NIDAR 2.0
Context: MeitY and the Drone Federation of India launched NIDAR 2.0 (2026–27) to promote indigenous drone technologies powered by Indian-designed chips.
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National Innovation Challenge for Drone Application and Research (NIDAR 2.0)
- NIDAR 2.0 is a national-level innovation hackathon that encourages engineering students to design and develop indigenous autonomous drone software and hardware.
- Objective: To shift India from drone assembly to indigenous design and manufacturing, including the drone’s core avionics and processors.
- Nodal Body: Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), in collaboration with the Drone Federation of India (DFI).
- Implemented under the SwaYaan Capacity Building Initiative.
- Origin: Approved in July 2022 with an outlay of nearly 90 crore rupees.
- Tenure: NIDAR 2.0 will be implemented in 2026–27
- The first edition (2025–26) attracted over 3,000 students from 22 States and 4 Union Territories.
- Key Operational Features
- Drone Innovation Track (System-Level): Challenges participants to develop fully autonomous drones for disaster response, survivor detection, medical supply delivery, and GPS-denied indoor navigation.
- Indigenous Hardware Development: Requires teams to build flight controllers and autopilot systems using the VEGA microprocessor, an indigenous processor developed by C-DAC, promoting self-reliance in drone electronics.
- Government Support for Innovation: The top 100 shortlisted teams receive VEGA development kits, along with cloud credits, software support, startup incubation, mentorship, and internship opportunities.
- Financial Incentives: Features a prize pool exceeding ₹65 lakh, encouraging innovation, prototype development, and commercialization of indigenous drone technologies.
SwaYaan Capacity Building Initiative
- SwaYaan is a flagship initiative of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) to develop a skilled workforce and strengthen indigenous capabilities in Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) and drone technologies.
- Objective: To build a collaborative ecosystem by promoting skill development, research, innovation, entrepreneurship, and industry-academia collaboration to support India’s goal of becoming a global drone hub by 2030.
- Nodal Agency: It is implemented by MeitY through a Hub-and-Spoke model involving 30 premier institutions, including IITs, IIITs, NITs, C-DAC, and NIELIT centres.
- Key Targets: Backed by an outlay of nearly ₹90 crore, the programme aims to train over 40,000 personnel by 2027, focusing on five core drone technology domains and innovation challenges such as NIDAR.
About Drone Federation of India (DFI)
- It is a non-government, not-for-profit industry body that promotes India’s drone, unmanned aviation, and counter-drone ecosystem while supporting the Atmanirbhar Bharat initiative.
- Establishment: Established in 2019, DFI is headquartered in Mumbai, Maharashtra, and serves as the collective voice of India’s drone industry.
- Role: DFI acts as a bridge between industry, government, and academia, working with the Ministry of Civil Aviation and Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to support policy formulation, standards, certification, innovation, and skill development.
UMANG Portal
Context: Security researchers identified vulnerabilities in the UMANG portal that reportedly exposed sensitive user data across multiple government services.
Key Concerns Regarding UMANG
- Exposure of Sensitive Personal Data: Vulnerabilities reportedly exposed EPFO UANs, LPG booking details, and Aadhaar numbers, raising concerns over privacy, identity theft, and financial fraud.
- Weak System Architecture: Researchers attributed the vulnerabilities to architectural design flaws, inadequate encryption, and insecure APIs, indicating systemic cybersecurity weaknesses.
- Need for Stronger Cybersecurity: The incident highlights the importance of regular security audits, secure API architecture, prompt vulnerability disclosure, and stronger data protection across Digital India platforms.
About Unified Mobile Application for New-age Governance (UMANG)
- Launched in 2017, UMANG (Unified Mobile Application for New-age Governance) is a single-window digital platform that provides citizens access to thousands of Central, State, and local government services through one application.
- Nodal Body: Developed by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) under the Digital India Programme, with the National e-Governance Division (NeGD) as the implementing agency.
- Key Features
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- Integrates over 2,400 government services from multiple departments and States on a common platform.
- Supports multiple Indian languages, online payments, document integration, and access through both smartphones and feature phones (via USSD).
- Offers services related to EPFO, Aadhaar, DigiLocker, utility bill payments, LPG booking, education, healthcare, taxation, and citizen-centric governance.
- Language: UMANG web and app supports 23 Indian languages, including English and Hindi in 21 other regional languages
Ramasamy Vairamuthu
Context: Tamil poet and lyricist R. Vairamuthu received the 60th Jnanpith Award (2025), becoming the third Tamil writer to receive India’s highest literary honour.
About R. Vairamuthu
- R. Vairamuthu is a renowned Tamil poet, lyricist, novelist, and writer, celebrated for blending classical Tamil literary traditions with contemporary themes.
- Key Contributions
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- Literary Contributions: He has authored over 37 books, including Kallikattu Ithikasam, Karuvachi Kaaviyam, and Thanni Desam, reflecting rural life, nature, and social issues.
- Contribution to Tamil Cinema: He has written more than 8,000 Tamil film songs and won the National Film Award for Best Lyrics seven times, significantly influencing Tamil popular culture.
- Literary Recognition: He received the Sahitya Akademi Award (2003) for Kallikattu Ithikasam and was honoured with the Padma Shri (2003) and Padma Bhushan (2014).
- Contemporary Literary Influence: His writings are noted for their emotional depth, humanism, and contribution to modern Tamil literature.
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About Jnanpith Award
- The Jnanpith Award is India’s highest literary honour, recognising an author’s lifetime contribution to Indian literature.
- Organised By: It was instituted in 1961 by Bharatiya Jnanpith, a literary and cultural organisation established in 1944 to promote Indian languages and literature.
- Eligibility and Categories: The award is presented annually to an Indian author for outstanding lifetime contribution in any of the 22 languages listed in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution, as well as English.
- Awarded to living Indian citizens only (no posthumous award)
- Award Components: The award comprises a cash prize of ₹11 lakh, a citation, and a bronze statuette of Vagdevi (Goddess Saraswati).
- First recipient: G. Sankara Kurup (Malayalam) in 1965.
- Since 1982, it has recognised overall literary contribution rather than a single work.
- First Woman Recipient: Ashapoorna Devi.
- She received the award in 1976 for her celebrated Bengali novel, Prothom Protishruti (The First Promise)
- First English Language Winner: Amitav Ghosh.
- He was honored in 2018 for his outstanding lifetime contribution to Indian literature in English.
- Language with the Most Winners: Hindi.
- Hindi literary works have won the award 11 times, followed closely by Kannada, which has 8 winners
India’s First Hydrogen Train
Context: India is set to launch its first hydrogen-powered train in Jind, Haryana, on July 17, 2026.
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Key Highlights
- Development: The train is developed by the Integral Coach Factory (ICF), Chennai.
- The train will become the world’s longest hydrogen trainset and the most powerful hydrogen train on the Broad Gauge (BG) platform.
- Propulsion System: Converted from a Diesel Electric Multiple Unit (DEMU) rake.
- Powered by a 1,200 kW Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell (PEMFC).
- Supported by a battery bank to meet average and peak power requirements.
- Hydrogen is a high-energy-density fuel (120 MJ/kg) compared to diesel (43 MJ/kg) and requires relatively low maintenance.
- Environmental Significance: Hydrogen fuel cells generate electricity through a chemical reaction between hydrogen and oxygen, and as a result, water vapour is the only direct emission.
- Results in a low carbon footprint.
- Global Significance: India joins Germany, Japan, China, the United States, and Switzerland in deploying hydrogen-powered trains for cleaner rail transport.
14 Jul 2026
