points in India, Aseem Mahajan, Additional Secretary (Gulf) at the MEA informed.

Mr. Mahajan said that exactly a total of 1,75,025 pilgrims will be embarking on the journey.

The Rajasthan Assembly on Monday (March 10, 2026) passed a Bill to scrap the provision for disqualifying the candidates with more than two children from contesting the Panchayati Raj elections. The legal provision was introduced in the State in 1995 during the government led by former Chief Minister Bhairon Singh Shekhawat.

The Rajasthan Panchayati Raj (Amendment) Bill, 2026, was passed in the House after an acrimonious debate, in which the Opposition Congress MLAs questioned the need for reversing the decision taken three decades ago. The Congress members also demanded to know when the panchayat elections, pending for more than a year, would be held.

The Bill, passed with a voice vote, amended Section 19 of the Rajasthan Panchayati Raj Act, 1994, while eliminating the two-child norm which earlier barred the individuals from contesting the polls. The provision applied to both Panchayati Raj institutions and urban local bodies.

Panchayati Raj Minister Madan Dilawar said the provision was made as a “population control measure” when there was a high fertility rate of 3.6 during 1991-94. “The fertility rate has dropped to 2.0, driven by family planning, social change, women’s literacy and health care. The restriction on contesting polls has become irrelevant now,” Mr. Dilawar said.

The Bill’s statement of objects and reasons also said a large number of persons having the ability to inspire and serve the public and a vision to lead the village panchayats were not getting an opportunity to become panchayat members because of having more than two children. The amendment to the Act would remove the disqualification, it stated.

Participating in the debate on the Bill, Congress MLA and Pradesh Congress Committee president Govind Singh Dotasra said the State government had decided to make the change “without any clear vision” and brought the amendment under pressure from some elected representatives.

“Has the population control been achieved or has the Centre changed its policy? The population is continuously increasing and there is very little awareness about it in the rural areas,” Mr. Dotasra said. He demanded that the State government explain the rationale behind abolishing the two-child norm.

Also Read | Telangana Assembly passes Bill abolishing two-child norm for local body polls

The Congress MLAs said the Bharatiya Janata Party government, which had raised the slogan of ‘one State, one election’, was not willing to conduct the panchayat elections despite the Rajasthan High Court’s direction to hold them by April 15. Congress chief whip Rafiq Khan said the delimitation of panchayats had been carried out with the violation of norms.

Following the Governor’s assent to the Amendment Bill, the child-related eligibility restriction will be removed for the posts such as ward panch, Sarpanch, Panchayat Samiti member, Zila Parishad member, Pradhan and Zila Pramukh. The grassroots leaders earlier disqualified under the rule will be able to contest elections in the villages.

Australia will provide duty-free access to all Indian exports from January 1, 2026 under the Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (ECTA) between the two countries, Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal said on Monday (December 29, 2025). The Minister was commenting on the third anniversary of the deal, which came into effect on December 29, 2022.

“From 1 January 2026, 100% of Australian tariff lines will be zero-duty for Indian exports,” Mr Goyal shared on X on Monday (December 29, 2025). “Over the past three years, the Agreement has delivered sustained export growth, deeper market access, and stronger supply-chain resilience, benefiting Indian exporters, MSMEs, farmers, and workers alike.”

The ECTA was an ‘early harvest’ deal, covering a few of the trade-related issues between the two countries, with both sides currently engaged in negotiations for a Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA) that will be broader and deeper in scope. 

According to Mr. Goyal, India’s exports to Australia grew by 8% in 2024-25, improving India’s trade balance, with “strong gains” being witnessed across manufacturing, chemicals, textiles, plastics, pharmaceuticals, petroleum products, and gems & jewellery.

“Agri-exports recorded broad-based growth, with sharp increases in fruits & vegetables, marine products, spices, and exceptional growth in coffee,” Mr. Goyal said. 

Bangladesh will hold the 13th parliamentary election on February 12, 2026, Chief Election Commissioner A.M.M. Nasir Uddin announced on Thursday (December 11, 2025).

A referendum on a landmark democratic reform charter will also be held on the same day, the CEC said in a television broadcast to the nation.

This will be the first election after former prime minister Sheikh Hasina was ousted in a violent student-led protest in August 2024.

Interim leader, Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus, who returned from exile in August 2024 at the behest of protesters to lead a caretaker government, will step down after the polls.

The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), led by three-time former prime minister Khaleda Zia, is widely tipped to win.

But Ms. Zia is in intensive care in Dhaka, while her son and political heir Tarique Rahman has been in exile in Britain for 17 years and is yet to return.

With inputs from PTI, AFP