It is India’s first indigenously developed beyond-visual-range air-to-air missile, designed by the DRDO for the Indian Air Force and Navy and manufactured by Bharat Dynamics Limited. It was cleared for full-scale production in 2024 and is integrated on the Su-30 MKI, with integration on the LCA Tejas under way.

It is the first-ever export of an Indian air-to-air missile. The agreement between Bharat Dynamics and Indonesia’s Republikorp makes Jakarta the launch foreign customer, with the missile to be integrated on Indonesia’s Su-30 fleet. It signals that India can export complete guided-missile systems, not just components.

The Astra Mk-1 has a strike range of about 80 to 110 km, a speed of Mach 4.5 and an engagement ceiling near 20 km. It is roughly 3.6 m long, 178 mm in diameter and weighs about 154 kg, using a smokeless solid-fuel motor and an active radar seeker with electronic counter-countermeasures.

The launch aircraft fires it while the target is still beyond the pilot’s visual range. The missile flies on inertial guidance with mid-course datalink updates, and in the terminal phase its own active radar seeker acquires and homes onto the target autonomously, resisting jamming through ECCM features.

The Mk-1 is the operational variant. The Astra Mk-2, with a longer range in the 160-200 km class, and the ramjet-powered Astra Mk-3 (Gandiva), designed for much greater reach, are under development to keep India competitive with the latest Chinese and Western air-to-air missiles.

It advances the Atmanirbhar Bharat and Make in India push and the government’s target of scaling up defence exports. Air-to-air missiles are among the hardest systems to export because of seeker and integration complexity, so the sale is a strong statement of India’s high-technology defence capability.

It is an avian bornavirus and the accepted cause of Proventricular Dilatation Disease (PDD), a fatal disorder of psittacine birds such as parrots, parakeets, macaws and cockatoos. A July 2026 study reported its first confirmed detection in India, the first record in the subcontinent.

PaBV damages the nerves controlling the digestive tract, causing the proventriculus, the glandular stomach, to dilate. Affected birds cannot digest food properly, pass undigested food in droppings, lose weight and eventually die. Some also show neurological signs such as tremors and weakness when the nervous system is affected.

India has a large captive and pet-bird population and active aviculture, along with native parakeet species. Because infected birds can be asymptomatic carriers, the virus can spread silently through aviaries and the trade before disease appears, threatening breeding centres, zoos and conservation programmes.

Through contaminated food, water, saliva and faeces, and vertically from infected parent birds to their eggs. Shedding is intermittent, which is why a single negative test is unreliable and why silent carriers are central to the disease’s spread.

Diagnosis relies on RT-PCR, best from cloacal swabs in live birds and from brain and proventriculus tissue in dead birds. There is no licensed vaccine or specific antiviral; management is supportive care combined with strict biosecurity, quarantine and screening.

The case underlines the need for RT-PCR screening and quarantine in the captive-bird trade, integration of avian bornavirus into national animal-disease surveillance, and a One Health approach linking veterinary, wildlife and trade authorities to limit the introduction and spread of such pathogens.

It is an indigenous cryogenic rocket engine developed by ISRO’s Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre. It powers the C25 cryogenic upper stage of the LVM3, India’s heaviest operational launch vehicle, and burns liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen for high efficiency.

It is a hot-fire test of the actual engine that will fly a specific mission, confirming its thrust, combustion stability and overall health before it is cleared for integration. The recent test qualified the CE20 engine intended for the LVM3-M7 mission.

They use propellants at extremely low temperatures, liquid hydrogen near -253 C and liquid oxygen near -183 C, demanding complex materials, pumps and handling. In return they deliver very high efficiency, which is essential for placing heavy payloads into high orbits. India developed the technology indigenously after facing technology denial.

The LVM3, formerly GSLV Mk III, is India’s heaviest operational launcher. It can place about 4 tonnes into geostationary transfer orbit and up to 8 tonnes into low-Earth orbit, and has launched Chandrayaan-2, Chandrayaan-3 and OneWeb satellites. Its human-rated version is the launcher for Gaganyaan.

The CE20 is being human-rated for Gaganyaan, India’s first crewed spaceflight programme. Human-rating means higher safety margins, exhaustive testing and demonstrated reliability. Each successful acceptance and qualification test advances the readiness of the human-rated LVM3 that will carry Indian astronauts.

Because a flight-acceptance test proves the specific flight article rather than the design in general. Firing the actual engine that will fly is central to ISRO’s reliability record and is especially important for missions carrying valuable payloads or, in the case of Gaganyaan, human crew.

ULLAS (Understanding of Lifelong Learning for All in Society), also called the New India Literacy Programme or Nav Bharat Saaksharta Karyakram, is the Centre’s adult-literacy scheme for 2022-2027. Run by the Ministry of Education, it targets non-literate adults aged 15 and above through foundational literacy and numeracy and allied skills.

A state is declared fully literate on crossing a literacy benchmark, widely taken as around 95%, as measured through the Foundational Literacy and Numeracy Assessment Test for adult learners. Uttarakhand’s declaration follows successful FLNAT performance, making it one of the first group of states to reach the mark.

Non-literate adults aged 15 years and above who missed formal schooling. Beyond basic reading, writing and numeracy, ULLAS also covers critical life skills, vocational skills, basic education and continuing education, framing literacy as lifelong learning.

Largely in volunteer mode, with citizens teaching non-literate adults, supported by digital and mobile-based learning through the ULLAS app and platforms like DIKSHA. This volunteer-plus-digital model distinguishes it from school-based education.

Earlier states certified fully literate under the programme include Mizoram and Goa, among others. Uttarakhand extends this list. Each certification is a state-level milestone within the national target of full literacy by 2027.

Adult literacy improves livelihoods, health-seeking behaviour, financial inclusion and awareness of rights and welfare entitlements. It complements the school-level foundational literacy mission for children and advances NEP 2020’s vision and SDG 4 on inclusive, lifelong quality education.

Awiqli is the brand name for insulin icodec, the world’s first once-weekly basal insulin, developed by Novo Nordisk and now launched in India. It replaces the daily basal-insulin injection with a single weekly dose for adults with diabetes, cutting injections from about 365 to 52 a year.

Insulin icodec is engineered to bind reversibly to albumin, an abundant blood protein, forming a circulating reservoir that releases insulin slowly and steadily. This gives it a half-life of about a week, so a single injection provides background insulin coverage for seven days.

Basal insulin controls background or fasting blood glucose between meals and overnight. It differs from bolus or mealtime insulin, which covers the glucose rise after eating. Insulin icodec is a basal insulin, so patients who also need mealtime control may still require bolus insulin.

India carries one of the world’s largest diabetes burdens, and poor adherence to daily injections drives complications and costs. A once-weekly option can simplify treatment, reduce injection fatigue and help caregivers of elderly patients, with real public-health potential if access and affordability follow.

No. It is a basal insulin that manages background glucose. Patients who need mealtime (bolus) insulin to control post-meal spikes will still require those doses. Many Type 2 patients, however, are managed on basal insulin with oral drugs, the setting where a weekly basal is most convenient.

Access and pricing. Affordability, insurance coverage and eventually domestic competition will decide whether the therapy reaches beyond affluent patients. This reflects the broader Indian challenge of translating medical innovation into equitable, system-wide delivery through NCD programmes.

TribeX is a first-of-its-kind digital learning platform launched by the Ministry of Tribal Affairs to preserve, document and globally showcase India’s tribal arts, culture and traditional knowledge. It offers open-access courses taught by master tribal artisans and experts, along with recognised diploma programmes.

It aims to bridge geographical barriers through technology, empower tribal communities, preserve indigenous knowledge, languages and crafts, and promote sustainable, livelihood-oriented education. By credentialing traditional skills, it seeks to make tribal knowledge both preservable and economically viable.

The Ministry of Tribal Affairs, the nodal ministry for the welfare and development of Scheduled Tribes, created in 1999. It works alongside institutions such as TRIFED, which markets tribal produce, and the Eklavya Model Residential Schools that provide residential education.

The platform reportedly hosts free, open-access courses in tribal arts, crafts and traditional knowledge taught by master artisans, and a set of UGC-recognised postgraduate diploma programmes that give formal academic weight to tribal knowledge systems.

Much tribal knowledge, including languages, crafts and ecological wisdom, is transmitted orally and is at risk from migration, market pressures and habitat loss. Documenting and teaching it protects cultural and intellectual heritage and counters the historical undervaluation of indigenous knowledge.

Genuine community ownership and fair benefit-sharing, so that artisans rather than intermediaries gain; bridging the digital divide in tribal areas through connectivity and offline access; and authentic, consent-based curation that protects against misappropriation of indigenous knowledge.