In an advancement for tuberculosis research, scientists at Indian Institute of Science created a novel 3D hydrogel culture system that closely mimics the human lung. This provides a platform to track and study how tuberculosis bacteria infect lung cells and test the efficacy of therapeutics used to treat the infection.

Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) is a dangerous pathogen.

In 2022, it affected 10.6 million people and caused 1.3 million deaths, according to World Health Organisation.

Led by Rachit Agarwal, associate professor at the department of bioengineering, the IISc team addressed limitations of traditional 2D culture models. These older models fail to replicate the complex 3D structure of lung tissue, potentially skewing research results. “It is a very old bug, and it has evolved with us quite a bit,” said Agarwal, who’s a corresponding author of the study, published in Advanced Healthcare Materials.

Doon School Srinagar was honored with the “Award for Transformative Education Excellence” at Mind Mingle’s Indo-Norway International Education Summit and Awards 2024, held in Stortinget, Norway, on June 5, 2024. This recognition celebrates the school’s outstanding contributions to education, particularly under the leadership of its Chairman, Showkat Hussain Khan.

The summit, which gathered global leaders to celebrate innovations in education, featured keynote speeches by notable figures such as Chief Guest Himanshu Gulati, Member of Parliament, Kingdom of Norway. Guests of Honor Ole Jacob Johansen, Minister of State for Akershus, and Dr Acquino Vimal, Indian Ambassador to the Kingdom of Norway, also praised the awardees for their significant contributions.

After 164 years of its existence, the Comptroller and Auditor General has got its first museum with CAG GC Murmu on Monday opening historic Chadwick House at Shimla for the public.

Chadwick House was also the place where Mahatma Gandhi stayed when he came for a meeting for the Cabinet Mission in 1946 that was meant to initiate dialogue for transfer of political powers from Britishers to the Indian leadership.

“Post-independence, in 1950, the first training school for the Indian Audit and Accounts Service probationers was started here,” Murmu said, adding that the museum would serve the purpose of navigating audit heritage from evolution, achievements to important milestones of the federal auditor.

One of the exhibits at Chadwick is Chanakya writing his Arthshastra that was first written document on the principles of accounting.

Rohit Sharma became the first player to hit 200 sixes in T20Is during the T20 World Cup 2024 Super Eight Group 1 match against Australia at the Daren Sammy National Cricket Stadium in St. Lucia on Monday.

Rohit struck a 41-ball 92 and hit eight sixes in the innings, taking his overall tally to 203 maximums in the shortest format of the game.

During the innings, the Indian opener also became the second-highest six-hitter in T20 World Cup history, surpassing David Warner (40) and Jos Buttler (43). On that list, Rohit is second to only Chris Gayle’s 63 sixes.

Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) and AIIMS, New Delhi to install a pilot project and study ‘Conversion of Pathogenic Biomedical Waste to Value Added Soil Additives’. an MoU was facilitated in this regard at the inauguration of ‘One Week One Theme’ campaign by Dr. Union Minister Dr. Jitendra Singh on Monday in New Delhi.

Dr. Jitendra Singh, Vice-President, CSIR chaired the event in which 24 Technology transfers, Product launches, and MOUs were signed with the respective industry partners for technology transfer. Following the success of the ‘One Week One Lab’(OWOL) campaign conducted by all the CSIR laboratories in 2023, Dr. Jitendra Singh proposed to start ‘One week One Theme’ campaign for the year 2024 from the month of June to December to showcase theme-based weeklong activities on technology packages, innovative and indigenized products, processes and devices across the laboratories. OWOT program aims to promote their achievements and foster collaboration with industry to empower MSMEs, SHGs, Agripreneurs and Startups.

Professor Ajay Kumar Sood, Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India and Dr. Parvinder Maini, Scientific Secretary, today (June 25, 2024) attended the 23rd Foundation Day of the Society for Electronic Transactions and Security (SETS) in Chennai. Prof. Sood also inaugurated the Quantum Security Research Lab on the occasion.

Conceived by Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam in 2002, SETS, an initiative of the Office of Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India, is a cybersecurity R&D organization pursuing research in the core areas of cyber security, cryptology, hardware security, quantum security, and network security.

The celebration kicked off with Dr. N Subramanian, Executive Director, SETS extending a warm welcome and delivering a brief on SETS’ research and development activities. He mentioned that SETS has developed futuristic solutions like Post Quantum VPN, Quantum Random Number Generator (QRNG), Key Distillation Engine (KDE) for Quantum Key Distribution, PKI solution, Ransomware Early Detection Solution, Security for Blockchain, etc. SETS is working with various academic institutions including IITs and IISc Bangalore, government agencies, national R&D organizations, and user agencies such Department of Atomic Energy (DAE), Department of Defense Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), and state governments for collaborative research and innovation.

The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs commemorated today the 9th anniversary of three landmark initiatives: the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT), the Smart Cities Mission, and the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana – Urban (PMAY-U). These initiatives, launched on June 25, 2015, by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, have collectively transformed urban infrastructure and improved the quality of life for millions of residents across India.

While briefing the media on the occasion, Additional Secretary, AMRUT, Smt D Thara, and Joint Secretary, PMAY- Urban Shri Kuldeep Narayan, outlined the progress of the respective missions since their inception. Smt Thara emphasised on capacity building and involvement of women and youth in the implementation of AMRUT projects at the grassroots.

Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry is rolling out Safai Apnao, Bimaari Bhagao initiative under Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban 2.0 from 1st July to 31st August. This initiative seeks to enhance the preparedness of Urban Local Bodies to handle the challenges posed by heavy rainfall and heightened health risks during the months of June to August. It aligns with the Health Ministry’s ‘STOP Diarrhoea Campaign’. The initiative seeks a collaborative effort among various line Ministries and Departments and inter-sectoral convergence to deal with challenges associated with cleanliness and diseases during the monsoon season. The Safai Apnao, Bimaari Bhagao initiative calls for comprehensive interventions focusing on cleanliness, advocacy and inter-departmental convergence to be implemented by all Urban Local Bodies.

The Centre for Development of Advanced Computing on Tuesday signed a memorandum of agreement with the All India Council for Technical Education to create an ecosystem for human resource development in high-performance computing and allied areas.

Around 2,500 faculty members from about 1,000 engineering colleges across India will be trained through 50 faculty development programmes under the joint initiative by C-DAC and AICTE.

The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology plans to teach high-performance computing-related topics to about 50,000 students as a part of their curriculum.

Ladakh has become the first administrative unit to achieve full functional literacy under the ULLAS-Nav Bharat Saaksharta Karyakram (New India Literacy Program). Lieutenant Governor Dr. BD Mishra made this announcement during a celebration at Sindhu Sanskritik Kendra in Leh on Tuesday.

The Union Territory has surpassed 97% literacy, marking a major success for the centrally sponsored scheme aimed at empowering adults aged 15 and above with foundational literacy, numeracy, and critical life skills.

At the event, which included the felicitation of neo-literates and volunteer teachers, Dr. Mishra encouraged new learners and volunteers to embrace lifelong learning. He also praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi for introducing the National Education Policy 2020, which he said “paves the way for the future growth of the country.”