Current Affairs - Technology

Honeywell partnered with the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay to establish the IITB-Honeywell Centre of Excellence for Future Skills & Innovation at the institute’s Powai campus. The centre is fully funded by the Honeywell Hometown Solutions India Foundation and focuses on advancing sustainability skills and innovation among students. The initiative aims to train more than 100,000 students by 2030 through specialised programs, research support, and advanced laboratory infrastructure. It will benefit undergraduate, postgraduate, and doctoral students from across India. The centre will also offer certificate-based programs, hands-on projects, and research grants to address real-world sustainability challenges.

Razorpay introduced an artificial intelligence platform known as Agent Studio to transform how businesses manage payment infrastructure. The platform is built on Anthropic’s Claude Agent SDK and enables companies to automate several payment-related operations using AI agents. These agents can intervene when customers abandon purchases, initiate conversations to encourage payment completion, and integrate with platforms like Shopify, Shiprocket, and WhatsApp to access customer and transaction data. The system also supports a no-code tool that allows businesses to create custom AI agents by defining tasks in plain language. Additionally, Razorpay launched an Agentic Experience Platform that allows payment operations to be handled using natural-language commands.

Andhra Pradesh will host the world’s first autonomous maritime shipbuilding and systems centre near the Juvvaladinne fishing harbour on India’s eastern coast. The project is being developed by Sagar Defence Engineering with support from the state government. Spread across about 29.58 acres in the first phase, the facility will include autonomous shipbuilding infrastructure, testing facilities, a research and development centre, and a maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) unit. The centre will focus on developing Unmanned Surface Vessels and Autonomous Underwater Vehicles for defence, surveillance, security, and research purposes, while also benefiting the local fishing community through training and technical support.

Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) signed a Framework Memorandum of Understanding with All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, to advance research in space medicine for upcoming human space missions. The agreement was signed by Dinesh Kumar Singh, Director of the Human Space Flight Centre, and Srinivas M, Director of AIIMS, in the presence of ISRO Chairman V. Narayanan. The collaboration will focus on studying human health challenges in microgravity, including musculoskeletal atrophy, neuroscience, nutrition, immunity, and metabolic health. This partnership supports India’s long-term goals, such as developing the Bharatiya Antariksh Station and preparing for future crewed missions to the Moon.

Van Allen Probe A, part of NASA’s Van Allen Probes mission, re-entered Earth’s atmosphere on March 11 after nearly 14 years since its launch in 2012. The mission was conducted by NASA and managed by the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory. The spacecraft studied the Van Allen radiation belts, which are regions of charged particles trapped by Earth’s magnetic field. One of the mission’s major discoveries was the identification of a temporary third radiation belt formed during intense solar activity. The data collected helps scientists understand space weather and its effects on satellites, astronauts, communication systems, and power grids on Earth.