The echoes of ‘Chak De India’ have barely faded from the rafters of the Narendra Modi Stadium, but the celebrations for the Men in Blue are just beginning. Following a masterclass in Ahmedabad where India dismantled New Zealand to clinch their record-breaking third T20 World Cup title, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has raised the stakes.

BCCI rewards Team India with massive prize purse for T20 World Cup 2026 success

In a move that reflects the sheer magnitude of the achievement, the board has announced a staggering INR 131 crore cash reward for the squad, support staff, and selectors.

This windfall marks a significant jump from the INR 125 crore disbursed after the 2024 triumph in Barbados. By retaining the trophy on home soil, India hasn’t just defended their crown; they’ve established a cricketing dynasty. The BCCI’s statement on Tuesday lauded the team’s “historic achievement,” noting that this prize money serves as both a reward for excellence and an investment in the continued dominance of Indian cricket on the global stage.

The final against New Zealand was less of a contest and more of a coronation. Under the blinding lights of the world’s largest cricket stadium, India delivered a clinical performance to secure a 96-run victory. The win was a testament to the team’s tactical evolution and mental fortitude. By lifting the trophy in 2026, India became the first nation in the history of the T20 World Cup to successfully defend their title, a feat that had eluded even the great West Indies and English outfits of the past.

Also READ: ICC announces T20 World Cup 2026 Team of the Tournament, Aiden Markram to lead

From group stage shocks to Ahmedabad glory: The path to immortality

While the final scoreline suggests a smooth ride, India’s journey to the INR 131 crore bonus was paved with high-octane drama. Entering the tournament as heavy favourites, the Men in Blue cruised through Group A with four consecutive wins. However, the Super 8s provided a harsh reality check. A bruising 76-run defeat at the hands of South Africa left India’s campaign dangling by a thread.

Faced with a win-or-go-home scenario, the team’s resilience came to the fore. Thumping victories over Zimbabwe and a high-stakes encounter against the West Indies revitalized the squad. This momentum carried them through a high-scoring semi-final thriller against England, proving that this version of Team India thrives under maximum pressure.

This victory also places India at the pinnacle of the format with three titles (2007, 2024, and 2026), breaking the tie with England and the West Indies. The sheer dominance displayed in the final was the perfect antidote to the knockout jitters that had haunted the team for a decade prior to their 2024 breakthrough.

Also READ: “Next stop Olympic gold”: Suryakumar Yadav reveals LA 2028 dream after India’s T20 World Cup triumph

The Union cabinet on Monday approved the extension of the Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) until December 2028, with a revised total outlay of Rs 8.69 lakh crore, as the government seeks to shift the rural drinking water programme from infrastructure creation to a service delivery–driven model under JJM 2.0.Under the revised framework, the Centre’s financial support will increase to Rs 3.59 lakh crore, up from Rs 2.08 lakh crore approved in 2019-20, implying an additional central share of Rs 1.51 lakh crore.The government said the restructured mission will focus on drinking water governance, institutional systems and sustainable service delivery, moving beyond the earlier infrastructure-centric approach.As part of the reforms, a national digital framework called “Sujalam Bharat” will be introduced. Under this system, each village will receive a unique “Sujal Gaon/Service Area ID”, digitally mapping the entire drinking water supply network from source to household tap.The programme will also introduce “Jal Arpan”, under which Gram Panchayats (GPs) and Village Water and Sanitation Committees (VWSCs) will participate in the commissioning and formal handover of water supply schemes to improve transparency and accountability.A Gram Panchayat will declare itself “Har Ghar Jal” only after certifying that adequate in-village operation and maintenance mechanisms are in place, the government said.To strengthen community ownership, the mission will also promote “Jal Utsav”, an annual community-led review and maintenance event aimed at reinforcing collective responsibility for sustainable drinking water management.The government said the scheme has already made significant progress since its launch in 2019.From a baseline of 3.23 crore rural households (17%) with tap water connections in 2019, more than 12.56 crore additional rural households have received tap water connections under the mission.Currently, 15.80 crore out of 19.36 crore rural households in the country — about 81.61%–have tap water connections, according to official data.Several independent studies have also highlighted the wider impact of the programme.SBI Research estimated that the mission has freed about 9 crore women from the burden of fetching water, allowing them to participate in other economic activities.The World Health Organisation (WHO) estimated that improved water access under the programme has helped save 5.5 crore hours of women’s labour every day, prevented around 4 lakh diarrhoeal deaths, and resulted in savings of 14 million disability-adjusted life years (DALYs).According to Nobel laureate Prof Michael Kremer, the programme could contribute to a 30% reduction in under-five mortality, potentially saving about 1.36 lakh lives annually.Studies by IIM Bangalore and the International Labour Organisation (ILO) estimated that the mission could generate 59.9 lakh direct and 2.2 crore indirect person-years of employment, boosting rural livelihoods.Under JJM 2.0, the government aims to ensure tap water connections for all 19.36 crore rural households by December 2028, while strengthening sustainability, community participation and citizen-centric water services.The programme is also aligned with the broader Viksit Bharat @2047 vision, which seeks to move towards assured 24×7 rural drinking water supply through structural reforms and a utility-style service delivery framework.The mission will also adopt a “whole-of-government” approach, with multiple ministries and departments working together to ensure long-term operation, maintenance and source sustainability of rural water supply systems, the government said.

The ongoing crisis in the Middle East has brought the Strait of Hormuz to the brink of closure, disrupting global oil supplies and forcing Gulf nations like UAE, Iraq and others, to slash production. With storage tanks filling rapidly, analysts warn of the growing risk of a total production shutdown if output is not carefully managed.The latest addition to this list is Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest oil exporter, which has reduced production by between 2 million and 2.5 million barrels a day. The kingdom is rerouting some supplies through the Red Sea to maintain exports, although the pipeline there cannot fully handle the usual volumes.“Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest oil exporter, is also rerouting some supplies through the Red Sea to maintain exports,” a source told Bloomberg.Earlier, the UAE also lowered output by between 500,000 and 800,000 barrels per day, rerouting some exports through Fujairah, which has also been struck by Iran. While this alternative route helps maintain shipments, it covers only a fraction of the Gulf’s usual exports. “The ongoing war in the Middle East has brought maritime traffic through Hormuz nearly to a halt, with mostly only Iranian shipments moving through,” Bloomberg reported.Kuwait Petroleum Corporation began cutting oil output last week and declared force majeure. The company said the reduction was precautionary and would be reviewed as the situation develops, adding that it remained ready to restore production levels when conditions allow. Back in February, Kuwait produced around 2.6 million barrels per day of crude oil. The production cut comes as the disruption of oil flows through the Strait of Hormuz begins to fill storage tanks, prompting proactive reductions to prevent storage facilities from reaching capacity too quickly.Iraqi oil production from its main southern fields has fallen by 70%, to just 1.3 million barrels per day, down from 4.3 million barrels per day before the war. Exports dropped sharply to an average of around 800,000 barrels per day, with only two tankers loading because vessels cannot move freely through the Strait of Hormuz.Iraq’s storage capacity has likely been exhausted, prompting output cuts of around 1.5 million barrels per day last week. Rystad Energy warned that Iraq’s remaining operational oil fields “face an imminent, near-certain shutdown.”Qatar, India’s largest supplier of imported natural gas, declared force majeure on LNG deliveries following a halt in production after an Iranian drone strike. Sources said the disruption has cut supplies to Indian industry by up to 40%, affecting power generation, fertiliser production, CNG distribution, and piped cooking gas networks.“Gas importer Petronet LNG Ltd has informed gas marketers of Qatar halting its liquefied natural gas production after Iran continued to strike Gulf countries in retaliation for Israeli and US strikes against it,” sources said.

Impact on global oil prices

The conflict has pushed oil prices to nearly $120 a barrel after Israel struck Iran’s energy infrastructure and Tehran announced Mojtaba Khamenei as Iran’s new Supreme Leader. Earlier on Monday, Brent crude reached $119.50 before easing to around $100 per barrel, still over 20% higher than pre-war levels.The war has created fresh fears for energy infrastructure across the Middle East, with producers already grappling with damaged sites from Iranian attacks and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, the world’s most critical oil shipping route.

How much more can their tanks store?

With storage tanks nearing capacity, Gulf oil-producing nations face the risk of a complete production halt. The Strait of Hormuz carries roughly one-fifth of global oil and LNG flows, making its closure a worst-case scenario for energy markets.“Collectively, Gulf nations can store about 343 million barrels of oil to delay an inevitable production stoppage,” JP Morgan said as cited by Deutsche Welle. However, with around 15 million barrels per day of crude and over 4 million barrels per day of refined products typically flowing through the Strait, storage buffers are extremely limited. Iraq, which had just six days of storage, has likely already reached its limit, prompting Baghdad to cut output by around 1.5 million barrels per day last week. Rystad Energy, a Norwegian research firm, warned on Monday that Iraq’s remaining operational oil fields “face an imminent, near-certain shutdown.”Saudi Arabia, by contrast, had 66 days of storage as of 28 February, according to JP Morgan, assuming the kingdom could reroute some exports through alternative routes. Rystad Energy cautioned, however, that the Saudis may have only seven to nine days of “effective runway before forced output cuts,” as cited by Deutsche WelleSaudi Aramco is redirecting as much oil as possible to the Red Sea port of Yanbu, while the UAE is sending some of its exports through Fujairah, despite the port also being targeted by Iran. These alternative routes currently handle only about a third of the volume that normally passes through the Strait of Hormuz.Bloomberg News reported that Saudi Arabia has reduced oil production by up to 2.5 million barrels per day, with the UAE cutting output by 500,000 to 800,000 barrels daily. Kuwait has also lowered production by half a million barrels per day, and Iraq by roughly 2.9 million, according to sources familiar with the matter.

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Tuesday sternly cautioned against any attempt to question the integrity of judicial officers overseeing the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in West Bengal. It declared that such actions would not be tolerated and that trust in the judiciary must be maintained.The warning came from a Bench led by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant and justice Joymalya Bagchi, while hearing a batch of petitions concerning the ongoing revision exercise.

“Your application is premature, and it shows as if you don’t have trust. How did you dare such applications are filed? No one should dare question the judicial officers. As a Chief Justice of India, I will not tolerate this,” CJI Kant told the applicants.The Court took strong exception to certain applications that flagged the pendency of claims before judicial officers assigned to scrutinise voter inclusion and deletion requests. Reiterating to maintain faith in the judiciary, CJI Kant said the top court would not allow any undermining of officers carrying out judicial functions under its directions.To address potential grievances, the Supreme Court directed that Calcutta high court chief justice Sujoy Paul may constitute a special bench. It would comprise sitting or former judges to hear appeals against decisions made during the SIR process.“We leave it to the chief justice (of high court) to decide how many judges shall be there in the appellate bench,” said CJI Kant.The Bench further instructed that the Election Commission will bear all costs associated with the appellate mechanism and the judicial officers engaged in the exercise.“High court chief justice is requested to fix the honorarium payable to former justices or present judges, and all costs shall be borne by the election commission of India. Similarly, honourarium shall be fixed for the service of former judicial officers, especially when 200 such officers are from neighbouring states,” the order read.Judicial officers from West Bengal, Odisha and Jharkhand have been deputed to conduct the SIR following the Supreme Court’s earlier observation of a “trust deficit” between the ECI and the West Bengal government.On 20 February, the Court had directed the deployment of serving and retired district judges to ensure the revision’s smooth execution.During Tuesday’s hearing, Senior Advocate Menaka Guruswamy informed the Bench that around seven lakh claims had been decided, 63 lakh remained under adjudication, and approximately 57 lakh were still pending.In response, CJI Kant expressed confidence in the officers’ work. “We knew you people would run away when judicial officers are appointed. The high court chief justice has told us 10 lakh claims have been decided,” he remarked.Emphasising the seriousness of the judicial officers’ findings, CJI Kant added, “If a judicial officer prima facie finds that you are not entitled to vote, then you will not vote.”The Court directed the ECI to issue a notification announcing the constitution of the appellate body to handle voter roll disputes.

Rinku Singh and Priya Saroj (Imare credit: Instagram)

NEW DELHI: The victorious Indian team members are returning home after winning the 2026 T20 World Cup title. India defeated New Zealand by 96 runs in the final at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.Rinku Singh, a member of the title-winning Indian side, arrived at the airport with his fiancée Priya Saroj. Upon arrival, he walked ahead to greet and hug his friends who had gathered outside the airport to welcome him, momentarily leaving Priya behind.

Seeing Rinku walk ahead, Priya jokingly said, “mujhe bhool gye kya?”. Rinku laughed, walked back, put his hands around Priya’s shoulders, and then went on to meet his friends.Rinku got engaged to politician Priya Saroj on June 8.The cricketer also penned an emotional tribute to his late father, Khanchand Singh, who passed away on February 27 in Greater Noida after a prolonged illness.Rinku attended his father’s funeral after India’s T20 World Cup 2026 Super 8s match against Zimbabwe before rejoining the squad in Kolkata for the crucial must-win Super 8s clash against the West Indies.In a heartfelt post after India’s T20 World Cup 2026 triumph, Rinku said that even a single day without speaking to his father felt incomplete and that he struggles to imagine life ahead without him.“I have never spent so many days without talking to you. I don’t know how life will move forward without you… But I know I will need you at every step,” he wrote in a post on Instagram. “You always taught me that duty comes first, so on the field I was only trying to fulfil your dream. Now that your dream has been fulfilled… I just wish you were here with me. I will feel your absence in every small and big moment of happiness. I will miss you a lot, Papa,”Meanwhile, Rinku played just five matches for India in the T20 World Cup, where he struggled for runs and managed only 24 in total, including a duck against South Africa at the Narendra Modi Stadium during the Super 8s stage.After the loss against the Proteas, Rinku was dropped from the team and Sanju Samson replaced him in the playing XI. The move proved beneficial as Samson delivered back-to-back match-winning knocks in the Super 8s, the semi-final, and the final.

Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, has reacted to the shocking deaths of two young women in Surat, Gujarat, after reports revealed that the two friends had used ChatGPT to search for ways to commit suicide. Authorities believe they had injected themselves with an anaesthetic drug.Katie Miller, podcaster and former Advisor to the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) shared: “Two women in India committed suicide after interactions with ChatGPT. They had reportedly searched ChatGPT about “how to commit suicide,” “how suicide can be done,” & “which drugs are used.” Please don’t let your loved ones use ChatGPT.”

Responding to a post about the incident on X, Musk offered just one word: “Yikes.”

What happened in Surat Temple

Childhood friends Roshni Sirsath, 18, and Josna Chaudhary, 20, left their homes on Friday (March 6) morning as usual, telling their families they were headed to college. When the two women did not return by afternoon and stopped answering phone calls, their families contacted the police. Using their active mobile phones, officers were able to trace the pair’s last location on the outskirts of the city. Around 9:30 pm, family members spotted one of the girls’ scooters parked outside the Atmiya Sanskar Dham Swaminarayan Temple and began searching the premises. After checking the CCTV footage from the temple, they spotted that the two friends entered the washroom at 7:44 am, and never came out.When the locked washroom door was forced open, both women were found dead inside. Police recovered one empty vial, three drug vials, and three syringes near their bodies. Authorities believe they had injected themselves with an anaesthetic drug. Sirsath was taken to New Civil Hospital and Chaudhary to SMIMER Hospital, where both were declared brought dead..

The ChatGPT connection in Surat girls’ death

The case became disturbing after investigators found on the victims’ mobile phones that they both had used ChatGPT to look up methods of suicide using drugs. The search history on the phones showed an image of a news article about another woman who had died by suicide using an anaesthetic and it was also found saved on one of the phones. Police have not recovered any suicide note. Both girls were BCom students — Chaudhary in her second year at Wadia Women’s College, and Sirsath in her first year at Udhna Citizen Commerce College.

Elon Musk to Sam Altman: ‘Nobody has committed suicide because of Grok’

Last week, Musk attacked Sam Altman’s OpenAI by criticising the company’s safety protocols. Musk contrasted OpenAI’s record with his own venture, xAI, claiming that while ChatGPT has been linked to incidents of self-harm, “nobody has committed suicide because of Grok.” OpenAI is currently facing multiple lawsuits alleging that manipulative interactions with its chatbot have contributed to negative mental health outcomes, including suicides. Meanwhile, Musk’s xAI has faced its own significant controversies. Musk-owned social media platform X was flooded with non-consensual nude images generated by Grok, some of which reportedly depicted minors.

The gates of Thiruvananthapuram International Airport have seen many dignitaries, but on Monday, they witnessed a homecoming like no other. India’s premier wicketkeeper-batter, Sanju Samson, returned to his roots in Kerala after a career-defining campaign at the 2026 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup.

The atmosphere was electric as thousands of fans, draped in the Indian tricolour and chanting “Sanju, Sanju,” gathered hours before his flight touched down. The local hero, hailing from the coastal village of Vizhinjam, didn’t just return with a winner’s medal; he returned as the officially crowned Player of the Tournament, a feat that has ignited a sense of collective pride across the state.

Sanju Samson returns to roaring reception at Thiruvananthapuram airport

Upon his arrival, Samson was greeted with a massive roar from the sea of supporters. Representing the state government, Education Minister V. Sivankutty was present to receive the champion, presenting him with a ceremonial memento and a traditional Kerala shawl. The Minister noted that Sanju’s journey is a beacon of hope for every young athlete in the region.

Despite the chaos of the cheering crowd, Samson took a moment to wave to his fans, visibly moved by the reception. For a player who has often faced the mercurial tag, this homecoming was the ultimate validation. The Kerala government has already announced plans for a grander, formal state reception to further honour his contribution to India’s successful defence of the T20 World Cup title.

Here’s the video:

Sanju Samson receives grand welcomepic.twitter.com/Ozq7D7QMRa

— Aatish Kapoor the oscar winner (@AkashThapa2505) March 10, 2026

Also READ: Complete list of T20 World Cup Player of the Tournament winners ft. Sanju Samson

Samson’s dream run in the T20 World Cup 2026

Samson’s journey to the Player of the Tournament award was a story of resilience. After being sidelined early in the tournament following a lean patch during the New Zealand bilateral series, he was recalled to the XI at a critical juncture. What followed was a triple-treat of match-winning knocks that will be etched in cricketing history.

• The super eights spark: Against the West Indies, India faced a daunting chase of 196. Samson silenced his critics with a clinical, unbeaten 97 off 50 balls, shifting the tournament’s momentum in India’s favour.
• The Wankhede blitz: In the high-pressure semifinal against England, he equaled Virat Kohli’s record for the highest score by an Indian in a T20WC knockout, smashing a breathtaking 89 off 42 deliveries.
• The Ahmedabad final: Saving his best for the grandest stage, Samson delivered another 89 in the final against New Zealand. His 46-ball masterclass at the Narendra Modi Stadium propelled India to a record-breaking 255/5, the highest total ever in a T20 World Cup final.

Samson ended the tournament with 321 runs and a record-shattering 24 sixes, the most by any player in a single edition. During the post-tournament celebrations, Sanju credited his turnaround to visualizing success during his time on the bench in 2024 and receiving technical guidance from the legendary Sachin Tendulkar.

Also READ: Grand welcome awaits Sanju Samson in Kerala after T20 World Cup heroics