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Dr Ramarao’s journey with the Akash missile began in the early years of India’s missile development efforts.

When drones and missiles from Pakistan threatened Indian airspace on May 8 and 9, it was the Akash surface-to-air missile system, built indigenously, that stood as the country’s first line of defence. 

Designed to detect and destroy aerial targets with accuracy, the system intercepted multiple threats successfully, earning praise for its performance. At the core of this defence breakthrough is Dr Prahlada Ramarao, a Kannadiga scientist whose work with the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) shaped India’s missile defence capabilities, Business Today reported .

Speaking after Akash’s successful interceptions, Dr Ramarao called it the most fulfilling day of his life. “Seeing the missile I helped develop neutralise enemy threats with such accuracy… it was like watching your life’s work come alive,” he said in a televised interview according to the publication. He added that the system not only met but exceeded its design expectations during the recent engagement.

Dr Ramarao’s journey with the Akash missile began in the early years of India’s missile development efforts. Handpicked by Dr AP Abdul Kalam, India’s ‘Missile Man’ and former President, Ramarao was appointed as the youngest project director for the Akash programme. At the time, the Indian Army was sceptical about the system’s feasibility.

The Akash missile is now a key pillar of India’s air defence network. Produced by Bharat Dynamics Limited and developed by DRDO, it has evolved over the years to include the advanced Akash-NG variant. The newer version boasts a range of up to 80 km and can reach speeds of 2,500 km/h. It can lock onto 64 targets at once and launch 12 missiles simultaneously.

A career built on missile systems

Akash is just one part of Dr Ramarao’s extensive contribution to India’s missile programme. Over his career, he has worked on nearly 10 different missile systems, including surface-to-air and air-to-air categories. He played significant roles in developing missiles such as the Astra and BrahMos, the latter a joint venture with Russia that has become one of India’s most successful precision-strike weapons.

Today, the Indian Army, Navy, and Air Force actively deploy many of these systems. Their success has also drawn international interest. Countries like Armenia have placed orders for the Akash system and the Pinaka rocket launcher, underlining India’s emergence as a credible defence exporter.

Dr Ramarao believes Indian missiles offer a compelling package for global buyers, “Our systems are cost-effective, simple to operate, and deliver competitive performance. That’s what sets them apart in the global market.”

source/content: hindustantimes.com (headline edited)

A rare and expensive variety of mango has once again been grown at a private terrace farm in Katapady. This season, two fruits of the famed Miyazaki mango – known to be among the most expensive in the world – have ripened in the home garden of agriculture enthusiast Joseph Lobo from Shankarpura.

Last year, a single Miyazaki mango weighing 750 grams had grown on the same tree. This year, the tree has yielded two mangoes weighing 1.030 kilograms.

The Miyazaki mango is reported to fetch a price of up to Rs 2.74 lac per kilogram. Joseph Lobo had made headlines earlier by successfully growing this rare fruit on terrace using only organic fertilisers and careful maintenance.

Besides the Miyazaki mango, Joseph has cultivated over 400 varieties of fruit-bearing plants in his terrace garden. His efforts in organic farming have earned him several accolades. Alongside organic agriculture, he is also engaged in dairy farming and apiculture, contributing as a resource person in the agricultural sector. He is ably supported in his farming activities by his wife Neem and daughter Janish.

“The mango plant was organically nurtured, and it had bloomed well five months ago. However, due to adverse weather conditions, many blossoms fell off. I’ve managed to harvest only two fruits, which I shared and enjoyed with friends,” said Joseph Lobo.

source/content: daijiworld.com (headline edited)

According to the Department of Science and Technology, in order to reduce global warming and the related impact of fossil fuels, the transition towards sustainable alternatives based on renewable energy becomes increasingly critical.

In an interdisciplinary study, researchers from the Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research (JNCASR), along with other institutions, have developed a novel, cost-effective, metal-free porous organic catalyst for efficient Hydrogen fuel production by harvesting mechanical energy.

According to the Department of Science and Technology, in order to reduce global warming and the related impact of fossil fuels, transition towards sustainable alternatives based on renewable energy becomes increasingly critical.

Game-changing source

“Green hydrogen (H₂) fuel has emerged as a game-changing renewable and clean-burning energy source, which generates no direct carbon emissions and only water as a by-product when used in fuel cells,” it said.

Professor Tapas K. Maji  from the Chemistry and Physics of Materials Unit at JNCASR and his research team have developed a metal-free donor-acceptor based covalent-organic framework (COF) for piezocatalytic water splitting.

This study published in Advanced Functional Materials demonstrates a Covalent organic framework (COF) built from imide linkages between organic donor molecule tris(4-aminophenyl)amine (TAPA) and acceptor molecule pyromellitic dianhydride (PDA) acceptor exhibiting unique ferrielectric (FiE) ordering, which showed efficient piezocatalytic activity for water splitting to produce H2.

“This discovery breaks the traditional notion of solely employing heavy or transition metal-based ferroelectric (FE) materials as piezocatalysts for catalyzing water splitting reaction,” the department stated.

Using a simple donor molecule like TAPA and an acceptor molecule like PDA, Prof. Maji and his research team have built a COF system that has strong charge transfer properties, which creates dipoles (separation between positive and negative charges).

Instability in structure

This causes instability in the lattice structure, leading to FiE ordering. These FiE dipoles interact with flexible twisting molecular motion in the material, making them responsive to mechanical pressure. As a result, the material can generate electron-hole pairs when mechanically stimulated, making it a highly efficient piezocatalyst for water splitting for H2 production. The team comprises four other researchers from JNCASR: Adrija Ghosh, Surabhi Menon, Dr. Sandip Biswas and Dr. Anupam Dey.

Apart from JNCASR, Dr. Supriya Sahoo and Prof. Ramamoorthy Boomishankar from  Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Pune and Prof. Jan K. Zaręba from Wrocław University of Science and Technology, Poland made important contributions to the present interdisciplinary study.

source/content: thehindu.com (headline edited)

The funding comes on the back of a breakout first year for Emversity in which it expanded its footprint to 36 campuses across 18 Indian states.

Beyond Odds Technologies, parent of the skill-based training and higher-education platform Emversity, announced the close of a $5 Million Pre-Series A round. The round was led by Z47 and Lightspeed, with participation from Alteria Capital and Innoven Capital. 

The funding comes on the back of a breakout first year for Emversity in which it expanded its footprint to 36 campuses across 18 Indian states. The company has also launched Travel & Hospitality and is aiming to end the current financial year with more than 75 campuses. 

Under the ‘Emversity School of Allied Health Sciences’, students train for roles such as nurses, therapists, caregivers, OT technicians, lab technicians, paramedics and other allied-health professionals. The newly launched ‘Emversity School of Hospitality’ has partnered with two large hotel chains to offer skill-based training in rooms, F&B service, and culinary at nine campuses starting this year. 

Founded by Vivek Sinha, former COO of Unacademy, Emversity attempts to bridge the skilled-workforce gap in industries by embedding work-integrated, technology-driven training into degree programs at Higher Education Institutions (HEIs). Its model tackles what Sinha calls the “three-pronged problem” in the higher-education-to-workforce pipeline: capacity shortage, inaccessibility due to prohibitive fees and misaligned curriculum. 

“Millions of roles in healthcare, hospitality and construction lie vacant, while one-third of graduates remain unemployed,” Sinha explains.“Our employer-sponsored stipend model solves accessibility, industry co-designed curriculum ensures relevance, and our Centres of Excellence expand capacity.” 

“In a sector full of broken promises, quality and outcomes are our biggest differentiators. We stay obsessed with best-in-class training and employment results; scale will follow,” he adds. 

Commenting on the investment, Harsha Kumar, Partner at Lightspeedsaid, “Vivek and his team are bridging a systemic gap between education and employment by aligning training infrastructure with real industry demand, creating a more job ready workforce for critical sectors. What excites me the most is the non-linear impact Emversity can unlock by connecting global demand with the talent pipeline that they are developing.” 

Rajat Agarwal, Managing Director at Z47, led the investment, alongside Chandrasekhar Venugopal, Principal at Z47. Venugopal commented, “Rajat and I are privileged to partner with Vivek and the team at Emversity as they take on this hard, but critical problem facing the country. From the first meeting, Vivek’s insight on fixing the education-employment gap through a job relevant pedagogy stood out. In under a year, he’s taken Emversity from this insight to national scale, with real outcomes and smart unit economics. At Z47 we are thrilled to go deeper on this journey with Vivek as Emversity scales in size and impact.” 

source/content: thehindu.com (headline edited)