Addressing scholars, linguists and international delegates, the Vice-President described language as the conscience of civilisation, carrying collective memory, knowledge systems and values across generations. From ancient stone inscriptions and palm-leaf manuscripts to the digital scripts of today, he said, languages have preserved philosophies, sciences, poetry and ethical traditions that define humanity.

Recalling his recent participation in Siddha Day celebrations in Chennai, the Vice-President said he had seen a large number of palm-leaf manuscripts, which stand as enduring testimony to India’s vast and multilingual knowledge traditions. He observed that every Indian language has contributed profoundly to philosophy, medicine, science, governance and spirituality.

The Vice-President underlined that India’s many languages have never divided the nation; instead, they have preserved and strengthened a shared civilisational ethos and a common Dharma.

Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel on Thursday inaugurated a cancer screening ‘Asha Van’ in Gandhinagar, designed for the early detection and diagnosis of cancer.

The mobile unit is equipped with EVA-Pro diagnostics, a mammography unit and expert teleconsultation facilities. It will enable the diagnosis of several life-threatening diseases, including lung, oral, blood, cervical, pancreatic, liver, breast and prostate cancers, using ultra-modern equipment at any location.

The van is expected to play a key role in advancing Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of ‘Health and Wellness for All’, particularly in rural areas.

World Hindi Day is being observed today. The day is commemorated every year with the objective to promote use of Hindi language abroad. It aims to encourage the use of Hindi on international platforms, including diplomacy, education and cultural exchange. On this day in 2006, the First World Hindi Conference was held in Nagpur with the aim to promote the language worldwide and since then, every year 10th January is being observed as the World Hindi Day. The Ministry of External Affairs and Indian Missions abroad also observe the day annually.

Minister of State for External Affairs Kirti Vardhan Singh has stressed that language keeps culture alive and the aim is to spread country’s culture and rich heritage through Hindi language. Addressing an event organised by External Affairs Ministry yesterday to mark World Hindi Diwas, Mr. Singh said, the Ministry is playing a big role in connecting Indian diaspora with Hindi. He highlighted that Indian Council for Cultural Relations is working to promote Hindi language worldwide. He said that around 770 institutions in over a hundred nations teach Hindi language.

NASA said Thursday that it will bring four astronauts aboard the International Space Station back to Earth more than a month earlier than planned because of a medical issue — the first such evacuation in the space station’s 25-year history.

Citing medical privacy concerns, NASA did not provide additional details about the issue, including the identity of the affected crew member, the nature of the medical problem or its severity. Agency officials said the situation is stable, however.

NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said at a news briefing that the astronauts will return home in the coming days. The agency has not yet given a precise timeline for undocking or landing.

The Finance Ministry’s Financial Intelligence Unit of India (FIU-IND) on January 8 updated guidelines for virtual digital assets (VDAs) bolstering regulations around cryptocurrency.

Particularly focusing on self-custody or unhosted wallets, the guidelines seek to delineate organisational responsibilities and operational readiness, reporting and compliance mechanism, and assist entities engaged in or seeking to engage in VDA activities.

Taking a risk-based approach, the guidelines deemed any crypto tokens enhancing anonymity as “unacceptably high risk” due to their inherently elevated ML/TF (money laundering/terror financing) risks.

The Sports Authority of India (SAI) is set to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Safdarjung Hospital's Sports Injury Centre (SIC) to ensure priority care for athletes after the collaboration got in-principle approval from Sports Minister Mansukh Mandaviya.

Under the proposed framework, SIC will handle advanced sports medicine and surgical interventions, while SAI will manage applied sports science rehabilitation and return-to-play protocols.

The collaboration would ensure "priority care and safe return to competition for Indian athletes."

Dr Deepak Joshi, who is the Director of SIC, said that coordinated integration of sports science, sports medicine, and injury management can fundamentally alter an athlete's career trajectory.

"This collaboration will be a boon for India's sports ecosystem. Athletes referred by SAI will receive priority treatment, continuous clinical management, and a seamless pathway back to training and competition," he said.

Estimation of tigers, co-predators, prey base and habitat assessment as part of the All-India Tiger Estimation - 2026 started in Pollachi and Tiruppur Forest Divisions of the Anamalai Tiger Reserve (ATR) on Wednesday.

The exercise, which follows an eight-day protocol of the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA), will cover Pollachi, Valparai, Ulandy and Manambolly forest ranges of Pollachi Division and Udumalpet, Amaravathy, Kozhumam and Vandaravu forest ranges in Tirupur Division.

Forest Department sources said that a training for the staff on the exercise was held on Monday. Enumerators were trained to use the M-STrIPES (Monitoring System for Tiger-Intensive Protection and Ecological Status) app, which is used for the estimation. The field survey started on Wednesday and the estimation will conclude on January 13.

The government has said that the Bal Vivah Mukt Bharat campaign is aimed at reducing the prevalence of child marriage by 10 per cent by 2026 and making India child marriage-free by 2030.

Launched in November 2024 by the Ministry of Women and Child Development, the initiative focuses on eradicating child marriages across the country. This campaign addresses a pervasive social issue that disproportionately affects young children, especially girls in a majority of cases, and particularly from the marginalised communities.

Since its launch, this mission has made substantial strides in curbing child marriages across India, achieving key enforcement and awareness milestones that align with national child protection goals. Balod district in Chhattisgarh has achieved a historic milestone by becoming the country’s first child marriage-free district. For two consecutive years, not a single child marriage has been reported across its 436 Gram Panchayats and 9 urban local bodies.

NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has uncovered a new type of astronomical object nicknamed Cloud-9, which is apparently a starless, gas-rich, dark-matter cloud. This object is considered a "relic" or remnant of early galaxy formation and is located 14 million light-years from Earth near the spiral galaxy Messier 94 (M94). The object, Cloud-9, is called a Reionization-Limited H I Cloud (RELHIC), which is composed of neutral hydrogen and dominated by dark matter.

The term "H I" refers to neutral hydrogen, which spans approximately 4,900 light-years, with a mass of about 1 million times that of the Sun. As per the calculations done by the researchers, Cloud-9's dark matter must be about five billion solar masses.

"'RELHIC' describes a natal hydrogen cloud from the universe's early days, a fossil leftover that has not formed stars," NASA noted.

In a significant step towards strengthening India’s engagement at the intersection of science, technology, and global policymaking, the Office of the Principal Scientific Adviser (OPSA) to the Government of India and the Observer Research Foundation (ORF) have announced a strategic partnership for the inaugural Raisina Science Diplomacy Initiative (SDI) 2026. The initiative will be held alongside the prestigious Raisina Dialogue from March 5 to 7, 2026, in New Delhi.

The partnership was jointly announced by Principal Scientific Adviser Prof. Ajay Kumar Sood and ORF President Dr. Samir Saran during a meeting at the Office of the PSA. Senior officials from OPSA and ORF were present, reflecting the institutional commitment to shaping a dedicated global platform for science diplomacy.