Charting a New Era of Global Cooperation for Ocean’s Future
The United Nations Ocean Conferences are a significant forum that plays a key role in paving the future of marine conservation and ocean governance. These conferences will continue to shape international policies that are required for a sustainable future of the ocean ecosystem. Sneha Sinha writes
Both countries have agreed to deepen maritime relations, focusing on shipbuilding, port digitization, smart islands, and maritime training to enhance regional sustainability and connectivity.
Issues discussed included sustainable ocean governance, marine resource management, sustainable fisheries and the broader framework of the blue economy. Shared priorities such as improved data sharing mechanisms, and joint efforts to tackle challenges like overfishing and marine pollution were also discussed.
India’s Himalayan Environmental Studies and Conservation Organization has partnered with Norway's Sustainability Centre to promote sustainable development in the Himalayan and Alpine regions. This collaboration focuses on integrating digital and AI-based tools for ecological monitoring and emphasizes community-led initiatives.
The Abu Dhabi workshop builds upon previous meetings held in Poland (2023) and Canada (2024) to share best practices, address emerging challenges, and strengthen the collective commitment to sustainable space exploration.
The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bhilai and the University of Siegen, Germany, initiative aims to enhance research and innovation in sensor technologies, with applications in healthcare, smart infrastructure, and environmental monitoring.
India’s first-of-its-kind, indigenously developed, Artificial Intelligence (AI) based, government-funded, Multimodal Large Language Model (LLM) for Indian languages, ‘BharatGen’ aims to revolutionize AI development across India’s linguistic and cultural spectrum.
The model is able to predict cyclone formations, their route, intensity, size and shape up to 15 days ahead. The experimental AI model can also generate 50 different scenarios for the storm. Google has also released other AI weather prediction models like GenCast which surpassed one of the physics-based models 97.2 per cent of the time.
IIT Kanpur and NMexus™, a New Mexico-based non-profit through joint research, innovation, and technology commercialization efforts aim to advance research in clean energy, AI, aerospace, cybersecurity, and quantum computing.
Aligned with the national IndiaAI initiative, the forum discussed AI-driven solutions for real-world governance challenges, with the aim of shaping Kerala's AI-enabled governance roadmap in line with national priorities.
UNOC3, co-hosted by France and Costa Rica, took place in Nice during 9–13 June 2025. It brought together governments, scientists, and stakeholders to accelerate global efforts to conserve and sustainably use oceans, to advance SDG 14 and forge impactful partnerships.
The initiative seeks to craft an AI policy report for India, outlining strengths, growth opportunities, and ethical adoption strategies. The consultation featured over 200 experts from the government, academia, private sector, and civil society, providing actionable insights into responsible AI adoption.
London Tech Week 2025 featured 400+ speakers, and showcased cutting-edge innovations in AI, quantum computing, cybersecurity, and emerging technologies.
Scientists have discovered six pigmented rice varieties with potent antioxidant and anti-cancer properties. These demonstrated cytotoxic effects on cancer cells while leaving healthy cells unaffected, suggesting a potentially safer alternative to conventional treatments.
The collaboration aims at effective implementation of the Standard Framework for redevelopment of urban roads including paving and greening of pathways and sidewalks, towards abatement of dust pollution across Delhi-NCR.
Researchers at the Indian Institute of Science have developed an artificial metal-based nanozymes which works by controlling ROS levels, thereby preventing the over-activation of platelets that leads to excess clot formation or thrombosis.
Built by Team Agnirath, Aagneya, a solar-powered car, features a lightweight carbon fiber body and advanced energy-efficient design, and is set to compete in the Bridgestone World Solar Challenge 2025 in Australia.
The problem: Hydrogen is a promising clean fuel, but most production methods rely on fossil fuels, making it less environmentally friendly. Conventional hydrogen production emits 11 kg of CO₂ per kg of hydrogen, limiting its sustainability.
The Method: MIT researchers developed a process using recycled aluminum from soda cans, seawater, and a gallium-indium alloy to generate hydrogen efficiently. The reaction breaks water molecules, producing aluminum oxide and pure hydrogen.
Future Prospects: The method significantly reduces carbon emissions compared to conventional hydrogen production, emitting only 1.45 kg of CO₂ per kg of hydrogen. It offers a scalable pathway for clean energy deployment, with potential applications in hydrogen-fueled vehicles and remote energy systems.
The Problem: Current mRNA vaccines, such as those developed for COVID-19, face two significant challenges. Traditional mRNA vaccines require large amounts of mRNA, which can be costly and logistically challenging to produce. Viruses like SARS-CoV-2 and H5N1 mutate quickly, necessitating frequent updates to the vaccine's formulation to maintain efficacy.
Trans-amplifying mRNA Platform: The vaccine's mRNA is split into two parts: one encoding the antigen and the other encoding a replicase enzyme. The replicase is produced in advance, allowing for rapid amplification of the antigen mRNA when needed. By analyzing spike protein sequences from all known SARS-CoV-2 variants, the team created a "consensus spike protein" as the vaccine's target, potentially offering broad protection against various strains. This approach requires 40 times less mRNA than conventional vaccines, significantly lowering production costs.
Future Prospects: The reduced mRNA requirement and pre-produced replicase enable quicker and more cost-effective vaccine production. The consensus antigen design could provide immunity against a wide range of SARS-CoV-2 variants and potentially other RNA viruses. The technology's adaptability makes it suitable for rapid response to emerging infectious diseases, including avian influenza (H5N1).
The Global Gender Gap Index annually benchmarks the current state and evolution of gender parity across four key dimensions: Economic Participation and Opportunity, Educational Attainment, Health and Survival, and Political Empowerment. This year, the 19th edition of the Global Gender Gap Index benchmarks gender parity across 148 economies, providing a basis for the analysis of gender parity developments across two-thirds of the world’s economies. Key findings include:
No economy has yet achieved full gender parity. Iceland (92.6 per cent) continues to lead the Global Gender Gap Index, holding the top position for 16 consecutive years, and remains the only economy to have closed more than 90 per cent of its gender gap since 2022.
Each of the top 10 ranked economies have closed at least 80 per cent of their gender gaps. European economies dominate the top 10, occupying eight of the spots. Among them, Iceland (92.6 per cent, 1st), Finland (87.9 per cent, 2nd), Norway (86.3 per cent, 3rd), and Sweden (81.7 per cent, 6th), have consistently ranked in the top 10 in every edition since 2006.
At the aggregate level, high-income economies have closed 74.3 per cent of their gender gap – slightly higher than the averages observed in lower-income groups: 69.6 per cent among upper-middle-income, 66.0 per cent among lower-middle-income, and 66.4 per cent among low-income economies.
The report finds that in just under two decades, 99 out of 100 economies in the constant sample have improved their overall gender parity scores – gaining an average 6 percentage points from their initial baseline score.
The 2025 index findings show that gender parity rose across all dimensions in 2024, and in 11 of the 14 indicators – marking a notable acceleration from last year’s results.
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