India’s third moon mission spacecraft, Chandrayaan-3, is now one step closer to a lunar landing, as it successfully entered the moon’s orbit on August 5. The Indian space agency released the first images of the moon taken by the spacecraft on Saturday. The images show craters on the lunar surface getting larger and larger as the spacecraft draws closer. In a tweet on X, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said that a retro-burning at the Perilune was commanded from the Mission Operations Complex (MOX), at ISRO Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC) in Bengaluru.&nbs
Singapore-headquartered global investment firm Temasek has executed a binding agreement to invest Rs 1,200 crore in Mahindra Electric Automobile Ltd (MEAL), the four-wheeler (4W) passenger electric vehicles company. Temasek will invest the amount in the form of Compulsorily Convertible Preference Shares (CCPS) at a valuation of up to Rs 80,580 crore, resulting in its ownership of a 1.49-2.97% stake in MEAL. MEAL also has British International Investments (BII) as an investor. With the new investment, Mahindra’s EV subsidiary’s valuation has gone up by 15% from up to Rs.70,070 crore
The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) and the Survey of India (SoI) are clamping down on apps hosted on app stores such as Google Play Store that have been depicting the Indian map incorrectly. The SoI issued a notice to Google in June, stating that the app World Map Quiz, hosted on the Play Store, depicted the territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh wrongly. The app, developed by Qbis Studio, has gathered over 5 million downloads on the Play Store. India’s Information Technology Act and the IT Rules prohibit publishers of content from hosting any content
National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval has said that the gravity of cyber risks will increase exponentially with the advent of disruptive technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), Big Data and Internet of Things. Speaking at the ‘Friends of BRICS’ meeting in Johannesburg, South Africa on July 24, the NSA highlighted the need for collective efforts to deal with challenges emerging from cybersecurity. “The Global South in particular needs to overcome limitations of resources. In this regard, India will always remain at the forefront and work closely with the Global South,�
Tech major and Facebook’s parent company Meta has signed an initial pact with the Indian government to partner on artificial intelligence (AI) and other emerging technologies. The association came amid a visit by Nick Clegg, President, Global Affairs, Meta and Former British Deputy Prime Minister, to India. The objective of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) is to establish a framework for collaboration and cooperation between ‘India AI’, the country’s official programme to promote the development of the technology, and make Meta’s open-source AI models available for use by th
Genes required for learning, memory, aggression and other complex behaviours originated around 650 million years ago, says a study published in the journal Nature Communications. The researchers from the University of Leicester, UK, said that monoamines such as serotonin, dopamine and adrenaline that act as neurotransmitters in the nervous system play a role in complex behaviour and functions such as learning and memory, and processes such as sleep and feeding. The researchers reconstructed the evolutionary history of these genes using computational methods, and showed that most of
India’s third lunar exploration mission, Chandrayaan-3 will leave imprints of India’s State Emblem - an adaptation of Lion Capital of Ashoka at Sarnath - and the ISRO logo on the Moon's surface. The imprints will be left behind by the rover's rear wheels, said the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) in a video. Launched on July 14, Chandrayaan-3 is on its 40-day journey towards the Moon. The mission comes after Chandrayaan-2 mission, which failed to soft land on the lunar surface about four years ago in September 2019. The prime objectives of the new lunar mission are to exhib
A team of scientists from Harvard Medical School has identified a combination of drugs that can reverse the aging process within a week. Genetics Professor David Sinclair and his team at Harvard Medical School have developed chemical cocktails containing five to seven agents known for their treatment of various physical and mental disorders. Through extensive research on mice and monkeys spanning over three years, they have successfully identified molecules that can reverse cellular ageing and revive human cells. The discovery promises potential rejuvenation possibilities for combating the
The agriculture sector in India can be transformed by promoting the use of artificial intelligence (AI) and other emerging technologies, says the World Economic Forum while unveiling a report on July 20 in Hyderabad. Releasing the phase-1 report of the ‘Saagu Baagu’ (‘agriculture advancement’ in the Telugu language) being implemented by the Telangana government in collaboration with it, the WEF said its AI for Agriculture Innovation (AI4AI) initiative has helped more than 7,000 chilli farmers get access to agritech services in the first phase. In the project’s pilot phase, the
In a study published in the journal Nature Medicine, researchers have found that wearable movement-tracking devices, such as smartwatches with accelerometers, can identify Parkinson’s disease long before it is clinically diagnosed. A team of researchers came to this conclusion by analysing more than 1,03,000 people who wore medical-grade wearables for seven days. The researchers found that a decrease in movement speed could be observed several years before a person is diagnosed with Parkinson’s. The accelerometer data proved to be a better yardstick than other models based on medica