The Department of Archaeology Museums and Heritage (DAMH) will collaborate with the National Institute of Advanced Studies, Bengaluru, to locate monuments that may have been obscured from view owing to time, in the landscape of Lakkundi, which was a prominent urban centre between the 10th and 12th centuries CE, in Gadag district.

For, the local tradition vouches for the presence of 101 wells and 101 temples, most of which are concealed and hence are not visible. There is a perception that Lakkundi’s known monuments may only be part of its larger archaeological story and it may be holding more than what is apparent and exposed on the surface.

To unravel this, DAMH has roped in NIAS which will harness state-of-the-art digital and scientific technologies for the documentation of the archaeological sites. The outcome at the end of six months, is expected to present a more precise picture of a heritage landscape.

The All India Institute of Ayurveda (AIIA), New Delhi, an autonomous institute under the Ministry of Ayush, has launched ‘AyurVarta’, a special digital dialogue series aimed at taking authentic knowledge, scientific perspectives and contemporary relevance of Ayurveda to wider audiences in India and abroad.

The initiative has been launched ahead of Ayurveda Day, which will be observed on 23 September. The series will feature conversations with leading experts on Ayurveda, contemporary healthcare challenges, scientific research, education, clinical practice and the growing global relevance of Ayurveda.

The inaugural episode of ‘AyurVarta’ featured a discussion between Professor (Vaidya) P. K. Prajapati, Director, AIIA, and Professor (Dr.) Mahesh Vyas, Dean, Ph.D., AIIA, on the theme “Why is Ayurveda Day celebrated on 23 September?”

The discussion traced the evolution of Ayurveda Day, which was earlier observed on Dhanvantari Jayanti (Dhanteras), and highlighted the Government’s decision to designate 23 September as the fixed date for its annual observance.

Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav on Wednesday emphasised the need to integrate conservation with human development, saying harmony and coexistence between people and nature must form the foundation of efforts to protect tiger landscapes and strengthen ecological security.

Yadav made the remarks while inaugurating a two-day international workshop on ‘Tiger Landscapes: Conservation, Bioeconomy and Ecotourism as Pillars for Livelihood and Income Generation’ in New Delhi.

The two-day workshop, from September 2-3, has been jointly organised by the International Big Cat Alliance (IBCA), the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) under the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.

The Japanese Credit Rating Agency (JCRA) has upgraded India’s sovereign credit rating to A- from BBB+, citing strong economic growth, robust private consumption, public investment and improvements in the country’s financial system.

In a statement on Wednesday, JCRA said the Indian economy has sustained a high growth rate of around 7 per cent, supported by strong domestic consumption and public investment. It expects India to maintain growth of more than 6 per cent in FY2027.

The agency said government policies aimed at boosting productivity and economic development have strengthened India’s economic foundations. It specifically highlighted the development of digital public infrastructure and the implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST).

India will build 100 new airports in the next 10 years under the Centre’s regional connectivity scheme UDAN with an outlay of Rs 30,000 crore, Civil Aviation Minister K Rammohan Naidu has said.

He inaugurated India’s third ‘hub & spoke’ operations from Ahmedabad airport on Tuesday.

“While there were 74 airports in 2014, today we can proudly say that India’s map features 166 airports. Going from 74 to 166 set a record for the country. Over the last 12 years, we completed work on a new airport or a new terminal roughly every 40 days,” Naidu said at the event.

The government today notified the Semicon 2.0 scheme with an outlay of 1.27 lakh crore rupees to boost the chip manufacturing ecosystem in the country. With this, India could account for nearly 10% of the global semiconductor industry market in the coming years and is expected to play a much bigger role in the global semiconductor value chain. Union Minister for Electronics and Information Technology, Ashwini Vaishnaw, said this while addressing the media in New Delhi today. He highlighted that the country has achieved its target of developing 85 thousand semiconductor engineers in four years against the 10-year target and has now set a new target of developing one lakh more engineers. The Union Minister also highlighted that the focus of the Government is towards making the country firmly embedded in the global semiconductor value chain, from wafer fabrication to chip production.

During the event, Mr. Vaishnaw noted that there is confidence among global semiconductor industry stakeholders that India is the right destination for major investments in the coming decades. The Minister underlined that the speed at which projects have moved from approval to ground-breaking and then to commercial production in Semicon 1.0 has been particularly noted by the industry. Mr. Vaishnaw further said that India’s talent pool, policy certainty and ease of working have contributed to the industry’s growing interest in making India a base for semiconductor manufacturing and design.

Vice President C P Radhakrishnan today said that Artificial Intelligence (AI) presents a major opportunity for India to accelerate its economic progress and to emerge as a technologically empowered nation.

The Vice President said this while launching Gnani Artha, an AI model and Agentic AI platform, in New Delhi. Gnani Artha is a sovereign AI stack comprising Evon 3.3 and Plexus, a platform connecting AI intelligence with real-world work and institutions, developed by GNANI AI.

During the event, the Vice-President highlighted the government’s initiatives, including IndiaAI Mission and Centres of Excellence for AI, to strengthen the country’s AI ecosystem. He added that India’s approach is focused on making AI open, affordable and accessible, while ensuring that innovation benefits society as a whole.

Mr Radhakrishnan noted that the country has undergone significant transformation in the technology sector and the pace of change has accelerated considerably. Referring to the transition from typewriters and personal computers to artificial intelligence and large language models, the Vice President said technology is changing the way institutions and society function. He also congratulated Gnani Artha on being selected by the government as one among the only four companies to build AI models. He also expressed hope that the initiative would contribute to building a stronger, self-reliant and technologically empowered India.

Vice President C. P. Radhakrishnan on Monday released the ‘Mission Rangeen Machhli 2031’ Strategic Action Plan for Ornamental Fisheries Development at a Fisheries Outreach Programme in Agatti, calling for sustainable use of Lakshadweep’s vast marine resources to drive a new era of fisheries-led growth and strengthen India’s Blue Economy.

Addressing fishers, fish farmers, women beneficiaries, officials and other stakeholders, V-P Radhakrishnan described Lakshadweep as a “priceless maritime asset” of the country and said the islands have immense potential to contribute to India’s Blue Revolution.

Referring to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision, the Vice President said the blue chakra in the national flag represents the potential of the Blue Revolution and the ocean economy. He described fisheries and aquaculture as a sunrise sector and said the Blue Revolution could be as transformative for fishing communities as the Green and White Revolutions.

Union Minister of State (Independent Charge), Ministry of Science and Technology and Ministry of Earth Sciences, Dr. Jitendra Singh said that there is tremendous potential in creating eco-friendly solutions – Green Forge – to recreate precisely controlled environmental conditions of light, humidity and temperature for advanced agricultural research. He noted that integration of Green Forge with Artificial Intelligence could further accelerate innovation in agriculture and allied sciences.

Addressing a National Conclave on “BioE3 (Biotechnology for Economy, Environment and Employment): Enabling Scales for Industry-Ready Biomanufacturing” at the Biotechnology Research and Innovation Council-National Agri-Food Biotechnology Institute (BRIC-NABI) at Mohali in Punjab, today, he congratulated the institutes for hosting the National Conclave and expressed confidence that the Institute would emerge as a torchbearer of India’s biotechnology revolution. He Emphasizing the importance of collaboration, Dr. Singh proposed the development of a ‘Chandigarh-Mohali Science and Innovation Cluster’ by connecting leading institutions in the region, including BRIC-NABI, PGIMER, Panjab University, Punjab agricultural university and some other institutions. He said such a cluster could facilitate sharing of expertise and infrastructure, promote joint research and strengthen the region’s biotechnology and innovation ecosystem.

Global aerospace major Airbus has awarded a contract for the manufacture of A320 aircraft fuselage skins to Mahindra Aerostructures. According to Airbus, this collaboration is a significant boost to the ‘Make in India’ commitment.

The collaboration, the aerospace major said, further solidifies India’s role in high-precision engineering, deepening the country’s footprint in global aerospace manufacturing. Under the contract, Mahindra Aerostructures will manufacture and supply fuselage skins for Sections 18 and 19, the rear fuselage and tail sections of the Airbus A320neo Family aircraft, from its facility in Bengaluru to Airbus Aerostructures’ manufacturing facility in Augsburg, Germany.

The scope includes the manufacture of eight fuselage skins for Section 18 and three fuselage skins for Section 19 of the aircraft.