Renowned Jain monk Acharya Vidyasagar Maharaj died on Sunday at Chandragiri Teerth in Chhattisgarh's Rajnandgaon district after undertaking 'sallekhna'. He was 77.

'Sallekhna' is a Jain religious practice involving voluntary fasting unto death for spiritual purification, a statement from the teerth said.

Acharya Vidyasagar Maharaj attained Samadhi through 'sallekhna' at Chandragiri Teerth at 2:35 am, the statement said.

"Maharaj was staying on the teerth in Dongargarh for the last six months and was unwell for the past few days. For the last three days, he was observing 'sallekhna', a religious practice of voluntarily fasting to death, and had quit intake of food and liquids. According to Jainism, it is a vow taken for spiritual purification," the statement said.

Japan and the US are planning to launch the world's first wooden satellite, the LignoSat probe, into space this summer.

This unusual spacecraft is made up of magnolia wood which, during the experiments, was found to be particularly stable and resistant to cracking. The wooden satellite was created by Japanese scientists and now the US has become a part of their mission as they finalized the satellite to be launched on a US rocket, The Guardian reported.

In a pioneering effort to address the growing issue of space debris, the researchers at Kyoto University in collaboration with the logging company Sumitomo Forestry built the timber satellite. They came up with the idea of using an alternative to metal, which are biodegradable material.

Iconic Indian cricketer Mahendra Singh Dhoni was on Sunday selected as the leader of IPL’s all-time greatest team which was picked to celebrate the success of world’s most-popular T20 league which was launched in 2008.

The selection panel consisted of former cricketers Wasim Akram, Matthew Hayden, Tom Moody and Dale Steyn. About 70 journalists were also part of the selection process.

Australia’s fiery David Warner and India’s batting main stay Virat Kohli were chosen as openers while ‘Universe Boss’ Chris Gayle was given the number three spot in batting order.

The middle-order consisted of Suresh Raina, AB de Villiers, Suryakumar Yadav and Dhoni, while Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja and Kieron Pollard were the three all-rounders in the 15-member squad.

Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Friday presented his 15th Budget. The state's budget outlay stands at ₹3.71 lakh crore this year, CM Siddaramaiah said. He added that Karnataka's economy is estimated to grow at 6.6% in FY 2025.

The Union Minister of Ports, Shipping and Waterways and Ayush, Sarbananda Sonowal launched 'Sagar Aankalan' guidelines during the stakeholders meet for implementation of the MoUs signed earlier at the Global Maritime India Summit 2023 (GMIS 2023) on Friday in Delhi.

The "Sagar Aankalan" Guidelines for National Benchmarking of Indian Ports Performance would be applicable to all Indian seaports with the aim to achieve mapping and benchmarking of Indian Port's-logistics performance and efficiency, harmonisation of standards, definitions and performance with global benchmarks, Improving competitiveness, efficiency and overall performance of the port sector with focus on improvement, productivity, sustainability and customer satisfaction.

Union Minister of State for Electronics and IT, Skill Development & Entrepreneurship, and Jal Shakti, Shri Rajeev Chandrasekhar exchanged the MoU with Mr. Mauricio Lizcano, Minister of Information Technologies and Communications of Colombia.

The signatories were Shri S. Krishnan, Secretary of MeitY from India’s side, and Mr. Mauricio Lizcano from Colombia’s side. The MoU intends to promote digital transformation (viz INDIA STACK) through capacity-building programs, the exchange of best practices, the exchange of public officials and experts, the development of pilot or demo solutions and the facilitation of private sector contacts to mutually benefit the digital ecosystems of both countries.

Both sides discussed the importance of Digital Public Infrastructures. These infrastructures constitute a set of shared digital systems that are secure and interoperable. They can be built on open standards to deliver and provide equitable access to public and private services. India Stack Solutions are DPIs developed and implemented by India at population scale to provide access and delivery of public services.

The Bihar Forest and Environment department will organise the three-day Nagi Bird Festival in Jamui from Saturday.

Secretary of the Forest Department, Bandana Preyasi told that after the successful international workshop on birds, the Bihar government is going to conduct the Nagi festival in Jamui, Bihar.

The festival aims to promote bird conservation and educate people about migratory birds and their habitats.

Preyasi said that the main objective behind this festival is to make people aware of these migratory birds. Tourism will also be promoted as these birds are rare. They come here and stay for about two and a half months. So it is a very strong eco-tourism site.

A Border Security Force dog belonging to the Indian dog breed Mudhol Hound, created history by winning first place in the All India Police Duty Meet (AIPDM), where dogs from other breeds across the world also participated.

According to the Border Security Force, during the AIPDM organised in Lucknow from February 12th to 16th, BSF's K9 bagged the first position with the indigenous dog breed Mudhol Hound named Riyaa, handled by constable Ashok Kumar Kumawat.

"With the win, history was created as it was for the first time that an Indian breed was pitched in a competition and it secured the first position," said an official.

The Andhra Pradesh government and edX, an e-learning platform, signed an agreement in the presence of Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy at his camp office here on Friday for offering world-class higher education courses to the youth.

An official release said the agreement paves the way for more than 12 lakh students to pursue 2,000-plus edX online courses offered by the world's top-notch universities and other educational institutions, free of cost along with their regular courses. Teachers drawn from some of the world's top universities and institutions would impart lessons to students.

The 14th Global Investment Immigration Summit at the Shangri-la Hotel in New Delhi on February 10, 2024 marked a significant milestone in India's quest for international opportunities. The event witnessed a remarkable surge in attendees, indicative of the growing interest among Indian investors and High Net Worth Individuals (HNIs) in exploring avenues abroad. With a keen focus on various immigration programs such as the EB-5 Visa, Portugal Golden Visa, UK Business Immigration, and Europe Golden Visa, the summit served as a comprehensive platform for industry professionals and aspiring immigrants alike.

Organized by BLS Global and Acquest Advisors (Knowledge Partner) with NDTV as the media partner, the summit brought together a diverse array of immigration experts from around the world. Representatives from countries like the US, UK, Portugal, Greece, and more converged in New Delhi to share insights and expertise with over 150 HNIs and industry professionals in attendance.