Current Affairs - Technology

On June 17, 2025, Honda, traditionally recognized for its automotive innovations, successfully tested a reusable rocket in Taiki Town, Hokkaido, Japan. This event marked Honda's official entry into the competitive space technology arena, positioning it among the few global entities capable of developing reusable launch systems. The experimental rocket achieved an altitude of 271.4 meters and demonstrated precise landing capabilities within 37 cm of its target. The trial validated critical aspects such as flight stability and reusability—key to cost-effective space missions. This achievement reflects Honda’s diversification strategy and underscores Japan’s growing influence in the private aerospace sector.

Google launched its first-ever Safety Engineering Centre (GSEC) in Asia in the city of Hyderabad on June 18, 2025. This marks the fourth such GSEC globally and the first in the Asia-Pacific region. Inaugurated by Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy, the centre serves as a cybersecurity and AI safety hub. It is aimed at combating online fraud, enhancing cyber protection, and advancing responsible AI practices. With real-time scam alerts, fraud detection systems, and tools like SynthID for watermarking, the Hyderabad GSEC underscores India’s rising prominence in global digital defence and tech innovation.

India hosted the ITU FG-AINN (Focus Group on AI for Autonomous and Intelligent Networks) meeting in New Delhi to promote the development of AI-native telecom infrastructure. This international event highlighted India's growing role in the global tech policy arena. Alongside the meeting, India also launched the Build-a-Thon 2025, an initiative aimed at co-creating innovative solutions for future telecom networks. Additionally, India proposed to host the ITU Plenipotentiary Conference in 2030 (ITU PP-30) and nominated Ms. M. Revathi for a key leadership role, signalling its ambitions to shape global telecommunications standards through strategic participation and technological innovation.

Mumbai has been ranked 6th globally out of 97 cities for under-construction data centre capacity in the 2025 edition of Cushman & Wakefield’s Global Data Center Market Comparison report. With 335 MW currently being developed, Mumbai also leads the Asia-Pacific region and accounts for over half of India’s total data centre capacity. This growth is fueled by increasing demand from hyperscalers, expanding AI and cloud computing applications, and strong digital and power infrastructure. The city’s data centre boom is expected to raise operational capacity by 62%, underscoring Mumbai’s emergence as a major global hub for digital infrastructure development.

Snap Inc., the parent company of Snapchat, announced that it will launch its first-ever consumer-focused AR smart glasses, named "Specs", in 2026. This marks a major strategic push into the wearable augmented reality space, positioning Snap to compete directly with tech giants like Meta, which already has AR smart glasses on the market. Snap’s announcement reflects over a decade of AR development and a $3 billion investment in this technology. The new smart glasses will be lightweight, powered by Snap’s AR tools like Lens Studio, and are intended for mass-market use, distinguishing them from Snap’s previous limited or developer-only releases.