Vice President C P Radhakrishnan will visit Musunuru village in Eluru district of Andhra Pradesh today. During his visit, the Vice President will launch India’s first non-Genetically Modified Organism (GMO) high-expansion popcorn maize hybrid seed in Musunuru. He will also felicitate farmers and address agricultural stakeholders and other participants.

In a major step towards protecting country’s rich animal genetic heritage, the scientists of Indian Council of Agricultural Research –National Bureau of Animal Genetic Resources (ICAR-NBAGR), Karnal, have registered 16 new indigenous livestock and dog breeds, belonging to nine species across 13 states and one Union Territory (UT).

As per the scientists, the registration gives these indigenous breeds formal scientific recognition and strengthens the framework for their conservation and future development. Besides, it strengthens the national effort to reduce the proportion of non-descript livestock populations through systematic breed identification and documentation for ensuring that valuable locally adapted populations are scientifically recognised and brought within appropriate conservation and sustainable utilisation programmes.

ICAR-NBAGR is a nodal institution responsible for registration of livestock and poultry breeds in India. It has assigned unique accession numbers to all the newly registered breeds, providing formal recognition and strengthening their scientific documentation and conservation framework, said Dr N.H. Mohan, Director, ICAR-NBAGR.

India and Mauritius have deepened their energy partnership with a five-year agreement under which Indian Oil Corporation will supply the island nation's entire import requirement of petrol, diesel and aviation turbine fuel, strengthening New Delhi's role as a key energy-security partner in the Indian Ocean.

The agreement was exchanged during Petroleum Minister Hardeep Singh Puri's official visit to Mauritius on August 20-21, alongside a government-to-government memorandum of understanding (MoU) to expand cooperation in oil and gas, including petroleum product supplies, training and capacity building, and biofuels.

The long-term sales and purchase agreement between IOC and Mauritius' State Trading Corporation is designed to provide Mauritius with assured supplies and reduce its exposure to price volatility, an official statement said.

India is working to establish its own space station by 2035, with the first module of the proposed Bharatiya Antariksha Station (BAS) already approved, ISRO Chairman Dr V Narayanan said on Sunday, ANI reported.

Speaking at the third National Space Day celebrations in Ahmedabad, Narayanan said India's space programme has expanded significantly since its launch 64 years ago, with space-based applications now being used across more than 50 areas that directly benefit citizens.

"Today, we are celebrating the third National Space Day. The theme is very important: innovation, collaboration, and aspiring for global leadership in the space sector," Narayanan said.

The Assam government is in an advanced stage of evaluation to select a partner from the private sector to launch its own satellite, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said.

Claiming that Assam will be the first state in India to have its own earth observation system, he said the satellite will come up under the 'DBLOTT model' - Design, Build, Launch, Operate, Train and Transfer.

"Earlier this year, we invited Expressions of Interest to select an implementation partner under the DBLOTT model. Following strong interest from India's private space sector companies, we are now in the final and critical stage of partner selection, with dedicated committees evaluating the proposals," Sarma said in a social media post on Sunday.

He said 'AssamSAT' marks a landmark shift -- from Assam being a user of satellite data to an active participant in the space-tech ecosystem, enabling faster and evidence-based governance.

AI is getting better at mimicking the way humans think, but the computers running it are still very much machines. They get their power from silicon chips made by companies like Nvidia. These chips process information using electronic circuits, a bit like how neurons in the human brain process information. However, a Singapore-based team is now working on using living human brain cells as part of the computer itself.

The prototype of this supercomputer has been developed by the Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine at the National University of Singapore (NUS Medicine), data-centre operator DayOne and Australian biological computing company Cortical Labs. The team has put living human neurons into a server rack, with NUS calling the 20-unit setup the world’s first independently operated biological server rack.

he Supreme Court today directed that no construction or development activity shall be permitted within 100 metres of the edge of the Jojari River in Rajasthan, as an interim measure to protect the river ecosystem from further ecological degradation.

A bench of Justice Vikram Nath and Justice Sandeep Mehta stated that the restriction would remain in force until completion of a scientific exercise to determine and demarcate the High Flood Line and the requisite ecological buffer zones.

“In view of serious ecological degradation, it is necessary to put in place an interim measurable area of protection to adequately safeguard the river ecosystem during the pendency of the scientific exercise for determination and demarcation of the high flood line and the requisite ecological buffer zones,” the Court said.

The anticipated launch of China’s robotic Chang’e-7 mission, designed to scour the moon’s south pole for water ice — a highly valuable resource that the US also hopes to use — “cannot take place during the planned window this year,” according to a statement from the China Manned Space Engineering Office shared by Chinese state media.

The mission had been expected to lift off as soon as Sunday evening, or Monday morning Beijing time from southern China’s Hainan province. Official statements did not specify how soon China may be able to attempt to get the mission off the ground.

The precise reason for the delay was not immediately clear. State media shared only that the “lunar probe does not meet launch conditions,” and the “assessment was conducted following the principle of prudence, reliability and absolute mission success.”

The Territorial Army has launched a national-level hackathon, Terrier Cyber Quest 2026, aimed at developing innovative solutions to emerging challenges in defence, cybersecurity and the information domain. The hackathon has been launched, in collaboration with CyberPeace, to bring together technical talent from academia, industry, research institutions, government organisations and the Armed Forces.

The Defence Ministry said that this initiative will focus on emerging areas including Artificial Intelligence (AI), cybersecurity, threat mitigation and digital awareness, while encouraging development of indigenous solutions relevant to national security. The Ministry highlighted that the competition will be conducted across three tracks Bug Hunting, AI Kavach and Creators Challenge. The registration for the competition is open till 31st August. The online shortlisting phase will be conducted from 1st to 10th September, followed by the Grand Finale in New Delhi from 6th to 8th October.

Veteran actor Sowcar Janaki, one of the most respected names in South Indian cinema, died on Friday in Chennai due to age-related complications. She was 94.

South Indian Artistes’ Association (Nadigar Sangam) president and actor Nassar confirmed the news of Janaki’s demise.

He said in a statement, “Legendary star Sowcar Janaki (94) passed away. Her mortal remains will be placed at Centoph Road, Teyampet, from 5 pm.”

Sowcar Janaki had been admitted to Kauvery Hospital in Alwarpet, Chennai earlier this week after her health deteriorated. She had been receiving intensive medical care since then.