A team of Indian scientists has uncovered a rare, subterranean amphibian species in Maharashtra’s northern Western Ghats, throwing light on one of the least understood groups of animals on the planet.

The newly identified species, Gegeneophis valmiki, is the first addition to its genus in more than a decade, underscoring how much of India’s biodiversity still lives unseen, beneath the soil.

The species was first collected in 2017 from the Valmiki Plateau in Satara district by Dr. K.P. Dinesh, Senior Scientist at the Zoological Survey of India (ZSI). It has now been formally described following years of detailed study.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday addressed the Bagurumba Dwhou 2026, a major cultural event celebrating the rich heritage of the Bodo community, at Sarusajai Stadium in Guwahati. Calling the festival a tribute to Assam’s cultural pride, the Prime Minister said Bagurumba Dwhou honours the great traditions of the Bodo society and reflects the state’s journey from conflict to cultural resurgence.

Addressing the gathering, the Prime Minister said it had been his privilege to witness Assam’s culture closely and observe the traditions of the Bodo community. He remarked that no Prime Minister had visited Assam as frequently as he had, underlining his consistent desire to provide Assam’s art and culture a larger platform and global recognition through grand celebrations. He cited large-scale Bihu festivities, Jhumoir Binondini, the grand Bodo Mahotsav held in New Delhi one and a quarter years ago, and other cultural programmes as part of sustained efforts in this direction.

New Delhi will host the 2nd Global Buddhist Summit (GBS) on January 24-25, as the International Buddhist Confederation (IBC), in collaboration with the Union Ministry of Culture, brings together global Buddhist leaders, scholars and policymakers to deliberate on contemporary global challenges through the lens of Buddha Dhamma.

The Summit, to be held at Bharat Mandapam, will be organised under the theme “Collective Wisdom, United Voice, and Mutual Coexistence”. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to inaugurate the two-day event as Chief Guest, continuing the tradition set during the inaugural Global Buddhist Summit held in New Delhi in 2023.

At a time marked by rapid social, political and environmental change, the Summit seeks to explore how the timeless principles of Buddha Dhamma – compassion, wisdom, harmony and coexistence – can offer meaningful responses to conflict, alienation and uncertainty in the modern world. The deliberations will emphasise ethical leadership, social harmony and sustainable living in an era shaped by technological advancement, consumerism and environmental stress.

The Indian Coast Guard (ICG) and the Japan Coast Guard (JCG) conducted a joint Hazardous and Noxious Substances (HNS) response drill in Mumbai, reaffirming their strong maritime partnership and commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific.

As part of the engagement, Japan Coast Guard Commandant Admiral Yoshio Seguchi, along with a high-level delegation, visited the Indian Coast Guard Regional Headquarters (West) yesterday. Admiral Seguchi held a courtesy meeting with Inspector General Bhisham Sharma, Commander, Coast Guard Region (West).

During the meeting, both sides underscored the importance of enhanced cooperation and interoperability.

The highlight of the visit was a specialised joint training exercise conducted onboard the Indian Coast Guard’s pollution response vessel ICGS Samudra Prahari.

Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Science and Technology, Dr Jitendra Singh on Sunday launched India’s first-ever open-sea marine fish farming project in the Andaman Sea.

The launch took place at North Bay, Sri Vijaya Puram, during Dr Singh’s field visit to the open waters of the Andaman Sea.

Addressing the gathering, Dr Jitendra Singh said the initiative represents one of the earliest and most significant efforts to unlock the economic potential of India’s oceans.

He observed that India’s marine resources, much like its Himalayan and mainland assets, possess immense and dive

Discoveries under Lake Mendota are helping scientists better understand early human life in North America. Researchers have found ancient wooden canoes resting at the bottom of the lake, showing that people lived, travelled, and used advanced skills in the Great Lakes region thousands of years ago, reported the Newsweek.

Researchers with the Wisconsin Historical Society have discovered a total of 16 ancient hollow wooden boats in Lake Mendota. Researchers say the oldest of these boats dates back to a time before the Great Pyramid of Giza in Egypt even existed.

The first boat, approximately 1,200 years old, was discovered in 2021. Another boat, approximately 3,000 years old, was discovered in 2022. Further discoveries identified 14 other boats, six of which were discovered in the spring of 2025.

Marine scientists exploring the deep ocean have made an exciting discovery that is helping people better understand life beneath the sea. During a dive in the waters of Fiordland, researchers came across something far bigger and older than they expected, reported the Newsweek.

Marine scientists have discovered the largest black coral ever found in the sea off New Zealand. The coral was discovered during a deep-water dive off Fiordland led by a scientific team from Te Herenga Waka-Victoria University of Wellington. This huge coral is more than 13 feet high and about 15 feet wide, and is believed to be around 300 to 400 years old.

Marine biologist Professor James Bell, who has 25 years' experience, said this coral is exceptionally large and much larger than commonly seen corals. He said that most black corals found during dives are small, and even larger corals are usually only two to three meters high, so this discovery is very special and impressive.

The construction works of the country’s first green ammonia project will begin on Saturday in Kakinada, Andhra Pradesh.

Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu will oversee the first major equipment installation ceremony of AM Green’s Green Hydrogen and Green Ammonia Complex at Kakinada.

With a total investment of $10 billion, the AM Green project represents one of the largest clean-energy investments ever made in India.

The project will generate up to 8,000 jobs during the construction phase, besides creating large-scale, high-skill employment during operations and across allied industries such as renewables, logistics, storage and port services .

For the first time, green energy molecules produced domestically will be exported to global markets, including Germany, Japan and Singapore, firmly positioning India—and Andhra Pradesh—as a clean-energy exporter on the world stage .

Google has introduced TranslateGemma, a new collection of open translation AI models built on Gemma 3. The company said that the models support translation across 55 languages and are available in three sizes: 4B, 12B, and 27B parameters. According to Google, TranslateGemma is part of its efforts to advance open translation models by distilling knowledge from its Gemini models into smaller, open architectures.

TranslateGemma is a family of AI models focused specifically on language translation. Google said that the models were created using a specialised training process that transfers capabilities from its Gemini models into the Gemma 3 framework.

The company has released TranslateGemma in three sizes to support different deployment needs, ranging from smaller environments to cloud-based systems.

Google said TranslateGemma has been trained and evaluated across 55 languages, including widely spoken languages such as Spanish, French, Chinese, and Hindi, as well as several low-resource languages.

Aaryan Varshney became the 92nd Indian to earn the title of chess Grandmaster on Thursday.

The 21-year-old Aaryan won the Andranik Margaryan Memorial title with a round to spare in Armenia, which confirmed his Grandmaster title.

He drew against FM Tyhran Ambartsumian in the eighth round of the competition in Armenia to secure his third and final GM norm.

Aaryan, who is from Delhi, is the eighth Grandmaster from the capital of India, along with Parimarjan Negi, Abhijeet Gupta, Sriram Jha, Vaibhav Suri, Sahaj Grover, Aryan Chopra, and Prithu Gupta.