A new project aiming to accelerate the development and accessibility of human avian influenza (H5N1) messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccine candidates for manufacturers in low- and middle-income countries has been launched today. The Argentinian manufacturer Sinergium Biotech will lead this effort leveraging the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Medicines Patent Pool (MPP) mRNA Technology Transfer Programme.

The mRNA Technology Transfer Programme, jointly developed by WHO and MPP, was launched in July 2021 with the aim to build capacity in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) for the development and production of mRNA-based vaccines. Sinergium Biotech, a partner in the mRNA Technology Transfer Programme, has developed candidate H5N1 vaccines and aims to establish proof-of-concept in preclinical models. Once the preclinical data package is concluded, the technology, materials, and expertise will be shared with other manufacturing partners, aiding the acceleration of the development of H5N1 vaccine candidates, and bolstering pandemic preparedness efforts.

The US federal government’s total public debt has surpassed 35 trillion dollars for the first time, as recorded at the end of last week, according to the latest data released by the Treasury Department. The total public debt outstanding climbed to 35 trillion dollars on Friday. The data is updated at the end of each business day with data from the previous business day. Just seven months ago, the US national debt surpassed 34 trillion dollars in late December 2023. Three months before that, the US reached a historic milestone by passing 33 trillion dollars. 

V. Vedachalam, an eminent Tamil epigrapher and historian, has been conferred the V Venkayya Epigraphy Award for 2024.

Dr. Vedachalam, who has written and co-written more than 25 books on subjects such as epigraphy, numismatics, temple art, religion, and society, said he was honoured to receive the award named after V. Venkayya, the first Indian Chief Epigraphist to the government of India.

The annual award, instituted by Sunitha Madhavan, the great-granddaughter of Mr. Venkayya, in association with the Tamil Heritage Trust, commemorates the pioneering epigrapher and celebrates exceptional contributions to epigraphy in any Indian language, including discovering new inscriptions, offering fresh interpretations, sharing knowledge through various media, and preserving epigraphic resources.

The Indian delegation has achieved remarkable success at the 54th International Physics Olympiad 2024, held from July 21 to July 29 in Isfahan, Iran. All five Indian participants bagged medals, including 2 gold and 3 silver medals. Rhythm Kedia from Chhattisgarh and Ved Lahoti from Madhya Pradesh bagged gold medals, whereas Akarsh Raj Sahay from Maharashtra, Bhavya Tiwari from Uttar Pradesh, and Jaiveer Singh from Rajasthan were honoured with silver medals. India’s delegation was led by Prof. Deepak Garg (DAV College, Chandigarh) and Dr. Shirish Pathare (HBCSE, TIFR), with Prof. A. C. Biyani (Retd., Govt. Nagarjuna Post Graduate College of Science, Raipur) and Prof. Vivek Bhide (Gogate-Jogalekar College, Ratnagiri) serving as Scientific Observers. A total of 193 students from 43 countries participated in the competition. In the country-wise medal tally, India was placed in the fourth position, jointly with Vietnam. China came at the top, followed by Russia and Romania at second and third position, respectively.

At just the age of 16, Jiya Rai became the youngest para swimmer to cross an English Channel. The teenager is not just the youngest, but also the fastest para swimmer in the world to achieve this feat on July 28-29. Jiya swam through the English Channel from the Abbot's Cliff in England to Pointe de la Courte-Dune in France in a time of 17 hours and 25 minutes from July 28 to 29. She covered a distance of 34 kilometres en route to her feat.

Jiya, who hails from Mumbai with Autism Spectrum Disorder, is the daughter of Madan Rai, the MC-at-Arms serving in Mumbai. The Western Naval Command (WNC) congratulated the young para swimmer on her momentous achievement. "All personnel of WNC convey their heartiest congratulations to Jiya Rai for becoming the world's youngest and fastest female para swimmer to successfully swim solo across the English Channel," the Western Naval Command (WNC) wrote on X.

Manu Bhaker and Sarabjot Singh shone bright on Day 4 of medal events at the Paris Olympics 2024 as they clinched the bronze medal in the 10m air pistol mixed team shooting event. The duo defeated South Korea. Bhaker became the first athlete in the history of independent India to win two medals in a single Olympics edition. In boxing, Amit Panghal (men's 51 kg - Rd of 16) and Jaismine Lamboria (women's 57 kg - rd of 32)  and Preeti Pawar (women's 54kg Round of 16) lost. In archery, Bhajan Kaur reached Round of 16 in women's archery individual round event. Coming to rowing, Balraj Panwar finished 5th in the men's single sculls quarterfinal. India men's hockey team defeated Ireland 2-0.

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) and the National Stock Exchange of India Limited (NSE) on Monday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to facilitate capital market access for micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) for fund raising.

The move comes after the stocks of major defence companies, whether government-owned or private, have been trading well on the bourses in the last couple of years since the government’s aatmanirbharta push in the military sector.

“The MoU intends to facilitate MSMEs in the defence sector to raise productive capital for their growth plan in an efficient and transparent manner through NSE platform ‘NSE Emerge’. The platform offers new and viable options for raising equity capital from diversified set of investors,” the MoD said in a statement.

It was signed by Anurag Bajpai, Additional Secretary, Department of Defence Production (DDP), and Ashishkumar Chauhan, Managing Director, NSE, in the presence of Defence Secretary Giridhar Aramane.

Manika Batra made history as the first Indian table tennis player to reach the pre-quarterfinals of any singles event at the Olympics. The 29-year-old triumphed over France’s world No. 18, Prithika Pavade, commanding the match from start to finish with scores of 11-9, 11-6, 11-9, and 11-7. This victory earned her a place in the Round of 16, where she will face either Hong Kong’s Zhu Chengzhu or Japan’s Miu Hirano.

This match marked a significant achievement in Indian table tennis at the Olympics. Manika had previously reached the round of 32 at the Tokyo Olympics and improved on that performance on Monday.

In the opening game, Batra overcame a two-point deficit to win 11-9. She then comfortably claimed the second game with a five-point lead, 11-6. Despite Pavade’s resilience in the third game, Batra secured another 11-9 victory.

In the fourth game, Batra started strong, quickly gaining a 5-1 lead. However, Pavade rallied to take the lead at 6-5. The lead exchanged hands several times, and Pavade eventually took the game 11-9, staging a significant comeback.

Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Shri Bhupender Yadav launched today Ideas4LiFE for inviting ideas related to products and services, which induce behavioral changes related to environment-friendly lifestyles in the presence of Minister of State for Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Shri Kirti Vardhan Singh at Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi. Shri Yadav called upon the fraternity of students, research scholars, faculty and innovators to come up with innovative and out of box ideas, which will work towards fulfillment of the vision of Hon’ble Prime Minister for mindful and deliberate utilization of resources.

Interacting with participants and students at the launch event of Ideas4LiFE, Shri Yadav said this initiative aims to encourage and motivate students, faculty and research scholars to contribute their innovative ideas to the global initiative of Mission LiFE. He said this is a remarkable opportunity for inspired minds to participate in global movement dedicated to environmental sustainability.

The Central Water Commission (CWC) has been honored with the GEEF Global WaterTech Award under the category ‘Water Department of the Year’ at the prestigious Global Water Tech Summit -2024 organized by the Global Energy and Environment Foundation (GEEF) in New Delhi.

The Global Energy and Environment Foundation acknowledged the Central Water Commission's (CWC) pivotal role in hydro-meteorological data collection, flood forecasting, reservoir storage monitoring, water quality monitoring, coastal area management, appraisal and monitoring of water resources projects, and resolving inter-state water issues.

The Global Awards recognizes the most important achievements in the water sector in several categories to honor and reward initiatives in the water, wastewater, and desalination sectors on innovation, technology, conservation, and sustainable development.

Additionally foundation recognized several new initiatives taken by CWC like interactions with the Water Resources/ Irrigation/ Jal Shakti Departments of all the States/ UTs to enhance synergy in the works being done by CWC and those undertaken by the States/ UTs in various areas related to Water Resources.