July-Science & Technology

1: Space & Human Spaceflight (The Axiom-4 Milestone)

July was a "Space Month" for India, marked by the safe return of our second-ever astronaut and a major joint satellite launch.

1. Successful Return of Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla (Axiom-4)

• The Splashdown: On July 15, 2025, the SpaceX Dragon capsule carrying Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla safely splashed down off the coast of California at 3:01 PM IST.
• Mission Duration: He spent 18 days aboard the International Space Station (ISS).
• Key Achievements: * Conducted over 60 microgravity experiments, including ISRO-led research on microalgae, seed sprouting, and muscle cell regeneration.
  • Became the first Indian to visit the International Space Station and the second Indian ever in space (after Rakesh Sharma).
• Impact: This mission served as a "precursor" to India’s indigenous Gaganyaan mission, providing critical data on human physiological responses to space.

2. Launch of NISAR Satellite (July 30, 2025)

• The Launch: On July 30, 2025, ISRO successfully launched the NISAR (NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar) satellite aboard the GSLV-F16 from Sriharikota.
• Technology: It is the first satellite mission to use two different radar frequencies (L-band and S-band) to measure changes in Earth's surface less than a centimeter across.
• Objective: All-weather, day-and-night imaging to monitor land and ice deformation, providing critical data for climate change and natural disaster management.

3. DRDO’s Pralay Tests (Late July): DRDO conducted successful back-to-back flight tests of the 'Pralay' tactical ballistic missile off the Odisha coast. This is a surface-to-surface short-range missile ($150–500\text{ km}$) designed for battlefield use.

2: AI, Deep Tech & National Research

1. Launch of the RDI Scheme (₹1 Lakh Crore Fund)

On July 1, 2025, the Union Cabinet formally operationalized the Research, Development, and Innovation (RDI) Scheme.

• Corpus: ₹1 lakh crore allocated for the next 6 years.
• Mechanism: Managed by the Anusandhan National Research Foundation (ANRF), providing low-interest loans to the private sector.
• Focus Areas: Deep-tech, Quantum computing, Robotics, and AI applications in healthcare and agriculture.

2. 'BharatGen' AI & IndiaAI Mission Progress

• BharatGen: Launched in June/July 2025, it is the world’s first government-funded Multimodal Large Language Model (LLM).
  • Capability: Supports 22 Indian languages and integrates text, speech, and image understanding tailored for Indian cultural contexts.
• IndiaAI Compute Pillar: By July, the government successfully onboarded over 38,000 GPUs available at a subsidized rate of ₹65/hour to empower Indian startups.
• Health-AI Hackathon: A dedicated hackathon was held in late July to develop AI solutions for "Early Cancer Detection" using Indian genomic datasets.

3. National Quantum Mission (NQM) Milestone

• Update: In July, the government finalized the establishment of 4 Thematic Hubs (T-Hubs) at IISc Bengaluru, IIT Madras, IIT Bombay, and IIT Delhi.
• Goal: To develop 100-qubit quantum computers by 2030 and secure quantum communications.