The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has achieved another leap in its quest for self-reliance in space, successfully launching the heaviest communication satellite ever lifted from Indian soil using its formidable heavy-lift rocket, the Launch Vehicle Mark-3 (LVM3). Affectionately nicknamed ‘Bahubali’ for its sheer power, the LVM3-M5 mission placed the critical 4,410 kg CMS-03 spacecraft into a precise Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO) on Sunday, November 2, 2025, from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre.

New Species

Bengaluru

Researchers found a new frog species lurking in a pond in Bengaluru, and hope to discover more with systematic studies. 

Mumbai

Herpetologists have discovered 13 new species of geckos this year, and expect to find more in the coming years.

Pune

The four species of newly-discovered tiger moths. Left to right: First row: O. suryamal rekhaeO. suryamal. Second row: O. zedesi and O. ghatmatha [Image credits: Aparna Kalawate]

Thus hath the candle sing'd the moth.
O, these deliberate fools! When they do choose,
They have the wisdom by their wit to lose.

Bengaluru

(a) Shola reedtail (Protosticta sholai) [Image credits: K. A. Subramanian]; (b) blue-legged reedtail (Protosticta cyanofemora) [Image credits: Shantanu Joshi]; (c) Myristica reedtail (Protosticta myristicaensis) [Image credits: Shantanu Joshi]

Chennai

Tetrastemma freyae [Image credits: Mohandhas S Vignesh]

Bengaluru

In a recent study, researchers from Agharkar Research Institute, India, Harbin Normal University, China and the University of Colorado, USA, have described a new genus of diatoms called Kulikovskiyia. Diatoms belonging to this genus are currently found only in the Western Ghats of India and Hainan Province of China. The study, funded by the Science and Engineering Research Board, was published in the journal Phycological Research.

Bengaluru

Researchers from the Zoological Survey of India describe a new species of bee Melitta indica from Uttarakhand, India

Bengaluru

Researchers from the Natural History Museum, London, have uncovered the evolutionary links between the different species of centipedes dating back to Gondwana. 

Pune

Researchers from Agharkar Research Institute, Pune, Savitribai Phule Pune University, MES College of Arts, Commerce and Science, Bengaluru and the Centre for medicinal Plants Research, Kerala have described a new species of pipewort from the Western Ghats. They have named the new species Eriocaulon karaavalense, after the Kannada work karaavali (ಕರಾವಳಿ), which translates to ‘the coast’.

Aizawl

Researchers from NCBS, NHM, WII, Mizoram University, Pachunga University College, and IISc have documented a new genus and species of Natricine snake from Northeast India. 

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