The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on Monday launched India’s first comprehensive National Counter-Terrorism Policy and Strategy, titled ‘PRAHAAR’, marking a major step in the country’s efforts to combat terrorism in all its forms.

The policy establishes a structured national framework to address evolving threats, including cross-border terrorism, drone attacks, cyber-enabled activities, and organised terror networks. It underscores India’s long-standing experience in counter-terrorism and firmly rejects attempts to link terrorism to any religion, ethnicity, nationality, or civilisation.

Core Principles and Approach

‘PRAHAAR’ — meaning “strike” — is built around seven pillars:
1. Prevention of terrorist attacks
2. Swift and proportionate response
3. Capacity-building for security and intelligence agencies
4. Human rights-compliant operations
5. Addressing conditions conducive to radicalisation
6. Strengthening international cooperation
7. Promoting societal resilience and recovery

The policy emphasises a zero-tolerance approach to terrorism, supporting victims while rejecting any justification for acts of terror. It advocates a multi-layered strategy focused on prevention, rapid response, inter-agency coordination, and adherence to the rule of law.

Threat Assessment and Emerging Challenges

The document highlights persistent and emerging security threats, including:
• Cross-border terrorism and sleeper cells of groups like Al-Qaeda and ISIS
• Exploitation of drones and digital platforms for recruitment, propaganda, and coordination
• Convergence between terror networks and organised crime
• Potential access to chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, explosive, and cyber capabilities
• Cyber intrusions by non-state actors and hostile entities

Implementation Mechanisms

• Intelligence-led prevention: Multi Agency Centre and Joint Task Force on Intelligence to coordinate real-time threat sharing and action.
• Border security: Advanced surveillance across land, maritime, and aerial domains.
• Critical infrastructure protection: Power, railways, aviation, ports, defence, space, and atomic energy installations to receive enhanced security.
• Response and investigation: Local police as first responders, supported by state counter-terror units and the National Security Guard (NSG). National Investigation Agency (NIA) to lead prosecutions and ensure high conviction rates.
• Institutional strengthening: Modernisation of equipment, training, and standardisation of counter-terror mechanisms across states.
• Radicalisation prevention: Community engagement, civil society and religious leader involvement, youth initiatives, prison monitoring, and socio-economic interventions.
• International cooperation: Intelligence sharing, extradition of terror suspects, UN support to designate terrorist entities, and denial of safe havens.

Vision and Future Outlook

The policy adopts a whole-of-government and whole-of-society approach, involving government agencies, private sector stakeholders, and civil society. Looking ahead, PRAHAAR calls for periodic legal reforms, enhancement of state-level counter-terror frameworks, investment in emerging technologies, and continuous improvement of investigative expertise.

Officials described PRAHAAR as a dynamic, forward-looking framework designed to dismantle terror ecosystems, strengthen national security, and ensure long-term resilience through coordinated and sustained efforts.

source/content: daijiworld.com (headline edited)

The Indian Army on Tuesday unveiled a suite of indigenous Artificial Intelligence (AI) solutions at the India AI Summit, marking a significant step in its transformation into a data-centric and AI-enabled force aligned with the country’s push for technological self-reliance.

The Army’s display at Bharat Mandapam featured a range of dual-use platforms designed for both defence operations and civilian applications, including disaster management, cybersecurity and governance.

Among the key systems showcased was AI Examiner, an automated assessment and feedback platform aimed at modernising education and training processes. The Army also highlighted SAM-UN, a geospatial and AI-enabled situational awareness system developed for mission planning, disaster response and integration with smart command centres.

Another major initiative presented was EKAM (AI-as-a-Service), described as a secure, air-gapped indigenous AI cloud platform focused on ensuring data sovereignty and secure processing of sensitive information. Complementing it was PRAKSHEPAN, an AI-driven climatology and disaster prediction system capable of issuing early warnings for landslides, floods and avalanches.

In the security domain, the Army demonstrated XFace, an AI-powered facial recognition system for identity verification, along with advanced deepfake detection and AI-based cybersecurity systems aimed at countering synthetic media manipulation, malware and emerging cyber threats targeting critical infrastructure.

Additional technologies on display included Nabh Drishti, a mobile telemetry-based real-time reporting and visualisation platform; an AI-enabled driver fatigue detection device for real-time alerts; a portable AI-in-a-Box solution for deployment in remote or disconnected environments; and an AI-powered vehicle tracking system for fleet monitoring and logistics optimisation.

The initiatives collectively underscore the Army’s focus on indigenous innovation, operational readiness and dual-use adaptability, while strengthening defence preparedness and contributing to disaster resilience and national development goals.

source/content: daijiworld.com (headline edited)

Created by Friends of Marine Life, the online register documents marine ecosystems and coastal biodiversity off the coast of Thiruvananthapuram district in Kerala.

Some of the most mysterious and thrilling secrets of the sea off the southern Kerala coast will be unveiled in Community Marine Biodiversity Online Register set to be released in Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala on the World Oceans Day on June 8.

Created by Friends of Marine Life (FML), a Thiruvananthapuram-based organisation working in the area of marine biodiversity, the online register documents marine ecosystems and the rich coastal biodiversity off Thiruvananthapuram district. Once launched, the register can be accessed by anyone free of charge. It is also interactive as the public and researchers can contribute to expanding it, said researcher and FML coordinator Robert Panipilla.

Ocean literacy

“The primary aim is building ‘ocean literacy’ – to show the ocean from the perspective of the traditional knowledge of the fishers,” he said. “The general public tend to view the ocean from the outside – as nothing more than a large body of water. For the fishers, on the other hand, the ocean and the underwater ecosystems are as familiar to them as any cityscape would be to a resident,” he said.

The FML initiative is supported by a clutch of agencies including Kerala University’s Department of Aquatic Biology and Fisheries, South Indian Federation of Fishermen’s Societies, Aazhi Archives and Scuba Cochin.

The register provides information on a wealth of marine species, including many that have yet to be scientifically identified. It also features verified scientific information from institutions such as the Department of Aquatic Biology and Fisheries and the National Institute of Ocean technology, according to Mr. Panipilla. For each species, both the vernacular name and the common name are provided.

Apart from photographs, the register has 55 habitat-related underwater videos and over 200 species-related videos. According to the FML, the initiative is meant to document the traditional knowledge of the local fishing community while raising public awareness and strengthening conservation efforts.

The FML has documented around 50 underwater marine habitats along the Thiruvananthapuram coast, said Mr. Panipilla. “The register carries information on the marine biodiversity up to a depth of 43 metres,” he said.

For Mr. Panipilla, it is also a form of protest against the Kerala State Biodiversity Board. During 2013-15, he had worked as project coordinator for a Marine Biodiversity Register on the Thiruvananthapuram coast for the board. According to him, the board had used only 40% of the data. “They discarded 60% of the collected data on the grounds that there were no experts to establish the taxonomy. Just because something has not been scientifically described does not mean it doesn’t exist. On the online register, we have uploaded such species as ‘unidentified.’

The FML initiative also comes at a time when fragile coastal ecosystems across the globe are facing persistent threats.

Transport Minister C.P. John will launch the website of the Community Marine Biodiversity Online Register at the Thiruvananthapuram Press Club on June 8. A. Biju Kumar, Vice-Chancellor, Kerala University of Fisheries and Ocean Studies (KUFOS) will preside. John Kurien, retired Professor, Centre of Development Studies will deliver the keynote address. The FML’s aim is to publish similar community-driven online registers for Kerala and India with the cooperation of like-minded groups.

source/content: thehindu.com (headline edited)

In a historic first for the 145-year-old UNESCO World Heritage Darjeeling Himalayan Railway (DHR), Sarita Yolmo has become the first woman Travelling Ticket Examiner (TTE) to serve on the iconic toy train.

A veteran employee of the Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR), Yolmo conducted the toy train from New Jalpaiguri (NJP) to Darjeeling in her new role for the first time on February 5.

Confirming the development, DHR official Prateeksha Chhetri said Yolmo is currently serving as the first woman TTE in the heritage toy train service.

Expressing her emotions, Yolmo said she felt both thrilled and anxious when she was offered the opportunity to work on the UNESCO-recognised railway line. “I am from Darjeeling, but I had no prior experience working in the DHR,” she said, adding that she had previously travelled on the toy train only as a passenger.

She is presently the only woman TTE on the NJP-Darjeeling route — an approximately eight-hour journey one way, which can sometimes take longer due to operational delays along the hilly terrain.

Yolmo works on the daily NJP-Darjeeling service on a rotational basis. She conducts the morning train from NJP and returns the following day after an overnight halt in Darjeeling, popularly known as the ‘Queen of the Hills’.

TTEs assigned to the NJP-Darjeeling route are deputed by the Chief Travelling Ticket Inspector’s office at NJP, where Yolmo is currently posted.

“Though I had no prior experience of working as a TTE in trains, I gathered courage and took responsibility for the passengers as the first woman TTE in the toy train service,” she said. “I was a little anxious on my first journey, but I felt very good after completing the route and reaching Darjeeling,” she added.

Yolmo began her railway career in April 1991 in the printing press department at Kurseong under the NFR. After the railway press was shut down, she was transferred to the commercial department at NJP, where she served in enquiry, station checking and announcement sections.

A resident of Siliguri — often described as the gateway to the hills and the Northeast — Yolmo is a mother to a daughter who is pursuing her studies while working abroad.

Her husband is a retired DHR employee who served as an engineer at the Tindharia workshop before being posted to Siliguri.

With her appointment, Yolmo has etched her name into the history of the heritage railway, marking a significant milestone for women in Indian Railways.

source/content: daijiworld.com (headline edited)

The plant was found in high-altitude montane grasslands and shola forest margins of the Western Ghats, including regions such as Anamudi and Meesapulimala.

A team of botanists from Palakkad has discovered a new plant species in the southern Western Ghats. The newly identified species, belonging to the sunflower family, has been named Anaphalis sahyadrica. The plant was found in high-altitude montane grasslands and shola forest margins of the Western Ghats, including regions such as Anamudi and Meesapulimala, as part of the doctoral research of S. Remya from the Department of Botany, Government Victoria College, Palakkad.

The study was guided by Maya C. Nair, Principal of Government Arts and Science College, Tholanur, and K.M. Prabhukumar, Senior Scientist at the National Botanical Research Institute, Lucknow. Botany researcher G. Kanakambika also shared credit for the discovery. The findings have been published in Novon, an international journal of botanical nomenclature, in its Volume 34.

According to Dr. Nair, the species is a subshrub that grows at elevations above 2,200 metres above sea level, typically in montane grasslands and along shola forest margins. She noted that its key identifying features include smooth, hairless leaves with three prominent veins. The plant grows up to about one metre in height and produces 90 to 120 white, hemispherical flower heads (capitula).

source/content: thehindu.com (headline edited)

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday described development cooperation as the bedrock of India–Seychelles relations and announced a special economic assistance package worth $175 million to support key projects across multiple sectors in the island nation.

Speaking at a joint press conference with Seychelles President Patrick Herminie after their bilateral talks at Hyderabad House, PM Modi said the new package would fund concrete initiatives in areas such as social housing, electric mobility, vocational training, healthcare, defence, and maritime security.

“Development partnership has been a strong foundation of India–Seychelles relations. Our efforts have always been guided by Seychelles’ priorities and needs. Continuing in this spirit, we are announcing a Special Economic Package of $175 million today,” the Prime Minister said.

He noted that the projects supported under the package would generate employment and enhance skill development opportunities, particularly for young people in Seychelles. Highlighting India’s long-standing role in capacity building, PM Modi said the Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC) programme has made a significant contribution in the country.

“I am happy that a memorandum of understanding is being signed today for the training of Seychelles civil servants in India,” he added.

The Prime Minister said both countries have agreed to explore new avenues to further strengthen economic ties, including cooperation in fintech and digital solutions, as well as promoting trade using local currencies.

Emphasising the historical and cultural links between the two nations, PM Modi said India–Seychelles relations extend far beyond formal diplomacy. “For centuries, the waves of the Indian Ocean have connected our people. Trade has flourished, cultures have blended, and bonds of faith have grown stronger. Our relationship is rooted not just in geography, but in history, trust, and a shared vision for the future,” he said.

PM Modi described Seychelles as a key partner in India’s MAHASAGAR Vision, underlining its importance as a maritime neighbour. “Our relationship spans the past, present, and future. As a trusted partner, Seychelles is an integral part of India’s MAHASAGAR Vision, with cooperation across land, sea, and air,” he said.

Welcoming President Herminie and his delegation to India, the Prime Minister congratulated him on his election and noted that this was his first visit to India as President. He also highlighted the significance of the year, with Seychelles marking its 50th Independence Day and both countries commemorating 50 years of diplomatic relations.

“I am confident that these important milestones will inspire us to scale new heights in our partnership,” PM Modi said.

source/content: daijiworld.com (headline edited)

Indonesia said in March that it had entered into an agreement with India to procure the BrahMos missile system.

Defence Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh said on Saturday (May 30, 2026) that a BrahMos missile deal with Vietnam had already been signed, while a similar pact involving Indonesia was in the final stages.

Mr. Singh is in Singapore to attend the Shangri-La Dialogue, and his comments were in response to a question on potential buyers of the missile system.

“My understanding is that with both Indonesia and with Vietnam, the deal is in the final stages that in fact, for Vietnam, I understand that it has already been signed, probably not publicly announced, but it’s already been signed,” Mr. Singh said.

The Philippines, which signed a contract worth nearly $375 million in 2022, was the first foreign buyer of the BrahMos missile system from India.

Indonesia said in March that it had entered into an agreement with India to procure the BrahMos missile system.

And, earlier this month, there were news reports that suggested Vietnam was close to signing a BrahMos missile deal with India. But Mr. Singh’s comments on Saturday (May 30, 2026) came as the first official word on this in the public domain.

However, the values of the Vietnam and Indonesia deals have not been officially disclosed yet.

Referring to the broader issue of sharing advanced defence technologies, Mr. Singh said countries generally sold sophisticated weapons systems and platforms to nations they regarded as friendly partners. “Obviously you share technology with people you trust,” he said.

He further said that India has a strong commitment to the ASEAN nations, “and we treat all of you as “friendly foreign countries” with whom we can share advanced defence technologies”.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) comprises 11 member states — Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Timor-Leste and Vietnam.

Several ASEAN member states, including the Philippines and Vietnam, have overlapping maritime claims with China in the South China Sea — one of the world’s busiest trade routes. India’s BrahMos exports to countries in the region have drawn attention as New Delhi expands defence ties with Southeast Asian nations.

Mr. Singh told delegates at the Shangri-La Dialogue that India was ready to work with partners across the region and beyond to build resilient supply chains, trusted defence partnerships, secure maritime commons and innovation cooperation. “Today, resilience has become one of the defining strategic requirements of our time.”

Drawing attention to geopolitical uncertainty, conflicts in Europe and West Asia, disruptions in maritime trade routes, supply chain vulnerabilities, technological disruptions and growing strategic competition, Mr. Singh said these factors were reshaping the global security landscape.

“The lessons from recent years are clear. Defence preparedness cannot depend upon fragile or overly concentrated supply chains. Nations today require resilient, trusted, diversified, and technologically adaptive defence industrial ecosystems,” he said at a session on Building Defence Industrial Resilience.

For India, resilience is not merely about self-reliance but also about building trusted partnerships, diversified manufacturing networks, innovation ecosystems and secure supply chains that contribute to regional and global stability, he said.

The Defence Secretary also said India had undertaken major reforms in defence production, innovation and exports over the past decade. The country had opened the sector to greater private-sector participation, encouraged startups and small industries, strengthened indigenous design and manufacturing and expanded collaboration with global partners, he said.

India was not only modernising its armed forces but was also emerging as a dependable defence manufacturing and maintenance hub, Mr. Singh said.

He said government-owned companies accounted for nearly 72% of India’s defence production, while the private sector contributed the rest. Three Indian government-owned defence firms were among the world’s top 100 arms-producing companies.

The Indian defence industry had developed capabilities in areas such as missile systems, fighter aircraft and main battle tanks, while efforts were underway to bridge gaps in propulsion technologies across land, air and sea domains, he said. “Our objective is not to create exclusive blocs, but inclusive and reliable partnerships that strengthen collective security and reduce strategic vulnerabilities.”

source/content: thehindu.com (headline edited)

As part of an initiative by the World Economic Forum, Neo San will install their futuristic smart-bins, ‘Neo-X’, across Bengaluru over the next few months.

Neo San, a Bengaluru-based clean-technology company, will deploy its smart waste-processing units, ‘Neo-X’, across institutions in Bengaluru, as part of a World Economic Forum (WEF)-led initiative in collaboration with the Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA) and the Government of Karnataka.

The initiative named ‘SafeDispose Bengaluru’ will look at deploying these on-site sanitary and biomedical waste processing units in a phase-wise manner at government and private institutions across the city, including colleges, schools, primary health centres, women’s hostels, government housing and other official buildings.

Solving urban problems

Neo San is a winner of the WEF UpLink Yes/Bengaluru Urban Innovation Challenge, which brought together the GBA and a coalition of private sector partners to encourage startups to develop innovative solutions to the city’s civic and infrastructural challenges across sustainability, sanitation and public health.

Bengaluru is only the second city in the world, after San Francisco, to host this global initiative.

A grant provided to Neo San will fund the deployment of Neo-X units that safely treat sanitary and biomedical waste at the point of waste generation. The initiative aims to reach more than 5,000 women. The current pilot deployment is funded through United Way Bengaluru, one of the challenge partners. The larger expansion across Bengaluru’s public infrastructure will be structured as a government-funded program.

Waste burning

Open waste burning accounts for a significant share of Bengaluru’s total PM2.5 emissions, making it the city’s third-largest source of particulate pollution after transport and industry. Sanitation workers often handle this waste manually, without protection or protocol.

The initiative is aimed at eliminating open burning and manual waste handling at sites. Karnataka State Pollution Control Board has reviewed and validated the technology for deployment across the city. Every Neo-X unit has real-time IoT monitoring of each cycle run and every kilo processed, thereby helping in creating robust data for urban planning.

“Waste infrastructure has a major gap that goes largely unaddressed. The third stream — sanitary, biomedical and contaminated reject waste — is generated daily, but lacks a certified on-site disposal route. The most common outcome is low-temperature open burning or dumping, as there is no economic incentive for material recovery,” said Dhwaj Bagrecha, founder, Neo San.

“Through this initiative, our aim is to provide on-site treatment of this waste in a controlled manner, eliminating open burning and reducing overall process emissions by 98%,” he added.

source/content: thehindu.com (headline edited)

Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla, India’s first astronaut to fly to the International Space Station (ISS), has added another milestone to his growing list of achievements — he is now a published scientist.

His first peer-reviewed research paper has been published in the US-based journal PLOS One. Interestingly, the work was not carried out in space, but in a laboratory on Earth at the Mechanical Engineering Department of the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru, where Shukla is currently pursuing his Master’s degree.

The study examines a futuristic question that could play a crucial role in human missions to Mars: can bacteria help build structures on the Red Planet, even when the soil is toxic?

With scientists across the world, and private space players, envisioning long-term human settlements on Mars, transporting construction material from Earth would be nearly impossible. Shukla says the solution lies in using resources already available there.

“If we don’t have to carry construction material from Earth, and instead use resources available on Mars, it becomes much easier to support long-term missions,” he said.

Mars may appear like a barren desert, but its soil contains perchlorate — a chlorine-based compound found by several space missions. Perchlorate is toxic to most Earth life, damaging cells and disrupting metabolism, making survival difficult for microbes.

This poses a major challenge for the concept of “living construction” on Mars, where bacteria could be used to turn loose soil into solid bricks for roads, landing pads and even habitats.
To understand whether such construction is possible, researchers at IISc explored how bacteria respond to perchlorate-rich Martian soil.

The team focused on a process called Microbially Induced Calcite Precipitation (MICP), where certain bacteria act like microscopic builders. When fed nutrients such as urea and calcium, they produce calcium carbonate — a natural cement that binds soil particles into solid blocks.

Earlier IISc studies had already shown that Sporosarcina pasteurii could convert simulated lunar and Martian soil into “space bricks”, aided by guar gum, a natural adhesive that strengthens the material and supports bacterial survival.

For the latest research, the team used a hardy bacterial strain isolated from Bengaluru soil. Genetic analysis found it closely related to Sporosarcina pasteurii, making it suitable for biocementation.

When exposed to perchlorate levels similar to those found on Mars, the bacteria showed clear stress — growth slowed down, survival dropped, and the microbes changed shape under the microscope. They became rounder and clumped together, forming structures resembling simple multicellular clusters.

The stressed bacteria also released large quantities of extracellular matrix (ECM), a sticky substance that formed tiny “microbridges” linking bacterial cells to mineral deposits.

While perchlorate alone negatively impacted the bacteria, the results turned unexpected when the microbes were used to make bricks from simulated Martian soil.

Most synthetic Martian soils used in labs avoid perchlorate due to its flammable nature. However, to study real-world impact, the IISc team added magnesium perchlorate to a widely used Mars Global Simulant-1.

Bricks were created using bacteria, calcium, urea, guar gum and a small amount of nickel chloride, which enhances the bacteria’s cement-forming enzyme. The outcome surprised researchers — bricks formed in the presence of perchlorate were stronger, but only when guar gum and nickel were also present.

Without guar gum, strong bricks could not be produced. With it, perchlorate appeared to improve compressive strength, possibly due to stress-induced ECM and additional mineral deposits acting as extra binding agents.

While India does not yet have a declared plan for permanent settlements on the Moon or Mars, the research highlights how Indian scientists are already preparing for future deep-space challenges.

The work fits into the concept of in-situ resource utilisation — building using local materials rather than transporting everything from Earth — which could significantly reduce the cost and complexity of long-duration missions.

Such technology could also help address practical challenges, including stabilising uneven terrain for landing sites, rover paths and launch pads.

For Shukla, the publication is being seen as a symbolic scientific milestone. PLOS One is among the world’s leading open-access journals, and publishing a first paper there is considered a major achievement for any researcher.

The study also reflects how astronauts are increasingly becoming scientists in their own right, contributing not only during missions but through research that shapes future missions long before launch.

Incidentally, Group Captain Shukla had carried out seven basic scientific experiments during his 20-day ISS stay as part of Axiom-4 or Mission Akash Ganga. Observers say this new scientific journey could help him design more meaningful microgravity experiments for India’s ambitious Gaganyaan programme.

“Mars is an alien environment. Understanding how Earth organisms respond to such conditions is a very important scientific question we must answer,” said Aloke Kumar, Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering at IISc and the corresponding author of the study, as well as Shukla’s research advisor.

At 40, Shukla’s career appears to be entering a new phase — where the white lab coat may stand alongside the white space suit, both pointing towards Mars.

source/content: daijiworld.com (headline edited)

Deep-tech aerospace company BluJ Aerospace, focused on the vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) space, has unveiled the Gen #2 prototype aircraft.

Developed on VANTIS platform-based architecture and designed to scale across different VTOL variants spanning urban and regional transportation, with passenger mobility as the long-term destination, Gen #2 is the outcome of four years of in-house research and development.

It follows Gen #1, the company’s technology demonstrator and India’s first public flight demonstration of a 500 kg class eVTOL aircraft. Gen #2 is now in active flight testing and makes BluJ as the closest-to-commercialisation heavy-payload aerial logistics company in India, the Hyderabad-based company said.

Active payload target of 200 kg

Gen #2 is designed for an active payload target of 200 kg, operates under a 500 kg maximum take-off weight, and uses a lift plus cruise configuration. Fully battery-powered, it takes the platform from technology demonstrator to operational aircraft. It is now being used for early customer pilots, payload testing, and real-world logistics mission evaluations, BluJ said.

“The next major shift in aviation is the move from single product programmes to platform based architectures. Advanced Air Mobility will need adaptable architectures that scale across missions, payloads and customer use cases. That is the advantage VANTIS gives BluJ,” founder and CEO Amar Sri Vatsavaya said.

The company’s commercial pipeline spans infrastructure logistics, express cargo, energy, airports and defence. It has completed a successful pilot deployment with a leading power sector PSU for infrastructure logistics.

source/content: thehindu.com (headline edited)