An artist's concept of the brightest galaxy in the universe (Photo: NASA/JPL-Caltech)

Scientists have discovered the brightest galaxy in the universe that has light equal to over 300 trillion suns. The galaxy belongs to a new class of objects recently discovered by NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer or WISE. These new objects have a rather ungainly nickname: ELIRGs, or extremely luminous infrared galaxies.

A PTI report quoted Chao-Wei Tsai of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California saying, "This dazzling light may be from the main growth spurt in the galaxy's black hole."

J Jayalalithaa attended office yesterday for the first time, after her conviction and subsequently controversial acquittal in a disproportionate assets case. This is her fifth stint as chief minister of Tamil Nadu. Her first action was to launch a slew of welfare schemes worth over Rs 1800 crore. She declared open 201 more eateries under the 'Amma Canteen' scheme. She also cleared schemes for improving road and drinking water facilities and extending assistance to indigent families headed by women. Elections are due in Tamil Nadu next year.

The iron collected over two years for a 182-metre tall statue of Sardar Patel to be built in Vadodara is unlikely to be used for the main structure, according to The Indian Express. The statue is one of Prime Minister Modi's pet projects. Officials associated with the project have said that the iron is likely to be part of an art work to be displayed there. KV Sanghavi, Chief Engineer, says the iron is not going to be used as it is of uncertain quality. The collection from across the country so far includes 1,69,078 kits containing iron tools, each weighing nearly 700 grams.

In a surgery that lasted 15 hours and required 20 doctors and assistants, an Afghan soldier has received new hands. Abdul Rahim had lost his own while diffusing a bomb in Afghanistan. He scouted for medical help all over the Middle East, including in Iran, but was unable to find suitable donors.

On April 10th, in Amrita Institute in Kochi, the $23,500 transplant surgery was finally performed. Thirty-year-old Rahim received the hands of a 54-year-old who had been killed in a traffic accident. The surgery took place after months of counselling and will require many more months of medical supervision. Incredibly, Rahim is already able to use his new hands for day-to-day activities.

French director Jacques Audiard's Tamil film Dheepan won the Palm D'or at the 68th Cannes Film Festival. The movie narrates the story of a former Tamil Tiger Dheepan who seeks asylum in Europe and finds himself in a suburb of Paris, with a woman and child pretending to be his wife and daughter.

Dheepan is Audiard's third win at Cannes, after the Best Screenplay Award in 1996 for A Self Made Hero, and the Grand Prix, in 2009, for A Prophet. It is his first Tamil film. Audiard later spoke about the importance of the film in the context of the current refugee crisis in the Mediterranean. "Those people who sell roses to us in a cafe, where they come from, what is their background, their motivations - that is what spurred me on."