Stepping stone: on Shubhanshu Shukla, NASA-Axiom-ISRO tie-up
Concerns that the limitations imposed by the U.S.'s International Traffic in Arms Regulations would prevent the duo from learning much may also be laid to rest. Instead, they may be replaced by concerns about ISRO's piecemeal communication. Astronauts cut inspirational figures and appeal to all ages. As India prepares for its first human spaceflight mission, there can be no better way to build excitement than by facilitating access to India's astronauts. The lack of initiative is hard to rationalise, although it is still not too late. ISRO as well as India's soft power platform will make copious gains by expanding outreach and easing public access to the spacefarers.
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The Hindu
an hour ago
- The Hindu
How robotics can help bridge the digital divide in tribal India
India's diversity extends beyond basic linguistics, bringing in cultural, socio-economic, and regional markers. This country is home to over one crore tribal residents whose history goes back thousands of years and makes up almost 9% of the total Indian population. However, despite having a large population, Indian tribal communities have remained underserved and marginalised for a long period. Global technological advancements could help bridge the digital divide to ensure inclusive growth. The term technological advancements is considerably broad if we look to apply it to bridging the digital divide in tribal India. At present, India and the rest of the world are placing tremendous emphasis on Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning (ML), Cloud, etc. This means that significant competition has already been involved in the space. However, one such discipline exists that is yet to receive simultaneous attention from the world — Robotics. Experiencing the digital divide Many tribal communities reside in regions that have historically not been developed due to several challenges. For instance, the remote areas of Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh have witnessed instability, and connectivity has borne the brunt of it. In the Seven Sister States or the northeastern part of the country, connectivity has once again been a challenge because of the terrain. However, modern digital technologies mean that these challenges can essentially be overcome, and the introduction of an interesting discipline such as Robotics that could be demonstrated first-hand can lead to significant developments. The digital divide of the Indian tribal communities is not only because of connectivity challenges but also because they live on the margins in terms of economic progress, social development and technology access. Yet, the emergence of new technologies has impacted them as well, and may help to advance their living standards. While Robotics could be a complex discipline at first glance, its real-world applications and demonstrations align perfectly for motivating the youth, and first-hand demonstrations help to overcome the misconception of complexity. Robotics can lend itself to the method of learning by doing. The devices are real things and working with them give a sense of satisfaction, rendering them attractive to young people, including tribal youth. Scope of development Though literacy rates among the ST population is relatively high, some 70%, the mother tongue would be the best mode of instruction for tribal communities, just like it is for any community. But conveying technology and technical terms in the native languages of Indian tribes has been a challenge. With the advancements in AI, however, it is possible to create small language models (SLMs) that are equipped with regional languages or dialects. Using these digital mediums for pedagogy enables the diverse tribal communities to not only learn about different technological disciplines, including Robotics in their mother tongue, but also practice the same. These SLMs are equipped with data banks, or digital libraries that can be further used to create a long-term knowledge-gathering process. By deploying this as part of the larger outreach process, the digital divide is not only bridged in an era-appropriate way but also boosts the the chances for tribal youth to join the community of highly trained tech professionals. As a result of this comprehensive effort, a long-term talent pipeline can be created between the tribal communities and the technology sector, developing the quality of life of the youth while also offering the industry stakeholders a steady supply of highly efficient professionals. The advent of new-age technology, such as AI-driven classrooms, learning solutions, and others, means that these tools can be made available to the most marginalised too. However, it must be a public-private affair, and such is the case that is taking place via different State governments introducing similar courses in the K12 curricula in schools, and the private sector bolstering it with community outreach campaigns. With the outreach process surrounding Robotics in the middle, long-term developments of the communities themselves can be made possible, and by tapping their untapped potential, India stands to gain massively going into the next decade. (Born in a remote town in Madurai, Tamil Nadu, Arun Prakash is Founder and CEO of GUVI, an HCL Group Company and an IIT-Madras & IIM-Ahmedabad incubated EdTech platform that offers free and paid coding and management courses in Hindi, Telugu, Kannada, Swahili, Bengali, Tamil, and so on.)
Mint
an hour ago
- Mint
India has the potential to be a global lab for scalable longevity solutions: Accel's Prashanth Prakash
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This is not just a business bet—it's a belief that India will lead the world in next-generation healthcare. The thought process was simple: medicine is shifting from reactive to predictive and preventive, and Biopeak is among the few platforms architecting that future in a scalable, scientifically grounded way. It will enable us to plot with unprecedented detail personalised health trajectories for a specific individual using multi-dimensional data collection, integration, and prediction. The focus on deeply personalised healthcare is going to be huge in the future. Right? The transition from universal averages to personalised insights will represent a revolution in how we detect, predict, prevent adverse events and build resilience reserves. This new model of Biology and AI-led medicine is an exciting paradigm for the future of healthcare in our country that investors are excited to back. What's your definition of longevity? Longevity, for us, is not merely about extending the lifespan but expanding the healthspan. Ensuring more years that are healthy, vital, and productive is more crucial. In the Indian context, this requires a unique balance: respect for traditional knowledge systems, alignment with evolving regulatory frameworks, and deep reliance on evidence-based science. We're combining cutting-edge diagnostics—from microbiome and metabolomics to imaging and functional genomics—with culturally compatible interventions and a powerful AI layer. Longevity for us in India means democratising access to health optimisation—life partnerships between human intelligence and machine precision, rooted in science, ethics, and scale. In ancient civilizations including India, people were said to have lived for a much longer span of time. How do you relate that to the work Biopeak is doing and the results it is hoping to achieve? While environmental and societal contexts have changed drastically, ancient systems often emphasised internal balance, rhythm with nature, and preventative health —all are core principles in today's longevity science. At Biopeak, we're not romanticising the past—we're modelling it. Using symbolic and generative AI frameworks, we're integrating timeless health principles with modern biological data to predict individual responses to pharmaceuticals, nutraceuticals, and lifestyle interventions. It's not about replicating ancient lifespans—it's about reclaiming biological potential by harmonising past wisdom with today's precision tools. Do you think longevity as a concept can be realistically spread to all sections of society? Or will it remain only an aspiration of the well-heeled? Longevity must not become a luxury. With AI at the core of Biopeak's platform, we can rapidly model and scale health solutions based on outcomes from higher-touch cases to broader population needs. What starts with the few can be democratised for the many through intelligent design, efficient diagnostics, and continuous learning from diverse cohorts. India has the potential to be a global lab for scalable longevity solutions—not by diluting science but by deploying it with cultural and economic sensitivity. Through our own longitudinal data leveraging interdisciplinary collaboration (Longevity India, an initiative of the Indian Institute of Science), we aim to identify markers of organ system malfunction before pathology sets in so that we can implement a health management program which will extend healthspan and improve the quality of life for the ageing population across all sections of society. At the core of Biopeak's offering, I believe, is a diagnostic system that includes tests like organic acid profiling, microbiome mapping, salivary cortisol rhythms, and whole-exome functional genomics. These are paired with imaging tools such as MRI, CT, and ECHO, as well as tissue-level screenings that examine markers like mineral levels, toxin load, and oxidative stress. Does this make Biopeak a unique company in the world? Yes, Biopeak is unique both in its scientific architecture and its population focus. It combines multiple high-resolution diagnostic modalities—molecular, functional, and structural—into a unified health intelligence platform. Each individual is paired with a biologist and clinician, and guided through a dynamic health roadmap. What further sets it apart is its South Asia-centric design, which considers the genetic, dietary, cultural, and environmental nuances of this region. Supported by research from institutions like IISc and informed by global best practices, Biopeak is not just another health company—it's a systems-level rethink of what human health can be in the 21st century. What's Medicine 4.0? What does it look to solve? What are its basic principles? Medicine 4.0 is the natural evolution of healthcare in the age of AI and high-resolution biology. It's defined by its longitudinal view of health, multisystem diagnostics, real-time feedback loops, and personalised intervention frameworks. It's not about treating symptoms—it's about continuously adapting to the evolving biology of the individual. This approach integrates international technologies, leverages big data with small, precise insights, and focuses on outcomes over time rather than episodic care. In short, it's predictive, participatory, personalised, and preventive. What do you think are the key pillars of the Medicine 4.0 framework as far as BioPeak is concerned? Biopeak leverages data from modern genomics, metabolomics, lipidomics, and metagenomics analytics to provide a molecular view of an individual's unique biology. This integration identifies systemic equilibrium for identifying subtle imbalances and hidden dysfunctions long before symptoms arise. From DXA scans for bone density to functional MRIs and real-time metabolic imaging, Biopeak employs cutting-edge tools that visualise internal systems and structural health markers. Using a hybrid AI approach, combining symbolic AI (for precise, rule-based interpretations) and generative AI (for pattern recognition and predictive modelling), Biopeak can detect complex biological interrelations and generate personalised health insights. What do you think are the limitations of the current health systems worldwide and in India? Globally and in India, health systems remain largely reactive, fragmented, and oriented around acute interventions rather than long-term prevention. There's a heavy focus on managing disease rather than predicting and reversing the conditions that lead to it. What's missing is a systems view—an integration of diagnostics, therapeutics, and lifestyle within a cohesive, continuously updating framework. People are treated as conditions, not as dynamic ecosystems. Long-term biological consequences of current choices are rarely factored into care. The foundation of Medicine 2.0 was built on population averages, with protocols and interventions developed based on data from extensive observational and interventional studies. While this approach helped standardise treatments, it does not account for individual variability. Each person's genetic framework, metabolism, lifestyle, and environment interactions are unique, making the n=1 (individual-first) model essential for true health optimisation. Biopeak is solving for precisely this: unifying the fragmented landscape into an intelligent, longitudinal system centred around the individual.
Time of India
an hour ago
- Time of India
France says European satellite venture talks are making progress
PARIS: Efforts to set up a European space project alliance involving Italy's Leonardo , France's Thales and Airbus and aimed at challenging Elon Musk 's Starlink are making progress, said France's industry minister on Thursday. "It's a project which we support. Talks are moving forward in a constructive manner," said France's Marc Ferracci during a meeting in Paris with his Italian counterpart Adolfo Urso. Urso said negotiations were aiming at giving the two countries an equal footing in the project, endorsed by French President Emmanuel Macron at the Paris Airshow in June. Under the so-called "Project Bromo", named after an Indonesian volcano, Leonardo, Thales and Airbus have been exploring plans to set up a new satellite manufacturing company to better compete with the U.S. and China, but so far progress has been modest. Leonardo's Chief Executive Roberto Cingolani said last month that the three companies would make another assessment on where the deal stands by the end of July.
