Current Affairs - Technology

Indian astronomers Rashi Jain and Yogesh Wadadekar discovered the Alaknanda Galaxy using the James Webb Space Telescope. This spiral galaxy, located in the Abell 2744 cluster, existed when the universe was just 1.5 billion years old and exhibits well-formed spiral arms, challenging previous assumptions that early galaxies were small and chaotic. Its rapid star formation rate, approximately 63 solar masses per year, indicates accelerated development compared to the Milky Way. Naming the galaxy after the Himalayan river Alaknanda symbolically connects it to Indian tradition and highlights the significant contribution of Indian researchers to global astrophysics and our understanding of early cosmic evolution.

The 11th edition of the India International Science Festival (IISF) 2025 is taking place in Panchkula, Haryana, from December 6 to 9, 2025. The festival, themed “Vigyan Se Samruddhi: for Aatmanirbhar Bharat,” showcases India’s achievements in science, technology, and innovation while promoting scientific temper and self-reliance. With over 150 technical sessions across fields such as AI, quantum technology, biotechnology, and climate science, IISF 2025 is expected to host more than 40,000 participants, including scientists, students, and industry leaders. The event emphasizes collaboration between scientific institutions and society and highlights India’s progress in cutting-edge technologies.

The roadmap reflects a strategic partnership in which IBM plays a central role in guiding India’s long-term quantum ambitions. With its expertise in quantum hardware, software, and research ecosystems, IBM contributes significantly to shaping pathways for indigenous capability building, talent development, and large-scale deployment of quantum technologies. The collaboration strengthens India’s efforts to expand quantum applications across defence, healthcare, logistics, finance, and energy. By combining IBM’s global experience with India’s research strengths and policy support, the initiative is designed to help the country achieve global competitiveness and emerge as a top-3 quantum economy by 2047.

NASA collaborated with ISRO to jointly develop the NISAR satellite, a pioneering Earth-observation mission designed to capture high-quality polarimetric and interferometric data using advanced microwave imaging in both L-band and S-band. With a mission life of five years, it is engineered to study critical environmental aspects such as land and ice erosion, land ecosystems, and marine regions. The mission supports research areas of mutual importance to the United States and India, enabling scientists from both nations to better understand planetary changes, natural hazards, and climate-related transformations through continuous, global-scale monitoring.

The Union Minister of Science & Technology visited IIT Bombay to inaugurate its new Liquid Helium Facility, a major advancement for India’s quantum research ecosystem. This facility supports ultra-low-temperature experiments essential for cutting-edge quantum technologies, including superconductivity, quantum computing, sensing, and advanced materials research. The institute has also developed pioneering tools such as QMagPI—the nation’s first portable magnetometer—and India’s first indigenous Quantum Diamond Microscope for nanoscale magnetic imaging. These innovations place IIT Bombay at the forefront of India’s quantum mission, strengthening national capabilities in cryogenics, defence applications, healthcare diagnostics, and high-precision scientific instrumentation.