Category: Tech

India has given environmental approval for indigenously developed genetically modified (GM) mustard seeds, experts said on Thursday, making the start for commercial use of its first GM food crop.

India is the world’s largest importer of edible oils, on which it spends tens of billions of dollars a year. More than 70% of its demand is met by Argentina, Brazil, Indonesia, Malaysia, Russia, and Ukraine.

“I can call it a landmark development,” said Deepak Pental, a geneticist and former vice-chancellor of Delhi University, who, along with his team, developed the seeds in an endeavor spanning more than ten years. He added that Commercial use of GM mustard seeds, however, would take a couple of years.

In a notice, the government confirmed the top-most level of clearance yet for the transgenic mustard crop, also known as rapeseed.

India is simplifying regulations for the development of genome-edited plants, the science and technology ministry said on Thursday, calling the technology full of promises, as it offers huge economic potential.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has repeatedly encouraged farmers to boost domestic oilseed production to achieve self-reliance, a theme he has run after since coming to power.

Since first allowing GM cultivation with genetically modified cotton in 2002, India has not approved of any transgenic crop.

After Mumbai, Bengaluru on Thursday became the second city in India to have a 90-meter aerial ladder platform system for Fire and Emergency Services, with Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai dedicating it to the city.

Describing it as the “biggest strength” for the Department of Fire and Emergency Services, the Chief Minister said the 90-meter aerial ladder platform is a crucial provision and it will work as a “real friend in need”.

Pointing out the importance of fire safety and its rules, he said the Department of Fire and Emergency Services needed to reach high-rise buildings during an emergency.

“The capacity and capability to save lives of people in fire mishaps and to check fire accidents have increased…in the whole country, except Mumbai, only Bengaluru has a 90-meter aerial ladder platform to rescue people who are stuck in high-rise buildings during the fire mishaps,” he added.

According to an official media report, efforts to get this aerial ladder platform were made in the last two-and-a-half years, and the grants were released when Bommai was the Home Minister but it got delayed due to the Coronavirus outbreak and production problems. They will deploy the new ladder in the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) limits, added the release.

A new rooftop wind harvesting device, developed by US-based Aeromine Technologies, can produce 50 percent more electricity than solar panels at the same cost, according to its inventors.

The devices’ static design harvests energy from airflow above buildings, making them almost noiseless and safe for migratory birds and other animals, unlike conventional wind turbines. The device uses only 10% of the space that solar panels use and generates round-the-clock energy.

This new bladeless wind energy unit is taking on the challenge of competing with rooftop solar as a local source of clean energy that can be integrated with the built environment.

An Aeromine system usually consists of 20 to 40 units installed on the edge of a building facing the chief wind direction. According to the company, the unit can keep down the energy storage capacity needed to meet a building’s energy needs, generating energy in all types of weather conditions. With a small footprint on the roof, the unit can be used alongside the rooftop solar, providing a new tool in toolkit for decarbonization and energy independence.

Buildings and the built environment contribute nearly 50% of all carbon emissions globally, according to Architecture 2030. Building operations account for about 27% of emissions, while building materials and construction, and other construction industry energy use are estimated to contribute another 20%.

Microsoft head Satya Nadella was awarded the Padma Bhushan — the third-highest civilian award in India — from India’s consul General T.V. Nagendra Prasad in San Francisco, US. Nadella, 55, was named one of the 17 awardees earlier this year.

The Hyderabad-born Microsoft CEO is also planning to visit India in January 2023 after three years. “It’s an honor to receive a Padma Bhushan Award and to be recognized with so many extraordinary people. I’m thankful to the President, Prime Minister, and people of India, and look forward to continuing to work with people across India to help them use technology to achieve more,” said Nadella after receiving the award.

During his meeting with Prasad, Nadella, who was named CEO of Microsoft in February 2014, talked about the vital role digital technology plays in emancipating inclusive growth in India. The prime topic of discussion was India’s growth path and the country’s possibility of emerging as a global political and technology leader.

“We are living in a period of historic economic, societal and technological change,” said Nadella, adding that “the next decade will be defined by digital technology. Indian industries and organizations of every size are turning to technology to help them do more with less, which will ultimately lead to greater innovation, agility, and resilience.”

On October 23, ISRO’s launcher LVM3 will carry 36 broadband satellites for British start-up OneWeb from Andhra Pradesh’s Sriharikota spaceport, marking the launcher’s entry into global commercial launch services. It is ISRO’s heaviest rocket and was initially known as the GSLV Mk III.

According to the Bengaluru-headquartered Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), it has been announced that the launch of the ‘LVM3- M2/OneWeb India-1 Mission’ will take place at 0007 hours IST on October 23 (midnight of October 22).

The statement read, “the cryo stage assembly and equipment bay (EB) assembly have been completed. Satellites are being encapsulated and assembled in the vehicle, and final vehicle checks are in progress.”

ISRO announced earlier this month that its commercial arm, NewSpace India Limited (NSIL), under the Department of Space, had signed two launch service contracts with Network Access Associates Limited (OneWeb), a UK-based CPSE. On ISRO’s LVM3, OneWeb will launch two LEO (low earth orbit) broadband communication satellites.

The LVM3 consists of a three-stage vehicle with a liquid propellant core stage, solid motor strap-ons, and a cryogenic stage. The Indian company Bharti Enterprises is a major investor and shareholder in OneWeb.

A Chinese company tested out an electric flying taxi in Dubai on Monday, in a bid to overcome the traffic and reach the destination in the least possible time by boarding air taxis from the doorstep.

XPeng X2 is one of the many flying automobile projects underway worldwide, which was created by the aviation division of XPeng Inc., based in Guangzhou. However, very few have undergone successful passenger testing, and it may take several years before any of them are actually placed for use.

However, this trial offered a few glimpses of leading and innovative technology that one day might help fly passengers across busy cities snarled by other traffic. The company claims that although Monday’s testing used an empty cockpit, a manned flying test was conducted in July 2021.

The flying taxi is a two-passenger vehicle with a modern design and is propelled by eight propellers. The highest speed of this sleeky vehicle, according to the company, is 130 km/h.

The flying taxi differs from airplanes and helicopters as it offers a quick point-to-point pickup and drop facility. Unlike airplanes, they follow the principle of ‘vertical take-off and landing’ or VTOL, and if it’s an electrical power source, it becomes eVTOL or ‘electric vertical take-off and landing.’

Helicopters also have vertical take-off and landing, but these eVTOLs are safer, quieter, faster, and environment-friendly.

Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) claims to have mapped the first-ever abundance of sodium on the moon using its X-ray spectrometer CLASS. As sodium was detected in X-rays by the Chandrayaan-1 X-ray Fluorescence Spectrometer (C1XS), the amount of sodium on the Moon could be mapped, according to the report.

According to a statement on Friday from the National Space Agency, Chandrayaan-2 used CLASS (Chandrayaan-2 Large Area Soft X-ray Spectrometer) for the first time to map sodium abundance on the Moon. The statement read, Built at the UR Rao Satellite Centre of ISRO in Bangaluru CLASS provides a clean signature of the sodium line, thanks to its high sensitivity and performance.”

Researchers suggest that a thin coating of sodium atoms weakly bonded to lunar grains may contribute to the signal. When solar wind or ultraviolet radiation hit the surface, these sodium atoms can be nudged out more easily than if they were part of lunar minerals. It was also shown that the surface sodium varies daily, explaining the continuous supply of atoms to the exosphere.

This alkali element is also found in the wispy atmosphere of the moon, where the atoms rarely meet due to its thinness.

On Monday, the Nobel Prize-giving body announced that Swedish scientist Svante Paabo had won the 2022 prize for discoveries “relating to the genomes of extinct hominins and human evolution”.

Swedish Karolinska Institute’s Nobel Assembly awards the prize, one of the most prestigious in the science world, for 10 million Swedish crowns ($900,357). The award is the first of the batch for this year.

“He was speechless, overwhelmed by the experience”. Thomas Perlmann, the Nobel Committee’s secretary, called Paabo with the news and expressed his happiness. “When he asked if he could share the news with anyone and especially his wife, I said that was fine. The award made him extremely happy.”

After developing approaches to examine DNA sequences from archaeological and paleontological remains, Paabo Bergström, son of Nobel Prize-winning biochemist Sune Bergström, transformed the study of human origins.

An important accomplishment of his was sequencing the Neanderthal genome to show that modern humans descended from extinct people. A fragment of a finger bone discovered in Siberia 40,000 years ago revealed the existence of a previously unknown human species, the Denisovans.

The Nobel banquet returns to Stockholm in any case after a two-year break due to the pandemic, an event replete with old-world pomp and glamour following years of social isolation.

The first batch of indigenously developed light combat helicopters was delivered to the Indian Air Force on Monday. A ceremony was held today in Jodhpur, Rajasthan, for the induction of the first indigenously developed light combat helicopter (LCH).

Air Chief Marshal VR Chaudhari was also present at the induction ceremony, which included a ‘sarv-dharam’ prayer.

Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) manufactures the light combat helicopter, which is an indigenously designed and developed combat helicopter.

Light combat helicopters from HAL are the only helicopters capable of landing and taking off at an altitude of 5,500 metres (16,400 feet), meeting the specific requirements of the Indian Armed Forces.

Rajnath Singh spoke at the induction ceremony and said, “For a long time, there was a need for attack helicopters and during the 1999 Kargil war, its need was dealt with seriously. The LCH is a result of research for two decades. And its induction into the IAF is an important milestone in defence production.”

He further added that the LCH is highly capable of dodging the enemy, carrying different ammunition and fast delivery on the site. It meets all the required needs of the armed forces in multiple terrains and is a perfect match for the Army and Airforce.

On Tuesday, the Very Short Range Air Defence System (VSHORADS) missile was successfully tested by the DRDO in Chandipur off the coast of Odisha. Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO)’s Hyderabad-based Research Centre Imarat designed and developed VSHORADS as an air defence system.

A dual-thrust solid motor propels the missile, designed to neutralize low-altitude aerial threats at short ranges. A highly optimized design has been used to ensure easy portability of the missile and its launcher.

The SA-2 and other air defence missiles have also lost relevance in the face of modern fighter aircraft equipped with cutting-edge defensive technology. Air defence missiles cannot be guided and aided by the armed forces’ radar network when engaging incoming enemy fighters and helicopters because of an outdated system. An Indian weapon system manufacturing facility will be set up by defence manufacturer Saab.

A statement from the defence ministry said that DRDO conducted two successful test flights of the Very Short Range Air Defence System (VSHORADS) missile off the coast of Odisha on September 27. According to the ministry, the Vshorads missile incorporates a number of novel technologies like the miniaturized Reaction Control System (RCS) and integrated avionics, which have been successfully tested.