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13 February 2020

India’s billion-dollar quantum push

India's Budget 2020 has just allocated Rs 8,000 crore to the Department of Science and Technology for the development of quantum technology, i.e. the use of quantum physics for computation. This opens up a wealth of possibilities and cybersecurity vulnerabilities too, but it is a sign of the Indian government’s seriousness in protecting the nation’s cyber infrastructure

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16 January 2020

NEST-ling new tech in foreign policy

The recently announced New and Emerging Strategic Technologies (NEST) Division of India’s Ministry of External Affairs is timely. It can become vital for India’s national technosecurity in the imminent Fourth Industrial Age if a new Cabinet Committee on Futuristic Science and Technologies is established along with it

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2 January 2020

India and the revolution in space affairs

India’s preparedness in the decade of the 2020s for the imminent revolution in space affairs depends on mastering Industry 4.0. This is critical as space aspirations now define national interests – a marked change from the vanity-and-pride programmes of the first space age. This will also determine India’s space leadership for the rest of the 21st century

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14 November 2019

6G, the new frontier

India’s status as a key geoeconomic power calls for indigenous R&D of critical information-communication-technology infrastructure at least a generation ahead of time. India must activate the exploratory R&D phase on sixth-generation (6G) network technologies immediately to safeguard its strategic autonomy in the emerging era of informationalised warfare

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22 August 2019

The Telegram phenomenon

The tool used to sustain and coordinate protests is a young, encrypted messaging service called Telegram. Its unique privacy and security features and resistance to the state has made Telegram more popular than its larger rivals, WhatsApp and WeChat. What is this communication phenomenon?

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11 July 2019

Making India a Methane Economy

India is the second largest emitter of methane in the world. But methane-cracking has enormous economic potential. It can help India become a high-technology manufacturing powerhouse by producing a steady supply of methane-derived, advanced carbon materials and hydrogen-energized transportation

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11 July 2019

Chandrayaan-2: presaging private participation

On 15 July, the Indian space programme will achieve a feat with the Chandrayaan-2 mission. Two challenges lie ahead: the speedy construction of Chandrayaan-3 and the development of a public-private ecosystem of space capabilities