China-based Betavolt introduces nuclear-powered BV100 battery with 50-year life span

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1 China-based Betavolt introduces nuclear-powered BV100 battery with 50-year life span

 

In April 2025, Beijing  (China)-based  Betavolt Technology  Co., Ltd., a  nuclear power battery developer ,   introduced   a  nuclear-powered battery called BV100 , capable of operating for up to 50 years on a single charge  . This innovation marks a significant advancement in battery technology, providing a potential solution for long-term power supply in medical, aerospace, and remote sensing applications. The BV100 is a coin-sized nuclear battery that   uses  nickel-63 , a  radioactive isotope , as its energy source and  offers  10 times higher energy density than lithium-ion batteries . It provides 100 microwatts (µW) at 3 volts (V).  The battery operates when the nickel-63 emitter undergoes natural decay, releasing high-speed beta particles (electrons) that strike a semiconductor absorber, generating electricity by creating electron-hole pairs.

2 A contingent of the Indian Air Force has reached Al Dhafra Air Base in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to participate in Exercise Desert Flag-10

 A contingent of  the Indian Air Force  has reached  Al Dhafra Air Base  in   the United Arab Emirates (UAE)  to participate in the Desert Flag-10 exercise. The UAE is hosting this exercise, in which apart from India, the air forces of Australia, Bahrain, France, Germany, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Korea, Turkey, Britain and the United States  are participating. The main objective of the exercise is to exchange operational knowledge and best techniques with the most capable air forces of the world. Starting from tomorrow, this exercise will continue till the eighth of next month.

3 Russian cosmonauts Alexei Ovchinin and Ivan Vagner along with Donald Pettit of the United States returned from the International Space Station-ISS after a seven-month scientific mission

 

Russian cosmonauts Alexei Ovchinin  and  Ivan Vagner   have returned from  the International Space Station-ISS  after  a seven-month scientific mission  along with  Donald Pettit of the US . The three astronauts landed in Kazakhstan in Russia’s Soyuz MS-26  spacecraft. The landing was confirmed by NASA of the US and Russia’s Roscosmos space agency. NASA said in a statement that the crew arrived at the ISS laboratory on September 11, 2024, spending 220 days in space. During this journey, they orbited the Earth 3520 times. There has been a continuous cooperation between the US and Russia in the space sector amid the Russia-Ukraine war.

4 Make in India: Boosting India’s global presence in pharmaceuticals

The Indian pharmaceutical industry is  the world’s third largest by volume and the 11th largest by value . India  is the largest supplier of generic medicines  globally  , accounting  for 20% of global supply  . India is one of the largest suppliers of low-cost vaccines in the world. India is the fourth largest medical device market in Asia after Japan, China and South Korea. India is among the top 20 global medical device markets in the world. The total annual turnover of pharmaceuticals in the financial year (FY) 2023-24 was Rs 4,17,345 crore, of which Rs 2,19,439 crore was from exports. As per the FDI Policy 2020, foreign investment up to 100% is permitted under the automatic route in medtech activities. In pharmaceuticals, up to 100% FDI is permitted in greenfield projects under the automatic route and up to 74% in brownfield projects.

5 L&T’s indigenous 651 kW waterjet propulsion system successfully completes sea trials for Indian Navy

On April 15, 2025,  Mumbai  (Maharashtra)-based  Larsen & Toubro  ’s  Precision Engineering Systems (L&T PES)   successfully completed the initial sea trials of its  651 kilowatt (kW) waterjet propulsion system , marking a major development in India’s indigenous naval propulsion capabilities under the Technology Development Fund (TDF) scheme  of   the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO)  . The system was tested on board the Indian Navy’s (IN) Fast Interceptor Craft (FIC), demonstrating high-speed operational capability of over 45 knots (85 kilometres per hour, km/h).

6 Fourth edition of IJR 2025: Karnataka tops in providing justice among large states, West Bengal lowest

 According to  the fourth edition  of  the India Justice Report (IJR 2025) released on April 15, 2025  , Karnataka  (score – 6.78) tops the list of 18  large and medium-sized  Indian states (with a population of more than 1 crore) in terms of delivering justice. It is the only state that has fulfilled the reservation quota for Scheduled Caste (SC), Scheduled Tribe (ST) and Other Backward Class (OBC) communities in both police and judiciary. Karnataka is followed by Andhra  Pradesh  (AP) (6.32)  at second place among large and medium-sized states in IJR 2025, Telangana  (6.15) at third, Kerala at fourth and Tamil Nadu (TN) at fifth. Telangana has made the biggest improvement, moving up from 11th position to third.  West Bengal (WB)  is at the bottom  of the 18 large and medium-sized states.  . Karnataka got 6.78 points out of 10, while WB scored 3.63 overall. Among small states (with population up to 1 crore), Sikkim ranked first, followed by Himachal Pradesh (HP) at second and Arunachal Pradesh (AR) at third while Goa was ranked last. The India Justice Report (IJR) is an annual publication launched by Mumbai (Maharashtra)-based Tata Trusts in 2019. The report assesses how India’s 36 states and union territories (UTs) are performing across four main pillars: police, judiciary, prisons, and legal aid.

7 ZSI and Museum Koenig Bonn, Germany discovered six new Sericinae beetle species in India

In April 2025, the Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) based in Kolkata  (West Bengal, WB)   under   the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC)  in collaboration with  Germany  -based Museum   Koenig  Bonn  discovered  six new species  of  Sericinae scarab beetles  from the biodiversity-rich regions of  Northeast India and Western Ghats (Kerala) . The findings were published in the peer-reviewed journal Zootaxa  . The joint research team comprised Devanshu Gupta, Debika Bhunia and Kailash Chandra of ZSI and Dirk Ahrens of Museum Koenig, who comprehensively analysed specimens from the Coleoptera section of ZSI in Kolkata (West Bengal) and Museum Koenig (Germany).

 

8 New frog species Leptobrachium arytium discovered in Garbhanga Reserve Forest, Assam

In April 2025,  a new species of frog named Leptobrachium aryatium  was officially described  in  a 21-year long zoological study  conducted in   the Garbhanga Reserve Forest  located in  the south-western part   of  Guwahati , Assam . The frog was named after Arya Vidyapeeth College  , a prestigious educational institution in Guwahati . The discovery of the species was published in the journal Zootaxa and described by four Indian zoologists – Jayaditya Purkayastha of Help Earth (non-governmental organisation – NGO) based in Guwahati (Assam), Dipankar Dutta of University of Science and Technology, Meghalaya, Jayanta Gogoi of Arya Vidyapeeth College, Assam and Saibal Sengupta of Assam Don Bosco University, Assam.

9 India’s Veer Chotarani and Anahat Singh qualify for World Squash Championship 2025

India’s Veer Chotarani  and  Anahat Singh  have qualified for   the World Squash Championship 2025  to be held in Chicago, USA  next month  . Veer defeated Malaysia’s Amishnraj Chandran 3-0 in the men’s final of  the Asia qualifying competition   held in  Malaysia  . Fifth seeded 17-year-old Anahat  defeated Hong Kong’s Toby Tse 3-1 in the women’s singles final . Now a total of four Indian players Veer Chotarani, Ramit Tandon, Abhay Singh and Velavan Senthil will participate in the men’s singles category of the World Championship. On the other hand, Anahat will participate in her first world championship in the women’s category.

 

10 ISSF Shooting World Cup: Rudraksh Patil-Arya Borse won silver medal in 10m air rifle mixed team event

India’s  Rudraksh Patil  and  Arya Borse  have   won  the silver medal  in the 10 meter air rifle mixed team event at the ISSF Shooting World Cup  in  Lima, Peru . In the final, the pair of Rudraksh and Arya  lost 11-17 to   Norway’s John-Herman Hegg and Jeanette Hegg Duestad . This is India’s third silver medal in this competition  . India has so far  won six medals including two gold, three silver and one bronze . India  is at third place  in the medal tally  after China and America .