Surat-based athlete Yash Anil Rashiya has made history by winning gold for India at the 7th Roll Ball World Cup 2025 in Dubai, marking a breakthrough moment for Indian Roll Ball on the global stage

Surat (Gujarat) [India], January 19: Yash Anil Rashiya, a 20-year-old Roll Ball athlete from Surat, has emerged as one of India’s brightest sporting talents after winning the gold medal at the 7th Roll Ball World Cup 2025 in Dubai, representing Team India. The victory marks a significant milestone for Indian Roll Ball on the global stage and places Surat firmly on the international sports map.

Selected among 12 elite players to represent the country, Rashiya played a key role in India’s championship-winning campaign, helping the national team secure the World Cup title against strong international competition.

Scientists have discovered two previously unknown ant fly species. The rare insects were found in Delhi and Western Ghats. One species emerged from Delhi’s Northern Ridge urban forest. The second species was located in Tamil Nadu’s Siruvani Hills. Both regions reveal unexpected biodiversity surviving within fragmented habitats.

Researchers have discovered two rare ant-fly species in India. These insects belong to the Microdontinae subfamily of hoverflies. They are unusual because their larvae develop inside ant nests. This behaviour makes them extremely difficult to spot in nature. The species were officially named Metadon ghorpadei and Metadon reemeri.

Metadon ghorpadei was discovered in Delhi’s Northern Ridge Forest. The urban forest provides refuge for surprisingly rare species. Metadon reemeri was found in Siruvani Hills of Western Ghats. Western Ghats is a globally recognised biodiversity hotspot in India. Both locations highlight the importance of conserving even small habitats.

Lucknow has emerged as the first city in Uttar Pradesh to achieve 100 per cent scientific processing of municipal solid waste under the Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban, marking a major milestone in urban waste management.

The achievement follows the commissioning of the Shivari Solid Waste Management Plant, which has positioned the city as a zero fresh waste dump urban centre. The newly inaugurated plant has a processing capacity of 700 metric tonnes per day.

With this addition, the Lucknow Municipal Corporation now operates three waste processing facilities, each with a capacity of 700 MT per day. Collectively, the plants can scientifically process over 2,100 metric tonnes of waste daily, effectively eliminating the open dumping of fresh municipal waste in the city.

NASA astronaut Sunita Williams retired from the space agency after 27 years of remarkable service. The retirement, effective from the 27th of last month, was announced by NASA this morning.

In a press release, NASA said Williams flew on three missions to the International Space Station (ISS), spending 608 days in space, the second-most for a NASA astronaut, and completed nine spacewalks totalling over 62 hours, the most by a woman. She was also the first person to run a marathon in space.

The Indian-origin Williams first flew in 2006 on the Space Shuttle Discovery and later served as commander of the ISS during Expedition 33. Her most recent mission was in 2024-2025 aboard Boeing Starliner and SpaceX Crew-9, where she commanded Expedition 72.

A new species of ginger, Parakaempferia alba, has been discovered in the Siang Valley of Arunachal Pradesh, underlining the Eastern Himalayas’ status as a global biodiversity hotspot. The discovery has been published in the Nordic Journal of Botany.

The plant was found in the Miglung area of East Siang District at an altitude of 150–400 meters, growing along shaded streambanks in humid, sandy soil. The research team comprises Tatum Mibang, Bipankar Hajong, Devpratim Koch, and Pankaj Bharali.

Scientists note that the finding highlights the ecological richness of the region. Belonging to the ginger family (Zingiberaceae), the species may have potential medicinal and economic importance pending further research.

The Geological Survey of India (GSI) under the Ministry of Mines will host the 65th Central Geological Programming Board (CGPB) meeting in Delhi on January 21. The meeting, to be held at the A.P. Shinde Symposium Hall at ICAR, Pusa, will bring together representatives from Central ministries, State governments, industry, academia and mining bodies to discuss emerging geoscience priorities, mineral exploration strategies and challenges linked to clean energy, geohazards and sustainable development.

The CGPB functions as a key platform where GSI presents its Annual Field Season Programme (FSP) for discussion, ensuring coordinated survey and exploration activities across the country and preventing duplication of efforts. Suggestions and collaboration requests from State governments, mineral exploration agencies, PSUs and private players are evaluated, following which GSI finalises its annual programme in line with national priorities.

As India prepares to host Bharat Steel 2026, a global platform to reshape future of steel, the nation is signalling its intent to showcase the next era of global steelmaking forged by R&D, digitalization, innovation, and access to high skilled engineering and technology human resources. The two-day summit in New Delhi will bring together policymakers, technology pioneers and industry leaders to confront the defining challenges of the decade: building resilient supply chains and accelerating the transition to low-emission steel production.

Steel has played a pivotal role in modern economies, akin to a skeleton”, emphasised Shri Narendra Modi, the Prime Minister of India, remarking that whether it is skyscrapers, shipping, highways, high-speed rail, smart cities, or industrial corridors, steel is the strength behind every success story. “India is striving to achieve the goal of becoming a $5 trillion economy, with the steel sector playing a significant role in this mission”, he added during India Steel 2025, expressing pride in India being the world's second-largest steel producer.

The Prime Minister’s vision forms the cornerstone of this year’s Bharat Steel summit, which seeks to reimagine a global blueprint for the steel sector at a time marked by economic uncertainty, fragmented trade flows, rising protectionist tariffs, and the urgent imperative of achieving net-zero goals.

Abu Dhabi, 20 January: The Unmanned Systems Exhibition (UMEX) and the Simulation and Training Exhibition (SimTEX) opened on Tuesday at the ADNEC Centre, Abu Dhabi, bringing together international players to showcase advances in unmanned systems, robotics, simulation and training technologies. The exhibitions will run until January 22. Now in its seventh edition, the event has recorded its largest participation since its launch in 2015, with 375 companies and brands from 38 countries, including 10 first-time participants. International firms account for 55 per cent of exhibitors, while the UAE pavilion is the largest at the event.

Key attractions include a live artificial intelligence versus human pilot drone challenge organised in partnership with the Abu Dhabi Autonomous Racing League, highlighting emerging capabilities in autonomous flight. EDGE Group is also a strategic partner, presenting its expanding portfolio of autonomous and advanced technology systems.

Punjab Police today launched ‘Operation Parhar’ to dismantle the gangster network in Punjab to make the state gangster-free. 2,000 teams involving 12,000 police officials have started raids across Punjab from today to arrest gangsters. In a press conference in Chandigarh, Director General of Police of Punjab Gaurav Yadav said that the police are mapping 60 major gangsters and their 1200 associates who are involved in criminal activities.

He said that strict action will be taken against all of them. He said the complete ecosystem involving financing, logistics, safe houses, weapon supply chains and communication chains will be busted. Launching an Anti-Gangster Helpline Number- 93946-93946, he called upon the citizens to inform about gangster activities in their areas to make Punjab a safe state. He said their names will be kept secret.