Science & Technology News

India's space programme (ISRO):

• Founded 1969. HQ: Bengaluru. Chairman: S. Somanath (until 2025); now V. Narayanan.
• Launch sites: Satish Dhawan Space Centre (Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh).
• Major launch vehicles: PSLV (Polar SLV), GSLV, GSLV Mk-III (now LVM3), SSLV (Small SLV).
• Reusable launch vehicle (RLV-TD) tests ongoing.

Recent ISRO missions:

• Chandrayaan-3 (Aug 23, 2023): soft landing near lunar south pole. India became 4th nation (after US, USSR, China) to soft-land on Moon, 1st near south pole.
• Aditya-L1 (Sept 2023): India's first solar mission. Reached L1 Lagrange point Jan 2024.
• Gaganyaan: India's first crewed spaceflight programme. 4 astronauts named (Group Captain Prashanth Nair, Group Captain Ajit Krishnan, Group Captain Angad Pratap, Wing Commander Shubhanshu Shukla). Uncrewed test flights through 2025; crewed flight target 2026.
• Mangalyaan-1 (2014): first interplanetary mission; reached Mars on first attempt.
• NavIC: India's regional GPS-like system.

International space:

• NASA Artemis programme: returning humans to the Moon. Artemis I (2022, uncrewed); Artemis II (2025 plan, crewed flyby); Artemis III (2026+ plan, lunar landing).
• SpaceX Starship: largest rocket ever built; multiple test flights through 2024-2025.
• James Webb Space Telescope (JWST): launched Dec 2021; in operation; revealing distant galaxies.
• China's Tiangong space station; Chang'e missions to Moon.

Artificial Intelligence:

• Large Language Models: GPT-4 (March 2023), GPT-4o (May 2024), GPT-5 (2025); Anthropic Claude; Google Gemini; Meta Llama; xAI Grok.
• Generative AI for text, images, code, video (Sora, Veo).
• AI safety / regulation: EU AI Act (2024), UK AI Safety Summit (Bletchley 2023, Seoul 2024).
• India's AI mission (IndiaAI Mission): ₹10,372 crore over 5 years.

Health and medicine:

• CRISPR-Cas9 therapy (Casgevy/Lyfgenia approved 2023): first gene-edited therapy, for sickle-cell anaemia.
• mRNA vaccines (Pfizer, Moderna): COVID-era breakthrough.
• GLP-1 agonists (Ozempic, Wegovy, Mounjaro): revolutionizing diabetes and obesity treatment.
• Indian-made COVID vaccines: Covaxin (Bharat Biotech), Covishield (Serum Institute), Corbevax, ZyCoV-D (world's first DNA vaccine).
• Lab-grown meat approved for sale in US (2023) and Singapore (2020).
• Alzheimer's drugs: Lecanemab approved 2023 (slows progression).

Computing / electronics:

• Quantum computing: IBM, Google, Microsoft chasing breakthroughs. Google's Willow chip (Dec 2024) showed quantum error correction milestone.
• Semiconductor supply chains: India launched Semicon Mission; first chip plant by Tata Electronics + PSMC at Dholera, Gujarat.
• 6G research: starting in many countries; commercial launch expected ~2030.
• Foldable phones, AR/VR headsets (Apple Vision Pro launched 2024).

Energy and environment:

• Renewable energy: India's installed renewables capacity crossed 200 GW in 2025. Target: 500 GW by 2030.
• Green hydrogen: National Green Hydrogen Mission (₹19,744 crore) approved 2023.
• Electric vehicles (EVs): rapidly growing. Major Indian players — Tata, Mahindra, Ola Electric, Ather.
• Climate change: COP28 (Dubai 2023) — first global stocktake; COP29 (Baku 2024) — climate finance.
• India's net-zero target: 2070.

Notable Indian science achievements:

• C. V. Raman: Raman effect (1928), Nobel Physics 1930.
• Homi Bhabha: father of Indian nuclear programme; founded BARC and TIFR.
• Vikram Sarabhai: father of Indian space programme; founded ISRO and PRL.
• Satyendra Nath Bose: Bose-Einstein statistics; the "boson" particle named after him (Higgs boson, photon).
• S. Chandrasekhar: Chandrasekhar limit for white dwarf stars; Nobel 1983.
• Har Gobind Khorana: Nobel 1968 for genetic code (Indian-American).
• Venkatraman Ramakrishnan: Nobel Chemistry 2009 for ribosome.
• Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar: Nobel Physics 1983 (Indian-origin American).
• A.P.J. Abdul Kalam: "Missile Man"; led IGMDP and Pokhran-II tests; 11th President.
• M. S. Swaminathan: father of India's Green Revolution. (Died Sept 2023.)
• Verghese Kurien: Operation Flood (White Revolution).
• C. N. R. Rao: chemistry; Bharat Ratna 2014.

Indian institutes of national importance:

• IITs (23), IIMs (20), NITs (31), AIIMS (multiple), IISc (Bangalore — premier research).
• ISRO, DRDO, CSIR, BARC, ICAR, ICMR.

Defence:

• Strategic Forces Command: nuclear arsenal.
• Agni missile series (DRDO): Agni-V (intercontinental, 5000 km+ range).
• BrahMos: supersonic cruise missile (joint India-Russia).
• INS Vikrant: India's first indigenous aircraft carrier (commissioned 2022).
• Tejas: light combat aircraft; HAL.
• Pinaka: multi-barrel rocket launcher.
• S-400: air defence system (Russian; India received first squadron 2021).
• Rafale: French fighter jets inducted 2020–22.

Key scientific terms (often asked):

• DNA / RNA: genetic material. DNA is double-stranded helix; RNA single-stranded.
• mRNA / tRNA / rRNA: messenger, transfer, ribosomal RNA — used in protein synthesis.
• Gene therapy: replacing/editing faulty genes.
• Stem cells: undifferentiated cells that can become other types.
• Genome: complete set of DNA; Human Genome Project completed in 2003.
• Vaccines: stimulate immune response without causing disease.
• Antibodies / Antigens: proteins of immune system / foreign substances.
• Photovoltaic cell: converts light directly to electricity.
• Black hole: region where gravity is so strong nothing escapes — confirmed images of M87* (2019) and Sagittarius A* (2022) by Event Horizon Telescope.
• Higgs boson: "God particle"; gives other particles mass; confirmed at CERN (2012).
• LHC (Large Hadron Collider) at CERN, Geneva — world's largest particle accelerator.

India's nuclear power:

• 23 operational reactors (~7.5 GW), more under construction.
• Largest plants: Tarapur (Maharashtra), Kakrapar (Gujarat), Kudankulam (Tamil Nadu, with Russian help).
• Three-stage programme: U → Pu → Th (thorium-based, as India has world's largest Th reserves).