New Delhi, July 8 (IANS) The government’s opening up of the space market for private players provided an opportunity in the sector, the Department of Science and Technology (DST) said on Monday.

A two-stage orbital launch vehicle called Agnibaan powered by India’s first patented single-piece 3D-printed semi-cryogenic engines, developed and incubated at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras, was launched on May 30. The launch vehicle has been developed by space tech startup Agnikul, incubated at the IIT Madras Incubation Cell, and showcased in a startup expo during DST‘s Startup Utsav in August 2022.

The startup works out of the National Centre for Combustion Research and Development (NCCRD) at IIT Madras which is supported by the DST.

“Working out of NCCRD, the Chennai-based startup has developed a range of technologies that can improve the reliability of space engines and speed up their manufacturing, making it easier to organise space missions,” the DST said.

The startup has successfully launched its first inaugural mission — Agnibaan SOrTeD (Agnibaan Sub-Orbital Technology Demonstrator), a single-stage vehicle propelled by a single semi-cryogenic pressure-fed engine which has been used for Agnibaan.

This endeavour took place from India’s first private launchpad at SDSC SHAR. NCCRD has been the training ground for Agnikul, where they learnt the intricacies of building a rocket and this helped the startup figure out the technology in the initial phases.

Another Technology Innovation Hub (TIH) funded by DST, Pravartak Technologies from IIT Madras became their partners for developing and commercialising technologies for space and deep space, the department mentioned.

“They used the technologies they had developed to start manufacturing the engines at the company’s additive manufacturing facility at IIT Madras Research Park,” it said.

The DST’s TBI (Technology Business Incubator) supported startup established India’s first private launchpad along with a Mission Control Centre at Sriharikota range. The DST mentioned that the launch of Agnibaan SorTeD helped achieve the world’s first flight with a single-piece patented rocket engine.

–IANS

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Jaipur, July 8 (IANS) Rajasthan Energy Minister Hiralal Nagar on Monday said that the state government is promoting the solar sector which is aimed to make the desert state a hub of solar energy.

“Our effort is to make Rajasthan a hub of solar energy production, a centre for assembling and manufacturing of solar equipment. Entrepreneurs associated with solar equipment manufacturing units should give suggestions to us,” he said while addressing the India Solar Component Expo organised by the Rajasthan Solar Association at Rajasthan International Center on Monday.

He said that setting up solar component manufacturing units at the local level will reduce the manufacturing cost of solar panels, solar cables, aluminium structures etc. and the youth will get better employment opportunities in this emerging sector.

He said that solar energy is the need of the future and there are immense possibilities of investment in the field of solar energy in our state.

Referring to the amendment in the provisions of Renewable Energy Policy-2023 and Rajasthan Land Revenue Rules, 2007 recently made by the State Cabinet to promote solar energy, the Energy Minister said that now land can be allotted for solar energy projects in the state at seven and a half per cent of the DLC rate.

“This will not only use the abundant amount of natural solar radiation here but will also promote investment and employment in solar component manufacturing,” he said.

The Energy Minister said that proposals for works worth Rs 10000 crore are being prepared through the RDSS scheme for strengthening the power system in the state.

“Due to this, works like construction of new 33/11 kV grid substations and feeder improvement will get momentum and uninterrupted power supply to the consumers will be possible,” the minister said.

–IANS

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New Delhi, July 8 (IANS) A team of scientists from the Aryabhatta Research Institute of observational sciences (ARIES), an autonomous institute of the Department of Science and Technology (DST), on Monday said they have traced the effect of plasma composition on dynamics of astrophysical jets from celestial bodies.

Astrophysical jets are outflows of ionised matter that are emitted as extended beams from celestial objects such as black holes, neutron stars, and pulsars.

The scientists showed that the change in plasma composition leads to the difference in propagation velocities of the jets even if the initial parameters for the jets remain the same.

“Jets composed of electrons and positrons were found to be slowest in comparison to jets containing protons, contrary to expectation. Protons are about two thousand times more massive than electrons or positrons,” the Ministry of Science & Technology said in a statement.

Despite years of research, it is not known what kind of matter astrophysical jets are composed of — whether they are made of bare electrons or protons or whether positively charged electrons called positrons are also present.

Knowing the jet composition is vital as it will allow scientists to pinpoint the exact physical process at work near black holes and neutron stars.

The research, led by Raj Kishor Joshi and Dr Indranil Chattopadhyay from ARIES, was published in the Astrophysical Journal. The authors upgraded a numerical simulation code earlier developed by Dr Chattopadhyay and used the said equation of state to study the dynamics of astrophysical jets composed of a mixture of electrons, positrons (positively charged electrons), and protons.

–IANS

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New Delhi, July 8 (IANS) In good news for Notepad users, Microsoft has rolled out spellcheck and autocorrect in the Notepad app in Windows 11 — 40 years after the text editor was first introduced in Windows in 1983.

The tech giant started testing both features in March. According to multiple reports, it has now quietly begun rolling out both the features for Windows 11 users.

The spellcheck feature is nearly identical to how Word or Microsoft Edge highlight misspelled words, with a red underline to show errors.

The users can enable or disable spellcheck on a file type basis in Notepad for Windows 11.

Microsoft has been adding new features to its Notepad app for Windows 11.

Notepad now offers character count, dark mode, tabs, Copilot integration, and even a virtual fidget spinner.

In December last year, Notepad app on Windows 11 received a character count feature at the bottom, similar to how Microsoft Word counts the number of words in a document.

When text is selected, the status bar shows the character count for both the selected text and the entire document.

Another latest addition is an autosave feature that eliminates the need for the pop-up save prompt when closing the app.

–IANS

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Bengaluru, July 8 (IANS) Global IT services firm Accenture on Monday said it has acquired Excelmax Technologies, a Bengaluru-based semiconductor design services provider, for an undisclosed sum.

The acquisition will enhance Accenture’s growing silicon design and engineering capabilities, the company said in a statement.

Excelmax provides custom silicon solutions used in consumer devices, data centres, artificial intelligence (AI) and computational platforms that enable edge AI deployments, to clients in the automotive, telecommunications and high-tech industries.

Karthik Narain, group chief executive-Technology at Accenture, said that the acquisition of Excelmax “enhances our expertise across every aspect of silicon design and development — from concept to production — so we can help our clients fuel innovation and drive growth.”

Founded in 2019, Excelmax will add approximately 450 professionals to Accenture in key areas such as emulation, automotive, physical design, analog, logic design and verification, expanding Accenture’s ability to help global clients accelerate edge computing innovation.

“Our focus has always been on developing the best talent to deliver tailor-made solutions for our global clients that help them build and maintain competitive advantage,” said Shekhar Patil, Founder and CEO, Excelmax Technologies.

“Joining Accenture enables us to remain at the forefront of innovation, providing new and exciting opportunities for both our clients and our people,” he added.

The semiconductor market is experiencing a surge in demand for silicon design engineering, driven by the proliferation of data centers and the increasing use of AI and edge computing.

This acquisition by Accenture follows the addition of XtremeEDA, a Canada-based silicon design services company, in 2022.

–IANS

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