Further demands on India-U.S. deal 'very difficult': Sitharaman

Negotiations for the India-U.S. trade deal have reached a "plateau", where it will now be "very difficult" to add to the list of demands and concessions that have been agreed to, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Monday.

Trio wins medicine Nobel for 'controlling neurons with light

A trio of scientists was on Monday declared the winners of the 2026 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for discoveries leading to a technique called optogenetics, which allows scientists to control select nerve cells using light.

Will not stay proceedings against Nicobar project, says SC

Saying that "preservation of culture is a constitutionally protected fundamental right", the Supreme Court on Monday refused to agree with a Union government plea to stay Calcutta High Court proceedings in a petition challenging the Great Nicobar Island Project. 

First international cargo vessel leaves Assam since 1947

A barge carrying 540 metric tonnes of methanol left the Bogibeel Terminal in Dibrugarh district for Dha-ka, Bangladesh, on Monday, marking the first international shipment from eastern Assam since India's independence in 1947. The vessel, destined for Pangaon port in Dhaka's Narayanganj, will travel about 768 km down the Brahmaputra river (National Waterway-2) to the India-Bangladesh border, and continue along the In-do-Bangladesh Protocol Route in the neighbouring country. The total distance is about 1,300 km.

The looming crisis of world unemployment.

A widening jobs gap threatens the promise of demographic dividends; the Global South faces an unprecedented employment challenge

Bird islands 

India's conservation efforts must go beyond symbolism

This week, at the Desert National Park in Jaisalmer, two male Great Indian Bustards were released into the wild. It was a ceremony with considerable bureaucratic pomp; the Union and the Rajasthan Environment Ministers were in attendance. The conservation plan now has 97 birds, with nine more awaiting release. Of these, 57 are captive-bred and have produced 29 chicks this year and 24 last year.

Why is Buxa bringing tigers back?

• A three-year-old tigress from Bihar's Valmiki Tiger Reserve has been released in Buxa Tiger Reserve as part of a phased programme to establish a viable, self-sustaining tiger population

• Valmiki was chosen because its terrain is similar to Buxa, while translocation from the Sundarbans was considered unsuitable due to differences in habitat and terrain

• The reintroduction faces challenges including habitat degradation, low prey availability, human settlements, linear infrastructure and heavy commercial traffic through the reserve

Why are States divided over the mining amendment?

In a federal country like India, differences between the Centre and the States over certain issues are not unusual. One such instance recently arose over the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Amendment Act, 2026, passed by Parliament.

Under the amended Act, the Centre's regulatory powers over mining have been expanded to cover not only mines and mineral development but also mineral-bearing lands. It bars States from imposing fresh taxes on mineral rights and mineral-bearing lands, except under conditions prescribed by the Union government. It also cancels mineral taxes imposed by States but not fully collected before the Act came into force.

India, Switzerland to boost defence, nuclear ties: Modi

India and Switzerland have identified new for opportunities cooperation in areas of defence and nuclear energy, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, following a bilateral meeting with Swiss President Guy Parmelin on Monday. Agreements signed by the two sides included one to extend visa durations and student permits.

Cygni Energy, Indus Towers ink MoU for telecom infra solutions

Energy-storage technology and manufacturing company Cygni Energy and telecom tower firm Indus Towers have decided to explore collaboration on sourcing energy storage solutions for telecom infrastructure in the country. The collaboration will include plans to establish Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) manufacturing capacity of up to 1.5 GWh to address the evolving energy requirements of telecom infrastructure, Cygni Energy said on Monday following the signing of an MoU with Indus.

New discovery comes 'close' to test biology's central dogma

The discovery of DRT3b suggests that a protein can direct the synthesis of a specific DNA sequence without a nucleic-acid template, an unprecedented finding that pushes the boundaries of, but does not overturn, the central dogma of molecular biology