The Ministry of Jal Shakti and the Anusandhan National Research Foundation (ANRF) have jointly launched the ‘Missions for Advancement in High-Impact Areas (MAHA) Water Mission’. The mission has a financial outlay of ₹200 crore to be implemented over 5 years. It will provide funding support of up to ₹20 crore per consortium.
The mission was unveiled during a national workshop on Research and Development (R&D) in Water held in New Delhi, aiming to bolster the water security of India through research and technology-driven solutions.
The Chandrayaan-2 spacecraft, orbiting the Moon since 2019, has provided evidence of subsurface water ice deposits within the permanently shadowed regions (PSRs) of lunar south polar craters. This study, conducted by the Physical Research Laboratory (PRL) in Ahmedabad, was published in the Nature Portfolio Journal (NPJ) Space Exploration.
Researchers utilized the Dual-Frequency Synthetic Aperture Radar (DFSAR) to analyze ‘doubly shadowed craters’ within the PSRs. The findings from a 1.1 km crater in the Faustini Basin indicate an impact into an ice-rich subsurface that briefly flowed before refreezing.
The Ministry of Jal Shakti has signed an MoU with the ISRO to enhance water resource management using satellite technology. The collaboration involves joint research across 24 key areas. It is to be noted that the Ministry has already supported 113 research projects in the water sector over the past decade.
Additionally, the third phase of the Jal Sanchay Jan Bhagidari (JSJB) campaign has been launched, aiming to create 2 crore water conservation structures between June 2026 and May 2027. The previous phase of the campaign successfully created over 1.5 crore water conservation structures.
PM Narendra Modi has visited Sweden at the invitation of the PM of Sweden, Ulf Kristersson. The visit transitioned the bilateral relations into a formal “Strategic Partnership” and adopted the “Joint Action Plan (2026-2030)”.
Building on a record $7.75 billion bilateral trade volume achieved in 2025, both nations agreed to double their trade over the next 5 years. During his address to the European Round Table for Industry (ERT) in Gothenburg, PM Modi highlighted that India has followed a “12-year trajectory of reforms, performance, and transformation”.
The “India-Sweden Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) and Start-up Platform” was initiated. The leaders also endorsed the “India-Sweden Technology and Artificial Intelligence Corridor (SITAC)”. Additionally, a virtual “India-Sweden Joint Science and Technology Centre (ISJSTC)” was launched to strengthen bilateral scientific cooperation.
In the field of space exploration, Sweden announced its participation in the Venus Orbiter Mission (“Shukrayaan”) of India, with the Swedish Institute of Space Physics supplying the advanced Venusian Neutrals Analyzer to fly aboard the spacecraft of the ISRO. Furthermore, both nations rolled out the “Tagore-Sweden” Lecture Series to deepen academic connections.
The Chandrayaan-3 mission of the ISRO has received the 2026 Goddard Astronautics Award from the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA).
The award was presented at the Accelerating Space Commerce, Exploration, and New Discovery (ASCEND) 2026 Conference held in Washington DC, USA. Vinay Kwatra, the Ambassador of India to the USA, accepted the award on behalf of ISRO.
Telangana CM A Revanth Reddy has flagged off the flight hardware of “Vikram-1”, the first privately developed orbital rocket of India, from the Skyroot Aerospace Max-Q campus in Hyderabad to the Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) in Sriharikota.
Vikram-1 is a multi-stage launch vehicle designed to transport satellites weighing up to 350 kg into Low Earth Orbit (LEO), which covers the region from 160 km to 2,000 km above the Earth. The maiden flight, tentatively scheduled for June 2026, will be a demonstration mission to validate the orbital capabilities of the vehicle through the deployment of several CubeSats. It is to be noted that the mission is subject to final approval from the Indian National Space Promotion and Authorization Center (IN SPACe).
The Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM) Pune, under the Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES), has commissioned an X-Band Dual-Polarization Doppler Weather Radar (DWR) at its High Altitude Cloud Physics Laboratory (HACPL) in Mahabaleshwar, Maharashtra. This installation is part of “Mission Mausam”, a multi-year initiative of the central government to make India a ‘Weather-Ready Nation’.
It is to be noted that the radar is located at an elevation of 1,400 m in the Western Ghats and operates at a frequency of 9.45 GHz. Additionally, IITM has signed an MoU with the Space Applications Centre (SAC) of the ISRO to jointly develop satellite-based meteorological products.
The Space Applications Centre (SAC) of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has signed an MoU with the Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment (ATREE) to enhance sustainable land management practices in India.
The project involves mapping 3.2 lakh sq. km of land, which constitutes nearly 10% of the total geographical area of India. It is to be noted that the initiative is a significant step towards the goal of India to achieve Land Degradation Neutrality
The Government of Andhra Pradesh has signed an MoU with the National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC), a constituent unit of the ISRO, to strengthen lightning forecasting and early warning systems.
The partnership also aims to enhance the overall disaster preparedness and management framework of the state.
ISRO has successfully conducted the second Integrated Air Drop Test (IADT-02) at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh. The test validated the parachute based deceleration and recovery system designed for the safe return of astronauts during re-entry and abort scenarios.
A simulated Crew Module (CM) weighing 5.7 tonnes (equivalent to the Gaganyaan G1 mission) was carried by an Indian Air Force (IAF) Chinook helicopter to an altitude of 3 km. It is to be noted that after its release over a sea drop zone, a sequence of 10 parachutes of 4 different types was deployed to reduce the velocity for a safe touchdown.
