July 6 – Current Affairs

The 7th International Thirukkural Conference is scheduled to be held in Bengaluru on July 5.

The conference aims to celebrate the timeless wisdom of Thiruvalluvar and foster scholarly discussions regarding the literary, ethical, social, cultural, and contemporary relevance of the Thirukkural.

Venue: St. Joseph's University, Bengaluru.

Date: July 5, 2026 (7th World Thirukkural Conference).

Organizers: St. Joseph's University, Tamil Language Federation, and Thiruvalluvar Sangam.

Participants include former ISRO Project Director Mylswamy Annadurai, Narayana Gowda, and Vice-Chancellor Victor Lobo.

List of International and World Thirukkural Conferences:

1st: Nagercoil, India

2nd: Liverpool, England

3rd: Sydney, Australia

4th: New Delhi, India

5th: Chicago, USA

6th: Toronto, Canada

The Global Journey of Thirukkural:

It was in 1812 that the Thirukkural was first printed as a book from palm-leaf manuscripts in Tamil Nadu.

In the early 18th century, the concepts of the Thirukkural were summarized in German by the missionary Ziegenbalg.

In 1730, the Italian scholar Veeramamunivar translated the Thirukkural into Latin, one of the world's classical languages.

In the 19th century, G.U. Pope and others translated it into various European languages, such as English and FrenchTranslated into numerous Asian and Semitic languages, the *Thirukkural* traveled across the globe and blossomed into a universal text.

In the early 20th century, Bharathiyar praised this, singing: "Tamil Nadu has earned celestial renown by gifting Valluvan to the world."

2NASA Swift Rescue Mission

The NASA Swift Boost mission successfully launchedto rescue the aging Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory from crashing back into Earth's atmosphere

NASA has contracted Katalyst Space of Flagstaff, Arizona, to boost the altitude of its sinking Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory.

Swift is NASA’s astrophysics multitool, capable of quickly observing a wide range of cosmic objects in visible, ultraviolet, X-ray, and gamma-ray light.

This July, Katalyst’s LINK robotic servicing spacecraft launched into orbit aboard a Northrop Grumman Pegasus XL rocket, to attempt to capture and raise Swift over the course of several months.

All spacecraft in low Earth orbit experience slight drag from our planet’s atmosphere. If they don’t have propulsion systems to maintain their orbits, the drag gradually reduces their altitudes.

A recent bout of solar storms magnified this effect on Swift, which began to sink faster than anticipated.

NASA awarded Katalyst the contract in September 2025, so the company had less than a year to design, build, test, and launch a spacecraft to meet, grab, and lift Swift

In the meantime, teams at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, and Pennsylvania State University’s Eberly College of Science in University Park made innovative operational changes to keep Swift at least 185 miles (300 kilometers) above Earth, where the boost mission has the best chance of success.

3NITI Aayog’s Roadmap for Making Ayurveda Global

NITIAayog’s Strategic Roadmap for Making Ayurveda Global outlines a phased blueprint to transform Ayurveda into an evidence-based, globally recognized healthcare system by 2047.

The report was launched by Dr. Ashok Kumar Lahiri, Vice Chairman, NITI Aayog.

The study was undertaken by the Health Division of NITI Aayog in collaboration with PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC).

Objectives:

To assess Ayurveda’s global footprint, identify barriers and enablers, evaluate regulatory frameworks, map global demand, and develop a roadmap for its globalisation.

Methodology:

Its assessment is based on three pillars:

Availability – Workforce, manufacturing, exports, research and education.

Acceptability – Regulation, collaborations, insurance and cultural adaptability.

Propagation – Branding, visibility, Medical Value Travel and global engagement

The report notes that exports of Ayush and herbal products nearly doubled from USD 1.09 billion in 2014 to USD 2.16 billion in 2023, with Ayurveda products reaching around 150 countries.

Yet regulatory barriers continue to keep many Ayurvedic formulations out of mainstream healthcare systems in developed markets, where they are largely sold as dietary supplements instead of approved medicines.

While Ayurveda has gained varying degrees of recognition in nearly 30 countries and research is underway in almost 70 countries, India has yet to build a sizable global workforce.