The three-tonne machine has been a decade in the making and costs more than $1.5 billion, making it one of the most expensive earth-observing satellites to date.

The story so far: The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is planning to launch the NISAR satellite from Sriharikota on July 30 onboard a GSLV Mk-II rocket. ‘NISAR’ stands for NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar and is a joint mission of the two space agencies. It is a sophisticated earth-observation satellite designed to study changes on the earth’s surface in fine detail, covering earthquakes, volcanoes, ecosystems, ice sheets, farmland, floods, and landslides.

What’s the need for NISAR?

NISAR is the first major earth-observing mission with a dual-band radar, which will allow it to observe changes more precisely than any other satellite. It will be able to see through clouds, smoke, and even thick vegetation, both at day and night, in all weather conditions. The three-tonne machine has been a decade in the making and costs more than $1.5 billion, also making it one of the most expensive earth-observing satellites to date.

The earth’s surface is constantly changing. Natural disasters, human-driven changes, and climate shifts all affect environments and human societies. Satellites provide critical information by taking snapshots of these changes from space, helping scientists, governments, and relief agencies prepare for, respond to or study them. To this end, NASA and ISRO have created a powerful global mission that also allows ISRO guaranteed access to a stream of high‑resolution data tailored to India’s needs.

NISAR’s science and application goals span six areas: solid earth processes, ecosystems, ice dynamics, coastal and ocean processes, disaster response, and additional applications (including tracking groundwater, oil reservoirs, and infrastructure like levees, dams, and roads for subsidence or deformation and supporting food security research).

The planned mission lifetime is three years although its design lifetime is at least five years. Notably, the mission’s data policy entails that the data NISAR produces will be freely available to all users (typically) within a few hours.

How does NISAR work?

Once it is launched, NISAR will enter into a sun-synchronous polar orbit at 747 km altitude and an inclination of 98.4º. From here, instead of snapping pictures, NISAR’s synthetic aperture radar (SAR) will bounce radar waves off the planet’s surface and measure how long the signal takes to come back and how its phase changes.

The ability of a radar antenna to resolve smaller details increases with its length, called its aperture. In orbit, deploying an antenna hundreds of metres long is impractical. SAR gets around this by mimicking a giant antenna. As the spacecraft moves forward, it transmits a train of radar pulses and records the echoes. Later, a computer coherently combines all those echoes as if they had been captured simultaneously by one very long antenna, hence the “synthetic aperture”.

NISAR will combine an L-band SAR (1.257 GHz), which uses longer-wavelength radiowaves to track changes under thick forests and soil and deformations on the ground, and an S-band SAR (3.2 GHz), which uses shorter-wavelength radiowaves to capture surface details, such as crops and water surfaces.

Although NISAR will operate globally at L‑band, ISRO has reserved routine, planned acquisitions with the S‑band SAR over India. The latter acquisitions have extended sensitivity to biomass, better soil‑moisture retrieval, and mitigate ionospheric noise — all capabilities tuned to India’s needs in agriculture, forestry, and disaster management.

Because the L‑band radar is the principal tool for NASA’s mission goals, the instrument is expected to operate in up to 70% of every orbit. This said, operating both radars together is an official implementation goal so that mode conflicts over the Indian subcontinent are minimised.

Polarisation is the direction in which the electric field of some electromagnetic radiation, like radiowaves, oscillates. SAR can transmit and receive radar signals with horizontal or vertical polarisation. Using different combinations will allow the instruments to identify the structure and types of different surface materials, like soil, snow, crop or wood.

The swath width, i.e. the breadth of the bands on the ground the SARs will scan, is an ultra-wide 240 km. The radars’ SweepSAR design will transmit this beam and, upon its return, digitally steer multiple small sub‑apertures in sequence, synthesising beams that sweep across the ground track. This scan‑on‑receive method allows the 240‑km swath without compromising resolution.

The resulting scans will have a spatial resolution of 3-10 m and centrimetre-scale vertical mapping — enough to spot impending land subsidence in cities, for example — depending on the mode. Each spot on the ground will be scanned once every 12 days.The satellite also features a large 12-m-wide mesh antenna.

NISAR will produce annual maps of aboveground woody biomass of 1 ha resolution and quarterly maps of active and inactive cropland. High-resolution maps of flooded versus dry areas will be available as well. During a disaster, NISAR can also be directed to collect data for ‘damage proxy maps’ to be delivered in under five hours.

This said, for certain acquisition modes, NISAR won’t be able to achieve full global coverage at the highest resolution. Above roughly 60º latitude, every alternative observation will be skipped due to converging ground tracks. Similarly, some 10% of the surface may not be mapped from either direction (of the satellite’s passage over the ground) in any given 12-day cycle.

How was NISAR built?

At the time the two space organisations agreed to build NISAR, NASA and ISRO decided each body would contribute equivalent‑scale hardware, expertise, and funding. ISRO’s contributions in particular are mission‑critical.

The organisation supplied the I‑3K spacecraft bus, the platform that houses the controls to handle command and data, propulsion, and attitude, plus 4 kW of solar power. The same package also included the entire S‑band radar electronics, a high‑rate Ka‑band telecom subsystem, and a gimballed high‑gain antenna. The S‑band electronics were designed and built at the Space Applications Centre in Ahmedabad.

NASA’s biggest contribution was the complete L‑band SAR system. NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory supplied all radio‑frequency electronics, the 12‑m antenna, a 9-m carbon-composite boom, and the instrument structure that carries both radars. The agency also fabricated the L‑band feed aperture and provided the supporting avionics, including a high‑capacity solid‑state recorder, a GPS receiver, an autonomous payload data system, and a Ka‑band payload communications subsystem.

The spacecraft was to be integrated at the ISRO Satellite Centre in Bengaluru after the two radars were mated at JPL. The final observatory‑level tests will therefore have taken place on Indian soil. After that the mission will lift off from Sriharikota onboard a GSLV Mk-II launch vehicle, with ISRO providing end‑to‑end launch services and documentation.

While themission operations are to be centred at the JPL Mission Operations Center, day‑to‑day flight operations will be led from the ISRO Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network in Bengaluru. Once NISAR is in orbit, most of its data will be sent through NASA’s Near Earth Network facilities in Alaska, Svalbard (Norway), and Punta Arenas (Chile), which can together receive around 3 TB of radar data per day. They will be complemented by ISRO’s ground stations in Shadnagar and Antarctica.

After the raw data arrive, India’s National Remote Sensing Centre will process and distribute all products required for Indian users, mirroring NASA’s pipeline.

source/content: thehindu.com (headline edited)

India-U.K. Free Trade Agreement (FTA) was signed by Mr. Goyal and his counterpart Jonathan Reynolds in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

Terming the India-U.K. Free Trade Agreement (FTA) a ‘game changer’, Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal said that the Indian government had ensured the protection of all sensitive sectors of the Indian economy, while benefiting every section including farmers and the MSME sector.

Addressing a press conference at the BJP headquarters in New Delhi, Mr. Goyal, freshly returned after the signing of the FTA in the presence of Indian and British Prime Ministers Narendra Modi and Keir Starmer, also said that trade talks with the U.S. and Oman were continuing apace.

“With this [India-U.K. FTA], India would be able to ship 99% of its exports to U.K. duty-free,” he said.

Mr. Goyal attributed India’s success in signing the FTA to Prime Minister Modi’s leadership stating that “it will bring immense opportunities to the farmers of India, Indian industry, the MSME sector, the workers, youth and fishermen.”

He asserted that the agreement was signed with the U.K. “confidently” on India’s terms while protecting “sensitive items” like agriculture and ethanol.

In an apparent dig at the Congress, he claimed that in several instances during the UPA rule, they opened the Indian markets in such a manner that they harmed the country.

“I believe that this FTA carries a very big message for the future economy of India. We will all see the benefits that India will get under it in the coming years,” he said.

The Minister said that the FTA will come into effect as soon as it gets UK Parliament’s approval. He appealed to the Indian industry to study the agreement and start looking for markets in various sectors including footwear, leather, toys, pharmaceuticals, gems and jewellery, food processing and services.

“We have protected all the sensitive sectors of India…we have not opened for UK (those areas). Zero compromise and extensive benefits makes it a phenomenal free trade agreement (FTA),” he said.

The agreement was signed on July 24 in London. Mr. Goyal added that the agreement will open doors for India to the developed world.

source/content: thehindu.com (headline edited)

Titan said the acquisition is strategically significant for its jewellery business as it will facilitate expansion across the six Gulf Cooperation Council countries of UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Oman, Kuwait and Bahrain.

Titan has entered into an agreement to acquire a 67% stake in Dubai-based jewellery firm Damas from Qatar-based Mannai Corporation. The consideration for the proposed transaction is based on an enterprise value of AED 1,038 million ($ 282 million).

The Tata Group company, which runs Tanishq jewellery stores in India abroad, would also have the option to acquire the balance 33% stake from Mannai after 31st December 2029.

Titan said the acquisition is strategically significant for its jewellery business as it will facilitate expansion across the six Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries of UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Oman, Kuwait and Bahrain. The current Graff Monobrand Franchisee business of Damas LLC will be discontinued before completion of the proposed transaction (on or before 31st January 2026).

C.K. Venkataraman, Managing Director of Titan, said that after successfully establishing Tanishq in the GCC countries and the USA, their ambition for a global jewellery play is moving to the next stage.

“With the Damas acquisition, Titan Company is stepping out from its diaspora focus into other nationalities and ethnicities…The acquisition not only creates a significant new global opportunity for Titan, but also enhances Titan’s overall position in the jewellery market in the GCC countries and brings in multiple synergy benefits in talent, retail networks and supply chain,” added Venkataraman.

Founded in 1907, Damas has 146 stores across the six GCC nations and retails in-house and international labels. Damas LLC reported revenue of AED 1,461 million in 2024.

Alekh Grewal, Group Chief Executive Officer of Mannai Corporation, said that Mannai will continue to own a minority stake in Damas for the next four years as the growth plans for Damas are taken forward. “It is intended that the proceeds of the sale transaction will be deployed by Mannai to strengthen its resources in support of further expansion of its core trade and IT services businesses in addition to reducing the Group Debt,” added Grewal.

Besides Titan, Indian jewellery brands such as Malabar Gold & Diamonds and Kalyan Jewellers have a significant presence in the Gulf region.

“The region is exhibiting robust economic growth creating a demand for differentiated, high-quality offerings rooted in Arabian aesthetic and appealing to sophisticated clientele seeking unique, culturally resonant designs,” Titan said in a statement.

Mannai Corporation is a publicly listed company headquartered in Qatar. Their activities are mainly focused in the Business to Business segment based on trade and IT services. Damas, headquartered in Dubai, became a subsidiary of Mannai in 2012.

source/content: newindianexpress.com (headline edited)

Industrial plants release dyes such as Congo Red and Methylene Blue into rivers and groundwater, from where they can cause stomach, skin, and breathing illnesses.

Scientists from the Institute of Nano Science and Technology (INST) in Mohali, IIT-Dharwad, and IIT-Kharagpur have designed a cheap, reusable water filter.

Industrial plants release dyes such as Congo Red and Methylene Blue into rivers and groundwater, from where they can cause stomach, skin, and breathing illnesses. Ozone, Fenton chemistry and other methods work to clean the water, but they burn through chemicals and electricity, expanding cost and the carbon footprint.

The new filter has been designed to sidestep these and other problems. Its development was reported in a paper in the July edition of Nano Energy.

The researchers first 3D printed thin, sponge-like sheets of polylactic acid (PLA), a biodegradable plastic often used in compostable cups. PLA is naturally water-repelling, so the team soaked each sheet in a mild sodium-hydroxide solution to make it water-loving.

Next, they made nanoparticles of bismuth ferrite (BFO) and dipped the prepared PLA sheets into a BFO ink. Treated sheets stayed strong through five reuse cycles, losing only about 3% of their cleaning power.

Under visible light, the BFO acted like a solar-powered catalyst that split water molecules and created highly reactive radicals that shred organic dye molecules. And when shaken by ultrasound, BFO’s piezoelectric nature generated an internal electric field that drove the same radical-making reactions even in the dark. Combining both light and vibration yielded piezo-photocatalysis, a process that worked day or night.

During tests, when light and vibration were used together, the filter removed about 99% of Congo Red and 74% of Methylene Blue in 90 minutes. It also partially cleaned real wastewater collected from a textile plant.

To understand its performance, the authors turned to machine-learning regression models. They fed the computer thousands of experimental data points, including dye concentration, catalyst amount, light intensity, and ultrasound frequency.

Modern algorithms such as random forests, XGBoost, and an artificial neural network learned how these factors interacted. The best models closely matched the experimental results, which they hadn’t seen, well enough to prove artificial intelligence could accurately forecast how fast the dyes vanished in different conditions.

“We are thinking of scaling up production and using the filter near treatment plants, where water bodies are regularly polluted,” Aviru Basu, INST scientist and corresponding author of the paper, said, adding that the team looks forward to its use in Jal Nigam and Namami Gange projects as well.

“Dr. Adreeja Basu, a plant biotechnologist and professor at Chandigarh University, is also helping us a lot in our efforts to make this product more sustainable using plant-derived products,” Dr. Aviru Basu added.

source/content: thehindu.com (headline edited)

Not just a tech asset, but an operational enabler: Navy chief

The first indigenously designed and constructed diving support vessel INS Nistar was commissioned into the Navy Friday for undertaking complex deep-sea saturation diving and submarine rescue operations — a niche capability possessed by select navies globally.

INS Nistar is the first of the two diving support vessels being built by Hindustan Shipyard Ltd.

At the commissioning ceremony in Visakhapatnam, Navy Chief Admiral Dinesh K Tripathi said INS Nistar is not just a technological asset, but a crucial operational enabler. “Nistar will provide critical submarine rescue support to the Indian Navy as well as our regional partners,” he said, adding that this will enable India to emerge as a Preferred Submarine Rescue Partner in the region.

“The commissioning of Nistar is testimony to the growing capability and maturity of our maritime industrial base, and another shining example of Atmanirbhar Bharat,” he said.

MoS for Defence Sanjay Seth said the commissioning of the 118-m INS Nistar firmly reinforces the role of the Indian Navy as the ‘first responder’ and ‘preferred security partner’ in the region.

“The indigenous shipbuilding Industry has been one of the pillars of the government’s Aatmanirbhar Bharat campaign,” he said, adding that INS Nistar’s induction is a technological leap and a milestone in the Indian shipbuilding chapter towards building a future-ready force.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said on X: “This induction of the DSV, installed with state-of-the-art Equipment to undertake Saturation Diving and Salvage Operations, as well as serve as the ‘Mother Ship’ for Deep Submergence Rescue Vessel (DSRV), for rescue and evacuation of personnel from a Submarine in distress, is another milestone in India’s journey towards ensuring Maritime Security and Safety in the Indian Ocean Region through Aatmanirbharta.”

Currently, all 57 new warships in the pipeline are being constructed domestically.

As per the Navy, INS Nistar is installed with state-of-the-art Diving Equipment such as remotely operated vehicles, self-propelled hyperbaric lifeboat, diving compression chambers.

It can undertake diving and salvage operations up to a depth of 300 m. It would also serve as the ‘Mother Ship’ for deep submergence rescue vessels to rescue and evacuate personnel from a dived submarine in distress well below the surface.

“With participation of 120 MSMEs and incorporating over 80% indigenous content, INS Nistar is a statement to India’s ability to build complex ships at par with international standards,” it said.

source/content: indianexpress.com (headline edited)