India's scientific and technological landscape continues to advance at a rapid pace, with several notable achievements and announcements in recent days.
Space Exploration Reaches New Heights
Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla, the first Indian astronaut to visit the International Space Station (ISS) as part of the Axiom-4 mission, met with Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh in New Delhi on August 21, 2025. Shri Singh congratulated Group Captain Shukla on his achievement, terming it a major milestone for India's human spaceflight journey. Shukla's inspiring journey is expected to motivate young minds towards careers in science, technology, and space exploration. He also shared his invaluable first-hand experience from the ISS mission, noting its utility for India's own Gaganyaan mission.
The ISRO Chairman, Dr. V Narayanan, and Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla recently provided a briefing on India's burgeoning space capabilities over the last decade. They highlighted three pivotal missions conducted in the past six months: the NISAR (NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar) Mission, Axiom Mission 4, and Space Docking and Servicing (SpaDeX). The NISAR satellite, launched on July 30, 2025, in collaboration with NASA, is designed for all-weather, day-night imaging of Earth's land and ice-covered surfaces. The Axiom Mission 4, which saw the first Indian taken to and safely returned from the ISS on June 26, 2025, signifies India's growth in human spaceflight. Notably, the SpaDeX mission successfully demonstrated India's capability in satellite docking, undocking, refuelling, and payload transfer in Low Earth Orbit (LEO), making India the fourth country to achieve this feat in 2025.
Technological Innovation and AI Adoption Surge
The FITT Forward 2025 showcase at IIT Delhi on August 21, 2025, offered a glimpse into the future of deep-tech startups in India. Innovations presented included fabrics designed to kill bacteria, India's first autonomous pool-cleaning robot, and VR-based therapies for stroke patients. The event also featured advancements in AI for real-time traffic sign recognition and camera-based traffic classification systems.
A recent Honeywell Global Retailer Technology Survey, released on August 21, 2025, revealed that a remarkable 96% of large retailers in India have already developed Artificial Intelligence (AI) capabilities and solutions. This positions India as a global leader in AI adoption within the retail sector, utilizing AI for enhanced efficiency, demand planning, customer experience, and optimized last-mile delivery.
Further bolstering India's tech ecosystem, Kyndryl, a mission-critical enterprise technology services firm, announced plans to invest $2.25 billion in India over the next three years. This commitment includes establishing an AI Innovation Lab in Bengaluru, deepening engagement with the Indian government on AI, and providing digital training to approximately 200,000 citizens.
In other technology news, SpaceX's satellite internet service, Starlink, will utilize Aadhaar for user validation under Know-Your-Customer (KYC) rules in India, as announced by the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) on August 21, 2025.
Defence and Policy Developments
India successfully test-fired its Agni-5 ballistic missile from Chandipur, Odisha, on August 20, 2025. This successful test validated all operational and technical parameters of the Intermediate-Range Ballistic Missile.
In a policy-related development, the 28th Prime Minister's Science, Technology & Innovation Advisory Council (PM-STIAC) meeting was held on August 21, 2025, in New Delhi. Chaired by Professor Ajay Kumar Sood, Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India, the meeting focused on discussing the National Plant Health Initiative (NPHI), emphasizing a coordinated approach to enhancing plant health.