Current Affairs - Technology

Adi Vaani is India’s first AI-powered translator designed specifically for tribal languages. Launched by the Ministry of Tribal Affairs, this innovative platform aims to preserve and promote India’s diverse linguistic heritage while ensuring cultural equity and digital inclusion. India is home to 461 tribal languages, many of which are endangered, and Adi Vaani provides tools like text-to-text, speech-to-speech, text-to-speech, and OCR for manuscript preservation. Initially supporting Santali, Bhili, Mundari, and Gondi, the platform is scalable to cover more dialects. Developed by a consortium of premier institutes including IIT Delhi, Adi Vaani ensures tribal communities actively participate in the nation’s digital transformation.

Two Indian aquanauts undertook a dive into the Atlantic Ocean aboard France’s submersible Nautile as part of preparatory work for the Samudrayaan Project. Samudrayaan is India’s first human deep-sea mission under the Deep Ocean Mission, aiming to send three humans in Matsya-6000 to a depth of 6,000 meters by 2027. France is among the few nations with advanced manned deep-sea exploration capabilities, alongside the US, Russia, China, and Japan. By collaborating with France, India strengthens its technological expertise in oceanography and submersible design, particularly in preparation for developing Matsya-6000, a vital component of its strategic deep-sea exploration goals.

Google introduced its next-generation AI photo editing tool, initially known as “Nano Banana” and later released as Gemini 2.5 Flash Image. Developed by Google DeepMind, this tool leverages natural language prompts to simplify complex editing tasks such as character consistency, design mixing, and image merging. It allows users to edit photos creatively by changing hairstyles, adding costumes, or merging multiple photos into a single coherent frame. Accessible through the Gemini app, Google AI Studio, and Vertex AI, the tool is affordable and designed for both casual users and enterprise developers, showcasing Google’s leadership in AI-powered creativity.

The IADT-1 was designed to validate the parachute-based deceleration system of the Crew Module for the Gaganyaan mission. Ensuring safe landing is a critical component of human spaceflight. This test was carried out with the collaboration of ISRO, DRDO, the Indian Air Force, Indian Navy, and Indian Coast Guard. It ensured that the parachutes and deceleration systems worked in real-world conditions to guarantee astronaut safety during re-entry and landing.

The Department of Posts, under the Ministry of Communications, has collaborated with MapmyIndia to implement DIGIPIN, India’s new digital addressing system. DIGIPIN, short for Digital PIN, assigns unique geocodes to every address, enabling precise geolocation, seamless navigation, and efficient service delivery. MapmyIndia, as India’s leading geospatial technology provider, will supply base maps, integrate real-time address generation, and embed DIGIPIN navigation tools into its Mappls platform. This initiative is expected to transform logistics, e-governance, and digital service ecosystems by offering citizens accurate addresses, businesses optimised supply chains, and governments improved planning and public service delivery.