Current Affairs - Technology

IIT Guwahati developed a nutrient-assisted two-stage cultivation process designed to enhance carbon dioxide capture and bioenergy production using microalgae. In the first stage, microalgal cultures are grown under 15% CO2 to support rapid growth and carbon availability. In the second stage, the CO2 concentration is reduced to 5%, while calcium and phosphorus are added to stabilise pH and improve biomass aggregation. The process achieved 25.7% higher biomass production and 35.4% higher CO2 fixation. Calcium also enabled auto-sedimentation, resulting in 98.46% biomass recovery efficiency and reducing energy requirements for downstream separation.

India aims to scale its nuclear energy capacity to 100 GWe by 2047 under the Nuclear Energy Mission announced in the Union Budget 2025-26. The roadmap focuses on developing a self-reliant nuclear energy ecosystem and encouraging private sector participation. India also plans to develop and operationalise at least five indigenous Small Modular Reactors by 2033, including the 220 MWe Bharat Small Modular Reactor and the 55 MWe SMR-55. The SHANTI Act, 2025, provides a legislative framework for private participation while strengthening nuclear safety regulation. The long-term strategy also follows India’s three-stage nuclear programme and promotes nuclear medicine infrastructure.

IICT, or the CSIR-Indian Institute of Chemical Technology, Hyderabad, signed a technology transfer agreement with Viridis Biopharma for an IND-ready phytopharmaceutical aimed at treating diabetic foot ulcers. The treatment was developed from Gymnema sylvestre and focuses on wound management. The project was developed by the Department of Applied Biology under the CSIR Phytopharmaceutical Mission Phase-III. It has completed pre-clinical development, botanical standardisation, and GLP-compliant safety studies and is now moving toward clinical trials and commercial development. Regulatory submissions are planned for India’s CDSCO and the US FDA.

NITI Aayog partnered with the Digital India BHASHINI Division through a Statement of Intent to advance multilingual, voice-first AI solutions for inclusive governance. The collaboration, titled BHASHINI for Seva/Sanchalan, aims to integrate AI-powered language technologies across NITI Aayog’s digital platforms. Key initiatives include BHASHINI Sahayogi for linguistic data collection and BHASHINI Pravakta for expanding awareness and adoption of AI tools. The ecosystem supports 36 Indian text languages, 23 Indian voice languages, and 35 international languages. Governance tools such as NITI TARA and SMRITI further support data-driven decision-making and multilingual meeting documentation.

IBM partnered with CHRIST (Deemed to be University) to establish the IBM Innovation Centre for Artificial Intelligence. The centre aims to promote AI-driven education, research, and innovation by providing students, faculty members, researchers, and PhD scholars access to enterprise technologies and real-world use cases. Its specialised research areas include Generative AI, Agentic AI, Large Language Models, Retrieval-Augmented Generation, Intelligent Automation, and Responsible AI. The initiative also provides access to IBM technologies such as watsonx.ai, watsonx Orchestrate, and IBM Bob for developing and scaling enterprise AI applications.