A tiny crab displaying both male and female biological traits on the same body has been discovered in the Western Ghats. Discovered from the forests of the Silent Valley National Park, this freshwater crab belongs to the species Vela carli and is both male and female at the same time. The dual-sex condition was observed in three crabs found in tree holes in Silent Valley.

Vela carli is an endemic freshwater crab found only in the forests and streams of the Central Western Ghats. The study documents the first instance of gynandromorphy (a rare condition in which individuals exhibit both male and female characteristics) in Vela carli. This phenomenon is rare in crustaceans and has never before been reported in the freshwater crab family Gecarcinucidae, according to the researchers.

The study was carried out by K.S. Anoop Das and K.T. Fahis from the Centre for Conservation Ecology, MES Mampad College, in collaboration with scientist and crab specialist Sameer K. Pati and Purnima Kumari from the Zoological Survey of India. Their findings were recently published in the international journal Crustaceana.

In a stunning display of strength and athletic ability, a female strongwoman has set a new record with Guinness World Records after lifting and throwing 10 men in just 37.44 seconds. The remarkable feat, which has since gone viral online, showcases the athlete's extraordinary power, speed, and technique. In the challenge, the woman had to individually lift each participant and throw them over her shoulder in rapid succession, completing the task within a strict time frame.

According to Guinness World Records officials, the attempt required not only physical strength but also precise coordination and endurance. Each participant had to be lifted safely and thrown using controlled movement to ensure the challenge met official safety standards.

Bharat Tribes Fest 2026 will commence in the national capital on March 18, bringing together tribal artisans, entrepreneurs and cultural performers from across the country.

Organised by the Tribal Cooperative Marketing Development Federation of India (TRIFED) in collaboration with the Ministry of Tribal Affairs, the festival will be held at Sunder Nursery from March 18 to 30.

Union Minister for Tribal Affairs Jual Oram will inaugurate the festival in the presence of Minister of State for Tribal Affairs Durgadas Uikey and other dignitaries.

The festival, open to the public daily from 11:00 AM to 8:00 PM, aims to showcase the diversity, creativity and entrepreneurial spirit of tribal communities through art, handicrafts, handlooms, cuisine and cultural performances.

Uttarakhand government has made special health arrangements for this year’s Char Dham Yatra. The health of pilgrims visiting the Yatra will be monitored in real time through the ‘e-Swasthya Dham’ portal so that medical assistance can be provided immediately when required.

Experienced doctors and paramedical staff will be deployed at permanent and temporary medical units along the pilgrimage routes, major halting points and at all four Dhams. To deal with emergencies, 177 ambulances will be stationed along the Yatra routes, including 108 emergency service ambulances, advanced life support ambulances and cardiac ambulances.

In addition, one boat ambulance will be available in Tehri and a helicopter ambulance will also be deployed, which will be operated through AIIMS Rishikesh. Health Minister Dr. Dhan Singh Rawat said that the response time of ambulances along the Yatra routes will be kept to a minimum so that pilgrims can receive timely medical care.

Researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati have developed a new material that can generate hydrogen fuel through the electrolysis of water.

Although overall water splitting requires a thermodynamic potential of 1.23 V, this material demonstrates an ultralow Hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) overpotential of only 12 mV, outperforming the commercial Pt/C electrode, thus highlighting its outstanding electrocatalytic performance.

In addition, the same material is also shown to support the desalination of seawater using solar energy.

The findings of this research have been published in the prestigious Advanced Functional Materials journal, in a paper co-authored by Prof PK Giri, Professor, Department of Physics, along with his research scholars, Koushik Ghosh, and Sanjoy Sur Roy, at IIT Guwahati.

Union Minister Piyush Goyal will move a motion in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday seeking permission to withdraw The Jan Vishwas (Amendment of Provisions) Bill, 2025, as Parliament continues the second phase of the Union Budget 2026-27 session.

The Bill, originally introduced in 2025, seeks to amend various laws to decriminalise and rationalise minor offences, with the aim of promoting trust-based governance and improving ease of living and doing business. According to the revised List of Business, the withdrawal follows recommendations made by a Select Committee.

India Tourism Development Corporation, under the Ministry of Tourism, in collaboration with the Ministry of Tribal Affairs, has inaugurated a capacity building programme for tribal homestay owners in New Delhi.

The inaugural ceremony was held at Kautilya Hall, Hotel Samrat, marking a step towards strengthening community-based tourism and enhancing the professional capabilities of tribal homestay operators across the country. The programme is designed to improve service standards, enhance visitor experiences and create sustainable livelihood opportunities through structured training delivered by IHM Ashok under ITDC.

The first batch of the programme includes 40 participants from Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim and Gujarat.

The Indian Navy along with multiple partner nations is participating in Exercise Sea Dragon 2026, a United States Navy-led multinational anti-submarine warfare drill being held at Andersen Air Force Base in Guam throughout March.

The exercise has brought together maritime forces from several partner nations, including the United States Navy, the Royal Australian Air Force, the Japan Maritime Self-Defence Force and the Royal New Zealand Air Force.

The multinational is being conducted by the nations to strengthen cooperation among allied forces and improve understanding for better anti-submarine warfare capabilities in the Indo-Pacific region.

Scientists have identified an entirely new category of "liquid planet" that exists in a permanent, molten state. Traditionally, small exoplanets were categorized as either rocky "gas-dwarfs" with hydrogen atmospheres or "water worlds" with deep oceans and ice. This new discovery, detailed in Nature Astronomy, suggests a third class: planets that are essentially global oceans of magma. The primary example of this new type is L 98-59 d, a planet located approximately 35 light-years away from Earth, Guardian reported. The planet was detected by the James Webb telescope, the most powerful telescope ever put into space. 

In a moment of international recognition for Indian animation, the animated short film 'CHYIMI,' directed by Dr. Partha Sarathi Mahanta, IGP of Assam police and Commissioner of Police, Guwahati, has won the Best Director Award at the New York Short Animation Festival (NYSAF) 2026.

The New York Short Animation Festival celebrates creativity, originality, and craftsmanship in the art of animation, bringing together innovative works from animators across the world. It recognises outstanding animated storytelling and provides a global platform for emerging and established filmmakers.