Shubhanshu Shukla: India’s first astronaut on a private space mission to ISS

Indian Air Force Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla to become the first Indian astronaut to journey to the International Space Station (ISS) on a private mission. SpaceX Dragon spacecraft from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, under the Axiom Mission 4 (Ax-4). Shukla is seasoned test pilot and combat leader, as promoted to Group Captain and currently serves as the astronaut-designate for India’s human spaceflight program, Gaganyaan. Axiom Mission 4 (Ax-4) is a joint mission of NASA & ISRO. He underwent rigorous astronaut training at the Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center in Star City, Moscow, Russia.

10th Sci-Fi Festival 2025 inaugurated by Goa CM in Panaji, Goa

Goa Cheif Minister Promode Sawant inaugurates Sci-Fi Science Film Festival of India in Panaji. Theme for 10th Sci-Fi festival is ‘Green Revolution’. The first ever Science Film Festival of India (SCI-FFI) organized by Vidnyan Parishad – Goa in association with Entertainment Society of Goa, Department of Science and Technology. Institutes such as NIO, ESSO-NCPOR, GEDA, Goa Science Centre, State Forest Department, ICAR etc. also exhibited stalls displaying different facets of their work.

Indian Rupee plunges to the record low of 87.29 against US Dollar.

The rupee has dived all time low against US dollar at 87.29. The result we seeing for the US trade war of tarrifs by Trump administration. The Rupee has also been impacted by foreign fund outflows and the strong dollar. Indian forex reserved also impacted severly and depleted to 629.55 billion dollar as on 24 January. Trump imposed 25 per cent tariffs on imports from Mexico and Canada and 10 per cent on imports from China. The new measures by the US are likely to trigger a global trade war in the coming days.

India became women U-19 T20 world champion after beating South Africa.

India defeated South Africa by nine-wickets in the 2025 U-19 T20 World Cup final at the Bayuemas Oval in the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur. India successfully defended their title to become two-time ICC U19 Women’s T20 World Cup champions. India won all their group stage matches against West Indies, Malaysia and Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Scotland in the Super Six, In the semifinal they defeated England under the leadership of Niki Prasad. Gongadi Trisha was named as the Player of the Tournament. BCCI has announced a cash reward of INR 5 Crore for the victorious squad and support staff, led by Head Coach Nooshin Al Khadeer.

Wriddhiman Saha legendary player from Bengal retires.

Former India’s star wicketkeeper-batter Wriddhiman Saha announced retirement from his cricketing career after playing his final match in the Ranji Trophy vs Punjab. Saha announced his retirement, signed off from competitive cricket with Ranji Trophy clash between Bengal and Punjab at the Eden Gardens. Saha scored over 16000 runs in his career combining Tests, ODIs, List A, First Class and T20 cricket. He has been played IPL from the different franchaise KKR, CSK, Kings XI, SRH, and GT.

R Praggnanandhaa stuns D Gukesh to win Tata Steel chess title.

R Praggnanandhaa won the Tata Steel Masters 2025, beating world champion D Gukesh in a thrilling tiebreak in Wijk aan Zee, Netherlands. Praggnanandhaa became the first Indian since Viswanathan Anand in 2006 to win the top prize at the Tata Steel Masters. Gukesh and Pragg were tied in points after losing their respective games in the final round of the tournament.

UK becomes first country to outlaw AI tools used to generate child sexual abuse content.

The UK government is cracking down on the usage of generative AI tools to create child sexual abuse material (CSAM). The UK Home Office announced 4 new legislation aimed at tackling the threat of AI-generated CSAM. AI-generated CSAM has witnessed rise of 380%, with 245 confirmed reports in 2024 compared with 51 reports in 2023, according to the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) data.

World Wetlands Day: 2nd February 2025

Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) celebrates World Wetlands Day at the Parvati Arga Ramsar Site, Gonda, Uttar Pradesh on 2nd February 2025. Theme for 2025 edition is “Protecting Wetlands for our Common Future“. It is observed annually to raise awareness about the importance of wetlands and marks the adoption of the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands in 1971. Udhwa Lake in Jharkhand, Theerthangal and Sakkarakottai in Tamil Nadu and Khecheopalri in Sikkim are included in the list of Ramsar sites.