Recent 6 months news in Science

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has unveiled a $20 billion, 3-phased plan to establish a permanent lunar base equipped with rovers and drones.

The plan aims to set up the base by March 2027, with the objective of landing astronauts on the moon in 2028. The mission is structured into 3 phases: Moon Base-I (2026-2028), Moon Base-II (2029-2032), and Moon Base-III (2032 onwards).

China has launched the Shenzhou-23 spacecraft carrying 3 astronauts to the Tiangong Space Station for scientific research and orbital operations.

The spacecraft was launched onboard a Long March-2F Y23 (LM-2F Y23) carrier rocket from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center. The mission marks the first spaceflight of the country expected to support a year-long human residency in orbit. It is scheduled to conduct over 100 scientific experiments during its orbital tenure.

The Anusandhan National Research Foundation (ANRF) has selected 10 institutions under its Convergence Research Centres of Excellence (CoE) programme. The initiative aims to promote multidisciplinary and transdisciplinary research to address complex societal challenges.

The selected institutes include IIT Gandhinagar (Gujarat), IIT Madras, IIT Dharwad (Karnataka), and IIT Kanpur. These centres are eligible for funding support of up to ₹25 crore for projects with a maximum duration of 5 years.

Union Minister of State Dr. Jitendra Singh has inaugurated India’s first ‘SkyCast’ system at the Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi. With this, India has become the 19th country globally to implement this advanced integrated aviation weather monitoring system.

Developed under ‘Mission Mausam’, the system aims to enhance aviation safety by facilitating safer take-offs and landings. It integrates advanced atmospheric sensors to monitor atmospheric conditions up to an altitude of 3 km. A second facility is planned to be established at the Jewar Airport in Uttar Pradesh.

Union Minister of State Dr Jitendra Singh has launched the second phase of the Unique Methods of Management and Treatment of Inherited Disorders (UMMID) programme for Rare Genetic Disorders (RGDs) in New Delhi.

Under Phase-II, the initiative will expand its network by setting up 25 additional National Inherited Diseases Administration (NIDAN) Kendras across 13 states and one Union Territory, along with three proposed training centres in Hyderabad, Bengaluru, and Chandigarh. The NIDAN Kendras are designed to provide genetic testing and counselling.

It is to be noted that the first phase of the UMMID initiative was launched in 2019 by the Ministry of Science and Technology as the first comprehensive national program in India to introduce molecular diagnostics for rare genetic diseases.

Red Balloon Aerospace has launched “Mission SANA”, the first indigenous super-pressure platform of India carrying commercial payloads from 7 national and international partners.

The launch places India among only 5 nations globally, alongside the United States, France, Japan, and China, to possess indigenous stratospheric (hydrogen) balloon capability.

The VISTA super-pressure platform of the company ascended to an altitude of 25 km above Earth from the Indira Gandhi Stadium in Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh. It is to be noted that Red Balloon Aerospace, established in 2025, achieved operational commercial flight within an 8-month timeframe.

The Department of Space (DoS) has approved the establishment of Common Technical Facilities (CTFs) in Gujarat and Tamil Nadu. The initiative aims to strengthen the space ecosystem of India by promoting domestic manufacturing capabilities and supporting the growth of the space sector industry base.

Under this, a Space Manufacturing Park will be established at Khoraj, Gujarat, while a Space Vehicles Cluster will be set up at Thoothukudi, TN.

The India Semiconductor Mission (ISM), under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), has launched the official online “Investors Support” portal.

The portal serves as a single-window digital platform designed to streamline communication and enhance confidence for global and domestic companies entering the semiconductor ecosystem of India. The platform also enables project tracking by providing comprehensive overviews of approved ventures under the national “Semicon India Programme”.

The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has organised the largest biomedical innovation and technology transfer event of India, titled “Medical Innovations Patent Mitra: Innovators-to-Industry (I2I) Connect”, in New Delhi.

The event was inaugurated by Union Minister of State Prataprao Jadhav to launch a collaborative platform for the development and commercialisation of public health technologies.

During the event, a total of 41 public health technologies, including vaccines and diagnostics, were transferred to industry partners. The ICMR also transferred inactivated Kyasanur Forest Disease (KFD) and Chandipura virus biomaterials to support vaccine development and research.

The European Space Agency (ESA) and the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) have successfully launched a joint spacecraft named “Solar wind Magnetosphere Ionosphere Link Explorer (SMILE)” onboard the Vega-C rocket from the Kourou Spaceport in French Guiana.

It is to be noted that the scientific observations are scheduled to begin 3 months post-launch, and the SMILE mission is projected to operate for a duration of 3 years to improve protection against solar and geomagnetic storms.

Scientists at the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR)-Central Rice Research Institute (CRRI) in Cuttack, Odisha, led by Kutubuddin Ali Molla, have developed and validated a platform named “Plant-OpenCRISPR1” (POC1).

This represents the first AI-designed genome-editing platform in the world for plants, developed utilizing rice as a model crop. The POC1 platform facilitates advanced gene knockout, base editing, and prime editing in rice crops using AI-designed enzymes, surpassing conventional Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats (CRISPR) technologies.

It is to be noted that the research findings have been accepted for publication in the international journal “New Phytologist”.

Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has virtually inaugurated the first Small and Medium Enterprise (SME)-led semiconductor Assembly, Testing, Marking, and Packaging (ATMP) / Outsourced Semiconductor Assembly and Test (OSAT) facility in India at Bhiwadi, Rajasthan.

The facility has been established by Sahasra Semiconductors Pvt Ltd under the Scheme for Promotion of Manufacturing of Electronic Components and Semiconductors (SPECS). Constructed with an investment of over ₹150 crore, the unit spans an area of 57,000 sq ft.

The first solar-powered ‘Algae Tree’ in India has been installed at Swami Vivekananda Park in Bhopal under the Smart City initiative to mitigate urban air pollution. Developed by the Mushroom World Group, this 3-metre-tall climate tech device uses microalgae-based photobioreactor technology to function as an artificial lung. It is capable of absorbing 1.5 tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) and generating about 1 tonne of pure oxygen annually.

The Wildlife Institute of India (WII) has released the first satellite-tagged Ganges Softshell Turtle (Nilssonia gangetica) in the country at the Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve in Assam.

The project was executed in collaboration with the Assam Forest Department and Kaziranga park authorities, with funding provided by the National Geographic Society. The adult turtle was fitted with a transmitter under strict veterinary supervision and released along the northern bank of the Brahmaputra River.

Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan has inaugurated the first Integrated Carbon Capture, Utilisation and Storage (CCUS) field laboratory facility in India at the IIT Bombay.

The facility is established under the ‘Bharat Innovates 2026’ initiative to advance research and development in carbon management. It is to be noted that the CCUS technology used in the laboratory is being promoted by UrjanovaC.

The Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), under the Department of Consumer Affairs, has organized the 35th Plenary and Working Groups meetings of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) Technical Committee (TC) 20 / Subcommittee (SC) 14. The meetings for the ‘Space Systems and Operations’ subcommittee were hosted for the first time in India at Bharat Mandapam, New Delhi.

The event saw the participation of 131 international delegates from 13 countries. It is to be noted that the ISO/TC 20/SC 14 is responsible for developing international standards for space systems to ensure safety and sustainability in global space activities.

The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research – Central Road Research Institute (CSIR-CRRI) and Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) have developed “Phoenix Geocell”, India’s first technical textile geocell made from 100% end-of-life mixed plastic waste.

The technology uses a 3-dimensional (3D) honeycomb-like structure made from processed mixed plastic waste. It is to be noted that the innovation has been recognized by the “India Book of Records” and “Asia Book of Records” during a ceremony at the CSIR-CRRI auditorium in New Delhi.

The IIT Madras Global Research Foundation has announced the establishment of its first international centre in Menlo Park, California.

The centre is designed to provide Indian deep-tech enterprises with access to international capital, markets, professional mentorship, and global partnerships. A total investment of $7.5 million is planned for the project.

Union Minister Jitendra Singh has unveiled two AI-enabled weather forecasting models to provide hyperlocal monsoon and rainfall data. The models were collaboratively developed by the India Meteorological Department (IMD), the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM), Pune, and the National Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasting (NCMRWF).

The “AI-Enabled Monsoon Advance Forecasting System” provides subdistrict or block-level forecasting for the first time, covering 3,196 blocks across 15 states and 1 Union Territory (UT) in the rainfed monsoon core zone of India. It is to be noted that the system predicts monsoon progression up to 4 weeks in advance with an error margin of 4 days.

The “High Spatial Resolution Rainfall Forecast” is a pilot project in Uttar Pradesh that uses the “Mithuna” weather model to downscale 12.5-km grids to a 1-km resolution. It generates specific rainfall forecasts for up to 10 days in advance.

Prabhat Kumar, the High Commissioner of India to South Africa, has handed over the official banner of the Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA) to the South African Astronomical Observatory (SAAO) in Cape Town. The banner will be permanently displayed at the Southern African Large Telescope (SALT) facility.

It is to be noted that the IUCAA, situated in Pune, is an institution dedicated to research and education in the fields of astronomy and astrophysics.