For nearly two decades, no one had spotted the world’s smallest-known snake.

Some scientists worried that maybe the Barbados threadsnake had become extinct, but one sunny morning, Connor Blades lifted a rock in a tiny forest in the eastern Caribbean island and held his breath.

“After a year of searching, you begin to get a little pessimistic,” said Blades, project officer with the Ministry of Environment in Barbados.

The snake can fit comfortably on a coin, so it was able to elude scientists for almost 20 years. Too tiny to identify with the naked eye, Blades placed it in a small glass jar and added soil, substrate and leaf litter.

A new blood group, previously unidentified anywhere in the world, has been discovered in a South Indian woman from Kolar district in Karnataka. This remarkable case came to light when a 38-year-old woman was admitted for cardiac surgery at a hospital in Kolar.

Her blood group was O Rh+, the most common blood group; however, none of the available O-positive blood units were compatible with her. The hospital escalated the case to the Advanced Immunohematology Reference Laboratory at the Rotary Bangalore TTK Blood Centre for further investigation.

“Using advanced serological techniques, our team found that her blood was ‘panreactive’, incompatible with all test samples. Recognising this as a possible case of a rare or unknown blood type, the team collected blood samples from 20 of her family members to search for a compatible match, but none of them were a match. The case was managed with utmost care, and with collaborative effort from her physicians and family, her surgery was successfully completed without the need for transfusion,” said Dr Ankit Mathur from the Rotary Bangalore TTK Blood Centre. Meanwhile, her and her family’s blood samples were sent to the International Blood Group Reference Laboratory (IBGRL), Bristol, UK. Dr Mathur said that ten months of extensive research and molecular testing resulted in the discovery of a previously unknown blood group antigen.

The Ministry of Education, in partnership with the Indian Knowledge Systems (IKS) division of the Central Sanskrit University, has launched the Setubandha Scholar Scheme - a major initiative aimed at integrating Gurukul-trained students into mainstream academia.

The scheme will enable meritorious students from traditional Indian education systems to pursue formal postgraduate and PhD degrees, including at leading institutions like the IITs. Selected scholars will receive monthly scholarships starting from Rs 40,000.

Postgraduate students will be eligible for scholarships of up to Rs 1 lakh, while PhD candidates may receive up to Rs 2 lakh. All degrees will be conferred by the Central Sanskrit University.

Vice Chairman, NITI Aayog, Shri Suman Bery, on 23 July 2025, presented India’s Third Voluntary National Review (VNR) Report on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) at the Ministerial Segment of the High-Level Political Forum (HLPF) on SDGs convened by the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) of the United Nations.

He observed that it was an important opportunity to share with the world the combination of economic growth, investment in infrastructure, efficient delivery of targeted schemes, and local commitment that had transformed the Sustainable Development Goals into a national movement in less than a decade.

This VNR marks India’s third submission to the HLPF, reaffirming the country’s sustained commitment to the UN 2030 Agenda for SDGs.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI), which has been frowning upon the mushrooming of alternative investment funds (AIFs) for quite sometime, has tightened the overall regulations by capping the investments by banks, non-banks and all-India financial institutions at 10% of the corpus of any such scheme.

The new norms are part of the central bank’s updated directions on investment in AIF schemes, issued Tuesday. The new directions will be in force from January 1, 2026 and will apply to all banks, cooperative banks, non-banks, all-India financial institutions and housing finance companies.

Also, collective contribution by all regulated entities in any AIF scheme should not be more than 20% of the corpus of that scheme, said the directions.

Indian chess has never had it this good, showcasing its growing prowess with consistency and signalling that the best may still lie ahead.

After five-time World Champion Viswanathan Anand’s glorious years, Indian chess is now witnessing success stories like never before. In the past year alone, the country swept gold at the Chess Olympiad, 18-year-old D. Gukesh triumphed at the Candidates Tournament to become World Champion, and now, 19-year-old Divya Deshmukh has stunned the world with her conquest of the Women’s World Cup.

The World Cup in Batumi, Georgia, featured a field of 107 players and intense knockout-format battles. The rules tested players’ skills across multiple time formats. The elite field included nearly all top players except the reigning World Champion Ju Wenjun.

Iran successfully launched its telecommunications and research satellite Nahid-2 into space aboard a Russian Soyuz rocket yesterday. It was part of a multi-payload mission that also included Russia’s Unisphere-M3 and M4 satellites, along with 18 other satellites from various countries. The Soyuz has previously launched other Iranian satellites, including Khayyam, Pars-1, Kosar, and Hodhod. Nahid-2 is designed to remain in orbit for five years and is equipped with an indigenous propulsion system capable of adjusting its altitude by up to 50 kilometers, crucial for maintaining its orbital position and operational stability.

Australia and the United Kingdom (UK) have signed a 50-year commitment to the AUKUS defence treaty despite the United States’ ongoing review of the pact. Australia’s Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Richard Marles and UK Defence Secretary John Healey signed the bilateral Nuclear-Powered Submarine Partnership and Collaboration Treaty (the Geelong Treaty) at their meeting in Geelong, Victoria yesterday.

Marles and Healey said in a joint statement that the Geelong Treaty is a historic agreement, the commitment for the next 50 years of UK-Australian bilateral defence cooperation under AUKUS Pillar I. The Geelong Treaty will enable comprehensive cooperation on the design, build, operation, sustainment, and disposal of their SSN-AUKUS submarines, according to the statement.

The signing of the treaty came as the United States wavered on its role in the AUKUS alliance. The US Department of Defence has announced a review of the trilateral security partnership to determine whether the agreement aligns with the America First agenda.

Formula One champion Max Verstappen won a “cat and mouse” Belgian Grand Prix sprint on Saturday in Red Bull’s first race under the leadership of Laurent Mekies following Christian Horner’s dismissal.

McLaren’s championship leader Oscar Piastri finished second, after taking a dominant pole position for the 100km race, with the Australian increasing his advantage over teammate Lando Norris to nine points.

Norris ended up where he started, in third place on a bright afternoon at the longest and second fastest track on the calendar.

Charles Leclerc was fourth for Ferrari with Haas’s Esteban Ocon fifth and Carlos Sainz sixth for Williams. Haas’s Oliver Bearman and Racing Bulls’ Isack Hadjar completed the scoring positions.

Viral hepatitis — an infection that causes liver inflammation, damage and may lead to liver cancer — is a critical public health challenge of this decade globally.

It is one of the leading causes of death globally—with an estimated 1.3 million people dying in 2022 from the disease, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO) report.

Notably, the top ten countries in the world account for nearly two-thirds of the global burden of viral hepatitis B and C combined, according to the report

For hepatitis B, the top three countries—China, India, and Indonesia—represent 50% of the global burden in 2022; and for hepatitis C, six countries—China, India, Indonesia, Pakistan, the Russian Federation, and the United States of America—represent 50% of the global burden, the report highlighted.