The bilateral relationship between India and Nepal is long-standing and multifaceted. Besides energy cooperation both countries cooperate in areas such as defence, economic and commercial, infrastructure, connectivity and development partnership, etc. During the visit, an MoU was signed between India's POWERGRID and the Nepal Electricity Authority paving the way for the implementation of high-capacity cross-border transmission infrastructure which will further strengthen energy cooperation between the two countries. Sneha Sinha writes.
The European Commission introduced a pivotal proposal to integrate the “Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction” (BBNJ) Agreement into EU law. The proposal will be discussed by the European Parliament and the Council. The EU is committed to ratifying the Agreement before the UN Ocean Conference in Nice in June 2025.
Countries finalized a draft global agreement aimed at improving how the world prepares for and responds to pandemics, marking a historic step that will be submitted to the World Health Assembly in May for adoption.The draft outlines a framework for strengthening international collaboration, equity and resilience in the face of future global health threats.
CSIR-IMMT, has signed two Joint Declarations of Intent (JDIs) with leading Russian institutions under the Russian State Atomic Energy Corporation, Rosatom, Moscow and the National University of Science and Technology MISIS, Moscow (NUST MISIS) to strengthen cooperation in critical mineral processing and sustainable resource development.
At a meeting in Brussels recently, experts from CERN and 12 other scientific organisations gathered to begin developing a joint action plan for delivering a prototype of the EOSC Federation by the end of 2025. The workshop gave the organisations an opportunity to highlight both their scientific and infrastructure use cases as well as the added value their data and services would bring to end users of the federation.
WHO’s reorganization is set to shrink its programme divisions even further with health systems emerging as one key pillar of the revamped organization. At the same time, disease control departments and preventive health teams – such as health promotion and environment, climate and health, will all fall under one division.
President Donald Trump has signed an executive order to open new opportunities for extracting critical materials from the ocean floor.It is directing the Commerce Department to speed up reviewing and issuing permits for exploration and commercial recovery.
The National Institute of Electronics and Information Technology (NIELIT) has signed Memorandums of Understanding with eight organisations to enhance education, skilling, research, and innovation in the fields of Electronics and Information Technology as well as collaboration through joint research projects, curriculum development, capacity building, training, skilling programs, and support for emerging technologies and innovation.
The sum will be invested in the company’s US operations over a five-year time period. 30 billion dollars have been allocated “for research and development focused on American manufacturing of quantum computers and mainframe systems”.
Held on 24 April 2025 at the UN Headquarters, New York, the event focused on the theme “Empowering the Digital Citizen of the Future: Towards an Integrated Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI)”.
The 1st Session of the Preparatory Commission for the Entry into Force of the BBNJ Agreement and the Convening of the 1st Meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Agreement was held at the UN Headquarters, New York during 14-25 April 2025. The discussions sought to address means of implementation including funding and rules of procedure.
The occasion marked on 24 April 2025 focused on the theme “Girls in ICT for inclusive digital transformation”. The event was co-hosted by the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) in a hybrid event which featured a live link between Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, and Nouakchott, Mauritania.
India hosted the World Health Summit Regional Meeting 2025, marking a historic moment for South Asia’s global health leadership. The event drew over 4,500 participants from 54 countries, including more than 1,000 health experts, scientists, ministers, and policymakers.Under the theme ‘Scaling Access to Ensure Health Equity,’ the summit focused on innovative, inclusive, and sustainable approaches to achieving health for all.
Researchers at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore, have uncovered a method to vary twist angles in WSe2 (Tungsten diselenide) homobilayers to influence phonon hybridization and other key properties. This can help engineer materials with tailored thermal, optical, and electronic characteristics, vital for quantum technology.
India has achieved a significant milestone in medical science through its first-in-human gene therapy trial for Haemophilia, led by BRIC-inStem in collaboration with CMC Vellore.
NECTAR, an autonomous body under the Department of Science and Technology demonstrated aerostatic drones developed by Airbotix Technologies, Gurgaon. It is designed to deploy for forest surveillance, wildlife monitoring and disaster surveillance applications.
India has developed its first hydrogen fuel sea vessel, a major breakthrough in shipping transport and inland waterway transport. This is a result of the joint effort of Cochin Shipyard Ltd featuring a hydrogen fuel cell-based drivetrain built by KPIT, drawing upon the foundational work enabled by the CSIR. This breakthrough could pave the way for hydrogen fuel driven larger sea vessels or ships.
The CoEs will be launched by the All India Council on Technical Education (AICTE) in partnership with the Startup IG Drones. Under the initiative, 200 students from each university will be trained, equipping over 10,000 learners with specialised expertise in drone technology.
The proposal has been submitted by a team of 30 scientists from IISc and has submitted a proposal to the Ministry of Electronics and IT. It seeks 500 Crore Rupees funding over the next five years to develop angstrom-scale chips which allows for significantly higher transistor density.
This will enhance the strength of friction-welded joints between dissimilar metals, such as stainless steel and titanium alloy, commonly used in aerospace and defense applications. By introducing a tapered end on one of the surfaces during the welding process, improved bonding and mechanical properties in the resulting joints was achieved. This technique holds significant potential for various industrial applications.
The problem: The large-scale production of hydrogen, a key component in the transition to clean energy, has been hindered by the reliance on expensive and scarce platinum-based catalysts. These catalysts are not only costly but also face challenges related to durability and efficiency, making them less suitable for widespread industrial applications.
Bis(diimino)palladium coordination nanosheets (PdDI): This two-dimensional electrocatalyst effectively facilitates hydrogen evolution reactions while minimizing the use of precious metals like platinum. The PdDI nanosheets were synthesized using a simple process that ensures high catalytic activity with limited metal usage. The resulting catalyst demonstrated a low overpotential of 34 mV, comparable to platinum's 35 mV, indicating minimal additional energy required for hydrogen production. Moreover, the PdDI nanosheets exhibited excellent durability, remaining intact after 12 hours in acidic conditions, confirming their suitability for real-world hydrogen production systems.
Future Prospects: PdDI nanosheets present a promising avenue for affordable and sustainable hydrogen production. The scalability, enhanced activity, and cost-effectiveness of PdDI nanosheets make them highly attractive for industrial hydrogen production, hydrogen fuel cells, and large-scale energy storage systems.
The Problem: The extraction and purification of rare earth elements (REEs), essential for technologies like electric vehicle batteries and smartphones, are energy-intensive and challenging to implement at the required scales. Current methods often lack the selectivity needed to efficiently separate specific REEs, leading to costly and environmentally taxing processes.
Artificial Membrane Channels: mimic the selective transport mechanisms of biological systems. These channels are embedded in membranes and utilize a modified pillararene structure to enhance their ability to bind and block specific common ions while selectively transporting middle rare earth ions, such as europium (Eu³⁺) and terbium (Tb³⁺). Experimental results demonstrated a 40-fold preference for europium over lanthanum and a 30-fold preference over ytterbium, showcasing the high selectivity of these artificial channels.
Future Prospects: This offers a more efficient and environmentally friendly approach to extracting rare earth elements. The high selectivity and efficiency of these channels could lead to reduced energy consumption and fewer processing stages compared to traditional methods. As global demand for middle REEs is expected to grow significantly, this technology holds promise for enhancing domestic supply and reducing reliance on costly imports, aligning with sustainable and cost-effective practices in the rare earth industry.
The Office of the Principal Scientific Adviser (PSA) released the second round of the report on evaluating innovation excellence in public-funded R&D organizations. It was unveiled by Prof. Ajay Kumar Sood at the 15th CII Global Innovation and IP Summit 2025 in New Delhi.The report is intended as a strategic tool to align R&D efforts with national socio-economic goals. It encourages data-driven policy and institutional reform to enhance global competitiveness and social impact.
The study aimed to benchmark and improve innovation performance across India's publicly funded research ecosystem.
The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and the Centre for Technology, Innovation and Economic Research (CTIER) contributed to developing the framework.
The evaluation framework focused on six key dimensions—research output and quality, technology transfer and commercialization, collaborations and industry engagement, intellectual property generation, societal and policy impact, and human resource development and capacity building.
The UN Institute of Disarmament Research has launched a “Lexicon for Outer Space Security”. The Lexicon is a first-of-its-kind interactive digital tool and is intended to serve as a means “to foster common understanding, enhance multilateral dialogue and keep pace with the rapid evolution of outer space governance”.
It builds on the original lexicon published in 2023 based on an extensive methodology developed in partnership with the Secure World Foundation and supported by France, Norway and South Korea.
The lexicon offers a common reference point across cultures, languages and political systems. This is expected to help make space diplomacy more transparent, more inclusive and better informed.
It includes various terms used at space security negotiations including space security, weaponization and harmful interference while illuminating cultural, linguistic and political interpretations that shape various countries’ understanding and use of these.
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