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.

Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw will confer the 70th Ati Vishisht Rail Seva Puraskar 2025 upon 100 railway officials and present 26 shields to the best-performing railway zones in New Delhi today. The prestigious awards are being given in recognition of exemplary service and outstanding contributions to Indian Railways.

The ceremony will also be attended by Minister of State for Railways V. Somanna, Minister of State for Railways Ravneet Singh, Chairman and CEO of the Railway Board Satish Kumar, along with Members of the Railway Board and General Managers of various Railway Zones and Production Units.

The Ministry of Railway said that 26 Shields will be awarded to personnel who played acritical role in ensuring safe and seamless railway operations during large-scale events such as the Mahakumbh.

The Unique Identification Authority of India, UIDAI, today launched the Aadhaar mascot, Udai. The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology said the mascot will be helpful in making Aadhaar-related information more relatable and people-friendly. It added that the mascot will simplify communication of Aadhaar services – including updates, authentication, and offline verification.

UIDAI had rolled out a nationwide Mascot Design Contest on the MyGov platform last year, inviting people to design an official mascot for Aadhaar. 875 entries were received from across the country.

CEO of UIDAI, Bhuvnesh Kumar, said, UIDAI reaffirmed the core principle of Aadhaar by inviting people to design and name this mascot. He said that the responses of citizens demonstrated people’s connection with Aadhaar.

Scientists at the Raman Research Institute (RRI), Bengaluru, have developed a novel, non-invasive technique to measure the local density of cold atoms in real time without significantly disturbing their quantum state – an advance that could accelerate progress in quantum computing, quantum sensing and precision measurement technologies.

The method, known as Raman Driven Spin Noise Spectroscopy (RDSNS), overcomes key limitations of conventional atom-imaging techniques used in cold atom experiments. Cold atoms – cooled to temperatures close to absolute zero using laser cooling and trapping – exhibit pronounced quantum behaviour and are central to emerging quantum technologies. However, accurately detecting their quantum state and density has remained challenging.

Traditional approaches such as absorption and fluorescence imaging often interfere with the atoms being measured. Absorption imaging struggles with dense atomic clouds because probe light cannot penetrate deeply enough, while fluorescence imaging requires long exposure times and is typically destructive, altering the atomic state during observation.

In a bid to reduce road crashes especially in low-visibility situations like dense fog, the government will soon roll out vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication technology which will allow cars to “talk” to each other and alert drivers during contingencies, Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari announced on Thursday.

“The technology features an On Board Unit (OBU) installed in cars for wireless data exchange between vehicles -- this will enable sharing of real-time information like speed, location, acceleration, braking etc.,” Gadkari said in a press briefing after the 43rd meeting of the transport development council comprising transport ministers and secretaries of states.

The system will prevent crashes by warning drivers early.

India has strengthened its national quality and measurement infrastructure with the inauguration of two apex-level calibration facilities at the CSIR-National Physical Laboratory (CSIR-NPL). The new facilities aim to support indigenous measurement, certification, and quality assurance across key sectors of the economy.

CSIR-NPL, the country’s apex metrology institution and custodian of national measurement standards, is marking eight decades of service as India’s National Metrology Institute. Over the years, the laboratory has played a central role in establishing reference measurements that support research institutions, manufacturing units, municipal bodies, and strategic sectors, with direct implications for industrial quality, fair trade, environmental reliability, and public safety.

With free entry for all for the first time in its history, the New Delhi World Book Fair will open here at Bharat Mandapam on January 10 with "Indian Military History: Valour and Wisdom @75" as its central theme, the National Book Trust (NBT) announced on Thursday.

The 53rd edition of the "world's largest B2C book fair" will be inaugurated by Minister of Education Dharmendra Pradhan with dignitaries from the guest of honour country Qatar and the focus country Spain.

The nine-day book fair will bring together over 1,000 publishers from more than 35 countries, host about 600 literary activities with nearly 1000 speakers and is expected to "attract over two million visitors".

In a major transformation aimed at bolstering its capabilities to tackle modern warfare challenges, the Indian Army has created a pool of over one lakh drone operatives. The latest Special Force - Bhairav - is being readied to tackle the complexities of modern warfare with its advanced drone operations capabilities.

All operatives can handle drones and utilise them in real operations to target bases and formations within enemy territory. The Bhairav battalions, raised by the Indian Army, are designed to provide a dedicated force for high-speed, offensive operations, carrying out Special Forces tasking at multiple levels as per requirements.

already raised and assigned to different formations on both borders, the Army plans to raise around 25 such battalions in the near future.

The battalions are designed to bridge the gap between the Para Special Forces and regular Infantry battalions, carrying out special operations at tactical to operational depth.

Financial Software and Systems (FSS) a global leader in payments technology and transaction processing, has become the first payments company in India, the Middle East, APAC and South Africa to be certified as an ISO IEC 42001 Certification Lead, reinforcing its leadership in responsible and ethical use of artificial intelligence (AI) in payments and banking technology. By achieving ISO IEC 42001 Certification, FSS signals a shift from ad-hoc AI usage to a structured, enterprise-wide AI governance model, positioning AI governance alongside information security and quality management as a core business priority.

AI is deeply embedded across FSS's platforms, supporting use cases such as fraud detection, transaction monitoring, reconciliation, dispute management, and operational automation. By aligning with ISO IEC 42001, FSS has implemented structured oversight across the entire AI lifecycle, ensuring that AI systems are continuously monitored after deployment and assessed for risks such as bias, unintended outcomes, and regulatory non-compliance.