Science and Technology (S&T) Digest (16-30 June 2024), Issue 40

Dr Saroj Bishoyi, Research Fellow, VIF

July 11 , 2024 Views: 17 Comments: 0

In this Issue

I. Defence and Security

Private Defence Companies Revenue to Grow by 20 percent in FY 2024-25

According to a report by CRISIL Ratings, the revenue of private defence companies is set to grow by 20 percent during the current FY 2024-25. The report stated that the revenue of the 25 private aerospace and defence companies will surge by 20 percent to approximately Rs 13,500 crore during the current fiscal year. The surge is propelled by higher government spending and concerted efforts by the government to encourage private participation in the defence sector. India's defence sector is generally dominated by the public sector; however, the revenue share of private players has been on the rise recently. Click here to read…

Indian Air Force to Acquire Six Made-in-India Tapas Drones

In a major boost to enhancing indigenous unmanned surveillance capabilities of defence forces, the Indian Air Force (IAF) has made a proposal to the central government to buy 10 Tapas drones. Out of the 10, six Made-in-India drones would be for the IAF, while the remaining four would be for the Indian Navy, defence officials told ANI. Tapas drones are medium-altitude long, endurance-category drones that have been developed indigenously by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and have to be manufactured by a consortium of Bharat Electronics Limited and Hindustan Aeronautics Limited. Click here to read…

Made in India Netra, Pinaka Systems Attract Interest at Defence Show

At the Eurosatory 2024 Defence Show in Paris, India’s indigenous military technologies, including the Netra airborne early warning and control aircraft and the Pinaka multi-barrel rocket launcher systems, have garnered attention from European and Southeast Asian nations interested in acquiring these advanced systems. The systems are part of the Indian weapon platforms and technologies on display at the India pavilion at the ongoing Eurosatory 2024 Defence Show in Paris. Indian companies have been able to find global customers for many indigenous systems including Armenia which has ordered multiple systems in view of its ongoing tensions with Azerbaijan. Click here to read…

Preparing Future Techno-Warriors and Military Leaders

The flagship Defence Services Technical Staff Course for the tri-services officers commenced on 10 June 2024 at Military Institute of Technology, Pune. A total of 166 officers from the tri-services, Indian Coast Guard, and including five officers from friendly foreign countries (FCCs) are participating in the course, which is designed to train mid-career officers, from the Indian Army, Indian Navy, Indian Air Force, Indian Coast Guard and friendly foreign countries, as future techno-warriors and military leaders. Click here to read…

Third 25T Bollard Pull (BP) Tug, Bajrang Delivered to Indian Navy

Third 25T Bollard Pull (BP) Tug, Bajrang has been delivered to Indian Navy (IN) on 29 June 2024. This Tug is a proud flag bearer of “Make in India” initiative of the Indian government. These Tugs are being built under the classification rules of Indian Register of Shipping (IRS). The availability of Tugs will provide impetus to Operational commitments of IN by facilitating assistance to Naval ships and submarines during berthing and un-berthing, turning and manoeuvring in confined waters. The Tugs will also provide afloat firefighting assistance to ships alongside, at anchorage. Click here to read…

Aatmanirbharta in Defence Crucial for Achieving Strategic Independence

India’s pursuit of defence indigenisation and self-reliance is crucial for achieving strategic independence in the defence sector. This was stated by Chief of Defence Staff Gen Anil Chauhan while addressing the maiden Armed Forces BEML Synergy Meet 2024 in New Delhi on 21 June 2024. Underlining the objectives of Aatmnirbharta in defence, Gen Anil Chauhan said, “The concept of Atmanirbharta underscores our aim to attain autonomy in defence production and establish an ecosystem that positions India as a leading global defence exporter.” Click here to read…

II. STI in Space Sector

ISRO Achieves Success in RLV Technology Demonstrations through LEX Trio

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has achieved another success in the Reusable Launch Vehicle (RLV) landing experiment (LEX). The third and final test in the series of LEX (03) was conducted at the Aeronautical Test Range (ATR) in Chitradurga, Karnataka. Following the success of the RLV LEX-01 and LEX-02 missions, RLV LEX-03 re-demonstrated the autonomous landing capability of the RLV under more challenging release conditions (cross range of 500 m against 150 m for LEX-02) and more severe wind conditions. Click here to read…

Two Geoportals, Ver. 4.0 and NDEM Ver. 5.0, Launched

On 28 June, two Geoportals namely ‘Bhuvan Panchayat (Ver. 4.0)" portal for rural land record and "National Database for Emergency Management (NDEM Ver. 5.0)" developed by Indian Space research Organization (ISRO) launched at Prithvi Bhavan, Delhi. These latest geospatial tools are meant for visualisation and planning to provide high resolution satellite imagery of 1:10K scale for different locations across the entire country. “Launch of these portals is a sequel to reforms introduced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the last one decade”. Click here to read…

200 Times Increase in Space StartUps in Last Two Years

“There has been around 200 times increase in Space StartUps in just about two years”. In the year 2023 alone, nearly INR 1000 crore was invested in the space sector of India in just about eight months. This quantum jump has been possible because of a major policy decision taken by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to open up the Space sector to the private sector and allow public-private participation in a big way, said the Minister said Union Minister of State Dr. Jitendra Singh. Further, the industry caters to nearly 450 MSMEs affirming the PM’s vision of “Sabka Prayas” during the Amrit kaal period. Click here to read…

Warfare and Aerospace Strategy Programme (WASP)

On 25 June 2024, the Indian Air Force conducted a capstone seminar marking the culmination of the No. 3 Warfare & Aerospace Strategy Programme (WASP) at the Air Force Auditorium, New Delhi. The seminar with the theme "India's Strategic Culture and Imperative for Contemporary National Security' was conducted under the aegis of the College of Air Warfare and Centre for Air Power Studies. The participants underwent intensive training in the fields of Strategy, Military History, Civil-Military relations, Higher Defence Organisation, Aerospace Power, Information Warfare, Technology and Hybrid Warfare. Click here to read…

Boeing Starliner with Sunita Williams Onboard Could Wait Months in Space

Projected to last only days, the first crewed test flight of Boeing's Starliner spacecraft with two astronauts onboard is in limbo with no exact return to Earth announced. NASA's Commercial Crew Program manager, Steve Stich has said that the US space agency is considering extending the duration of Starliner's mission from 45 days to 90 days, CNN reported. Officials have repeatedly hinted that the Starliner, which faced issues with helium leaks and thruster outages heading to the International Space Station (ISS) in early June, will be safe to bring astronauts including Indian-origin Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore home. Click here to read…

III. Nuclear Technology

India’s Nuclear Power Capacity to Increase Around 70 Percent

India’s Nuclear Power generation capacity is to increase by around 70 percent in the next 5 years”, says Union Minister Dr. Jitendra Singh while convening a high-level meeting to review the 100 days Action Plan of the Department of Atomic Energy in Delhi on 25 June 2024. This is the first Atomic Energy related meeting convened by the Minister after he reassumed charge as Minister in the Modi Govt 3.0. Highlighting India’s progress in nuclear energy and renewable energy in the energy landscape, he said “Installed capacity of 7.48 GWe will become 13.08 GWe by 2029, which is over 70 percent increase with addition of 7 new reactors. Click here to read…

Strengthening Legal Framework of Sri Lanka as it Pursues Nuclear Power

In response to a request for assistance from the Government of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka to discuss its draft amended nuclear law, a high-level delegation from Sri Lanka visited the IAEA Headquarters in Vienna, Austria, from 11-14 June 2024. This followed the IAEA Awareness Mission on Nuclear Law held in Colombo in November 2023. The main objective of the visit was to continue efforts to strengthen the country’s nuclear legal framework, in particular the Atomic Energy Act of Sri Lanka No. 40 of 2014 in view of the country’s expected decision to embark on a nuclear power programme. Click here to read…

Fund to Strengthen Cooperation in Nuclear S&T and Applications

The IAEA and the OPEC Fund for International Development (OPEC Fund) have formally agreed to strengthen joint efforts to tackle the world’s growing health, food, energy and climate development challenges with nuclear science and technology under a new Practical Arrangement (PA). The PA will focus on the key IAEA initiatives to improve cancer care through Rays of Hope: Cancer Care for All; use nuclear science to boost agriculture through Atoms4Food; and to cooperate in areas related to water scarcity, environmental monitoring and energy planning. Click here to read…

IAEA Performed Over 3,000 Verification Activities around the World

In 2023, the IAEA conducted more than 3,000 in-field verification activities at over 1,300 nuclear facilities and ‘locations outside facilities’ around the world, according to the Safeguards Statement and Background for 2023, published recently. As a result of this verification effort, the IAEA was able to draw safeguards conclusions for 189 States with safeguards agreements in force. IAEA safeguards verify countries’ commitments to use nuclear material and technology only for peaceful purposes. Click here to read…

IV. Emerging Technologies and Applications

Quantum Security Research Lab Inaugurated

On 25 June 2024, Professor Ajay Kumar Sood, Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India and Dr. Parvinder Maini, Scientific Secretary, attended the 23rd Foundation Day of the Society for Electronic Transactions and Security (SETS) in Chennai, where Prof. Sood inaugurated the Quantum Security Research Lab. Delivering a brief on SETS’ research and development activities, he mentioned that SETS has developed futuristic solutions like Post Quantum VPN, Quantum Random Number Generator (QRNG), Key Distillation Engine (KDE) for Quantum Key Distribution, PKI solution, Ransomware Early Detection Solution, Security for Blockchain, etc. Click here to read…

MSMEs Key Force in Moving towards Atmanirbhar and Viksit Bharat

The MSMEs will be a key force in the movement towards Atmanirbhar and Viksit Bharat, Union Minister for MSME, Jitan Ram Manjhi said. Addressing the day long event of International MSME Day, ‘Udyami Bharat’ he emphasized the need to deepen and broaden the effort through an inclusive and focused approach, especially in the rural areas and hinterland. The Minister said in a fast-changing industrial landscape, the MSMEs need to align themselves to adopting digital and technological solutions. He said as part of the ongoing reforms of the government, legal reforms in the MSME sector will work as a force multiplier. Click here to read…

Swadeshi Sciences with Swadeshi Spirit

“Indian Solutions for Indian problems and Indian data for Indian Innovations as our spectrum, and even our human phenotype, is different from the rest of the world,” says Dr. Jitendra Singh while addressing the 6th National Convention of Vigyan Bharati (ViBha) at MIT-ADT University, in Delhi. The Minister described it as a seminal movement for Swadeshi Sciences with Swadeshi Spirit, trying to make the optimum combination of Scientific Temper with Indian Temper. He said, the world has recognised that India now stands 3rd in global startups. India clinched from 81st position in 2014 to 40th position in Global Innovation Index. Click here to read…

New Class of Materials for Energy Harvesting and Power Generation

New study unravels the electronic mechanisms governing chemical bonding of new class of materials called incipient metals with metavalent bonding (MVB) within a single 2D layer of Group IV chalcogenides that can boost energy harvesting and power generation. Sourcing new materials with unique properties can help in the advancement of current technology. Recently, scientists are turning to a class of compounds called group IV chalcogenides that have intriguing properties, making them suitable candidates for technological applications. Click here to read…

Enhancing Road Safety by Deploying Artificial Intelligence

In order to enhance road safety, NHAI has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Indraprastha Institute of Information Technology (Delhi), a Technical University established by Government of National Capital Territory (NCT) to leverage Artificial Intelligence (AI) based solutions for improvement in the availability of road signs on National Highways. As a part of the agreement, IIIT Delhi will conduct surveys for collecting imagery and other related data related to availability and condition of road signages on selected National Highways stretches. The tentative length to be covered under this project shall be around 25,000 km. Click here to read…

V. International Cooperation

Indian- EU Startups Pitch for Cooperation in EV Battery Recycling Techs

India-European Union Trade and Technology Council (TTC) Working Group 2 jointly organized the startup matchmaking event featuring twelve high-impact solution providers in Battery Recycling Technologies for Electric Vehicles on 20 June 2024. Following the call for Expression of Interest, an independent Committee of Experts from each side shortlisted these twelve startups. This initiative aligns with India and the EU’s commitment to promote a sustainable agenda, foster innovation, and forge stronger economic relations between India and the European Union. Click here to read…

India-Australia Space Cooperation

A Launch Service Agreement was signed between India's NewSpace India Limited (NSIL) and Australia’s Space Machine Company to further deepen space collaboration between the two nations. The agreement was signed at an event in New Delhi. It was attended by ISRO chief S Somanath and the Australian High Commissioner to India, Philip Green. The Australian envoy addressed the event and said that Canberra is very proud of the engagement between the two nations in the space industry. Taking to social media platform X, he said that Australia will fund specific partnerships to the tune of Rs 100 crore over the next three years. Click here to read…

India-US Cooperation in Emerging Technologies

Following the second meeting of India-US initiative on Critical and Emerging Technologies (iCET) in New Delhi, India and the US released a joint fact sheet which highlighted the progress on MQ-9B acquisition, and on other defence cooperation sectors between the two nations. The key points that were highlighted in the fact sheet were Significant Funding Commitments, NASA-ISRO Collaboration, Defence Space Technology, Telecommunications Advances, Semiconductor Partnership, Quantum and AI Cooperation amongst many. Click here to read…

India-US Discuss Co-Production of Javelin Anti-Tank Missiles

India and the US held discussions on the co-production of American javelin missiles in India to meet the requirements of the Indian military. The American side had earlier also showcased the capability of the Javelin missiles to the Indian side but the project did not materialise. Javelin is developed and produced jointly by American defence majors Raytheon and Lockheed Martin. The missiles have been sold to various partner countries by the US and have seen action in multiple past and ongoing conflicts. Click here to read…

Indo-Danish Bilateral Green Tech Partnership

Atal Innovation Mission, NITI Aayog (AIM) announces the launch of two groundbreaking initiatives aimed at fostering innovation and sustainability in India: the ‘AIM – ICDK Water Challenge 4.0’ and the fifth edition of ‘Innovations for You’ handbook, spotlighting SDG entrepreneurs of India. In collaboration with the Innovation Centre Denmark (ICDK) at the Royal Danish Embassy in India, AIM presents the fourth edition of the open innovation water challenge. This initiative, a cornerstone of the Indo-Danish bilateral green strategic partnership, endeavors to address critical water-related challenges through inventive solutions. Click here to read…

VI. Regional and Global Trends

Huawei’s Influence Growing in China’s Server Industry with AI Chip Success

Huawei Technologies, which was forced to divest its traditional server subsidiary three years ago under pressure from US sanctions, has regained its influence in that sector on the mainland, thanks to the popularity of its artificial intelligence (AI) chips, according to industry analysts. The potential move by Huawei could affect companies such as Digital China, which has been working with the telecommunications giant to jointly deliver server solutions to end users. If Huawei decides to go solo, these companies would become mere “distributors”. Click here to read…

US Seeks Allies’ Support in Curbing China’s AI Chip Progress

US Under Secretary of Commerce for Industry and Security Alan Estevez is set to visit Japan and the Netherlands to ask the two countries to add fresh restrictions on China’s semiconductor sector, including on its ability to make the high-end memory chips needed for artificial intelligence. Under Secretary Estevez will press his counterparts in Tokyo and The Hague to put more limits on the activities in China of Dutch supplier ASML Holding NV and Japan’s Tokyo Electron Ltd. Estevez’s requests, part of an ongoing dialogue with allies, will highlight Chinese chip factories developing so-called high-bandwidth memory chips. Click here to read…

AI start-up HeyGen Raises US$60 million after Pivoting Away

Generative AI start-up HeyGen has raised US$60 million in its series A funding round, months after dissolving its mainland Chinese operation amid heightened tensions between Washington and Beijing. Founded in Shenzhen in 2020 and previously known as Surreal, HeyGen’s latest funding exercise valued the company at US$500 million, according to a Bloomberg report. The firm – renamed Movio after relocating to Los Angeles, California, in 2022 – rebranded itself as HeyGen in April 2023. Click here to read…

TSMC Obtains Approval for US $10.26bn Investment in Japan and US

TSMC has obtained the government’s approval to inject an additional US $10.26 billion to finance the construction of its second fab in Kumamoto, Japan, and a second fab in Arizona, using advanced process technologies. The Department of Investment Review approved TSMC’s investment applications on the basis that Taiwan remains a major technology and manufacturing hub for the chipmaker, which makes its most advanced chips at home, the company operates its research-and-development center here and the majority of its capacity remains in Taiwan. Click here to read…

US, Japan and South Korea Agree To Cooperate on AI

Commerce and trade ministers from the US, Japan and South Korea have agreed to cooperate on strategic issues, including AI safety, export controls, clean energy and semiconductor supply chains. “We’re doubling down our efforts to work together,” US Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo said at a meeting in Washington. “We have to work together to benefit not just our countries, but the safety and security of the world,” Raimondo said. She was joined at the inaugural trilateral meeting by Japanese Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Ken Saito and South Korean Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Ahn Duk-geun. Click here to read…