Nearly five decades after leaving Earth, NASA's Voyager 1 spacecraft is approaching another extraordinary milestone in human space exploration.

The spacecraft is expected to cross the one-light-day distance mark on November 18, 2026, meaning radio signals travelling at the speed of light will take approximately 24 hours to reach it from Earth, and another 24 hours for a response to return.

Launched on September 5, 1977, Voyager 1 is currently travelling through interstellar space, more than 25.8 billion kilometres from Earth. According to NASA's tracking data, the spacecraft is already more than 172 astronomical units (AU) away from the Sun.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday said India aims to achieve defence production worth Rs 3 lakh crore and exports of Rs 50,000 crore by 2029, as he chaired a parliamentary consultative committee meeting on modernising the armed forces.

Addressing the Consultative Committee of the Ministry of Defence in Jaisalmer, Rajasthan, Singh said the government was committed to building a technologically empowered military capable of meeting present-day and emerging security challenges.

He said defence production had increased from Rs 46,429 crore in 2014–15 to a record Rs 1.78 lakh crore in 2025–26. Defence exports had risen from less than Rs 2,000 crore in 2014 to approximately Rs 40,000 crore.

“We aim to achieve defence production worth Rs 3 lakh crore and defence exports worth Rs 50,000 crore by 2029,” he said.

US-based cloud infrastructure provider Vultr on Monday launched a 20-MW AI supercluster in Chennai, powered by AMD Instinct MI355X GPUs, marking its largest such deployment in India.

The facility, expected to house around 10,000 GPUs in its initial configuration, will be among Vultr’s two largest AMD AI infrastructure deployments globally.

Designed to support large language model and foundation model training, the facility will cater to AI labs, startups, enterprises, research institutions and universities. Kevin Cochrane, chief marketing officer, Vultr, said, “India is our largest market outside the US and it has highest footprint across the globe.”

India's artificial intelligence (AI) ambitions could receive a boost through wider access to high-quality datasets, with the Union Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) launching a new framework to enable secure data collaboration while protecting privacy, intellectual property and institutional control.

The ministry on Saturday launched the Handbook on Data Empowerment and Protection Architecture (DEPA) for AI Training at a high-level roundtable in Bengaluru. The handbook was unveiled by S. Krishnan, Secretary, MeitY, with support from the iSPIRT Foundation. The framework seeks to address challenges that often restrict data sharing, including concerns around privacy, confidentiality, intellectual property and institutional control. It establishes a techno-legal framework for purpose-bound data collaboration, allowing institutions to share data for AI training while retaining control over their information.

The man who helmed a committee set-up by the Union Health Ministry to examine the safety and efficacy of fixed dose combination (FDC) drugs – CK Kokate (79), has passed away.

It was under the committee chaired by Professor Kokate that a wide sweep of irrational FDCs, over 300, were identified after a scientific review. The Centre went on to eventually ban these combinations.

FDCs involve two or more medicines combined in one, without a scientific rationale. Some irrational FDCs saw upto seven medicines rolled into one.

Following concerns raised on such FDCs, the Health Ministry then set up a committee in 2014 under Kokate to review unapproved FDCs that were licensed by State Licensing Authorities, but without the approval of the central regulatory authority – the Drug Controller General of India. The FDC issue underwent further review by more committees, but continues to simmer.

Prasar Bharati has received two major recognitions at the Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union Prizes 2026, held in Colombo, Sri Lanka. The honours recognise excellence in public-service broadcasting and broadcast engineering, while India’s public broadcaster also showcased its growing digital presence through WAVES OTT.

The Audio Public Service Announcement Special Commendation has been awarded to Prasar Bharati-Akashvani, Bengaluru, for its programme Beyond the Call. The programme highlights the role of public-service communication in connecting with communities and addressing issues of public interest. The award was received by Jyoti Das from Akashvani, Bengaluru.

In another recognition, earlier announced ABU Broadcast Engineering Excellence Award 2026 was formally awarded to Nongmaithem Nandakumar Singh of Prasar Bharati. The recognition acknowledges excellence in broadcast engineering and technical innovation. The award was received by Mihir Kumar Jha, Under Secretary Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.

Bihar Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary on Tuesday said Bihar has become the first state in the country to introduce a comprehensive silt management policy, aimed at addressing recurring floods and utilising accumulated river silt for infrastructure development.

He made the remarks while addressing an MoU signing programme under the ‘Nadi Sanjeevani’ initiative for river desilting and utilisation of silt in National Highway construction, in the presence of Union Minister Nitin Gadkari and senior officials.

Choudhary said the initiative would help Bihar turn its vulnerabilities, particularly floods and silt accumulation, into resources for development.

A total of six coal mines in the State — five of Singareni and one of TG-Genco — have bagged the Five-Star Rating Awards given by the Ministry of Coal for 2024–25 in recognition of their performance in adopting best mining practices, implementing environment-friendly measures, providing facilities and welfare support for workers.

The awards were presented to officials of the Singareni Collieries Company Ltd (SCCL) and Telangana Power Generation Corporation Ltd (TG-Genco) at an event held at Raipur in Chhattisgarh on Monday (November 2). Union Minister of State for Coal and Mines Satish Chandra Dubey presented the awards.

The awards for Singareni mines were received by Chairman and Managing Director of SCCL Buddhaprakash Jyoti, while for TG-Genco it was received by Director (Coal and Logistics) B. Nagya. The Singareni mines that received the award are: RKNT and RK-6 Incline in Srirampur Area, JVR OC-2 in Sattupalli Area, Hairigura OC in Bellampalli Area and RGOC-1 in Ramagundam-3 Area. Tadicherla-1 opencast mine won the award for Genco.

Eminent neurosurgeon and Padma Shri awardee Professor Dr Ashok Kumar Mahapatra passed away last night while undergoing treatment at AIIMS, New Delhi. He was 74. He was a distinguished medical professional from Odisha whose contributions to neurosurgery brought recognition to the country. Dr Mahapatra was the founding Director of AIIMS Bhubaneswar and also headed the Department of Neurosurgery at AIIMS, New Delhi.

He gained national prominence for leading the historic surgical team that successfully separated the conjoined twins, Jaga and Balia, in a landmark operation at AIIMS in 2017. He also served as Director of Sanjay Gandhi Postgraduate Institute of Medical Sciences, Lucknow, and Vice-Chancellor of Siksha ‘O’ Anusandhan University, Bhubaneswar. He was conferred the Padma Shri in 2025 for his outstanding contribution to medicine.

Several political leaders, members of the medical fraternity, academicians and people from different walks of life expressed grief over the demise of Dr Ashok Kumar Mahapatra. They recalled his outstanding contribution to neurosurgery, medical education and the development of AIIMS Bhubaneswar.

For the first time in 47 years, the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), the central armed police force under the Ministry of Home Affairs, has witnessed 12 consecutive months without an operational casualty.

CRPF Director General GP Singh confirmed this development, attributing the achievement to improved equipment, better training, strategic planning and faster evacuation of injured personnel for medical treatment.

“A significant milestone in the history of CRPF - 12 consecutive months (one year) have passed without any operational fatality in the force, the last operational fatality being on October 30, 2025. This has happened after 47 years (the last such period ended in January 1979),” Singh said.