In News:

The Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) has partnered with the World Economic Forum (WEF) to launch the India Skills Accelerator—a national-level public-private collaboration platform aimed at fostering a future-ready and inclusive workforce.

Key Features:

• Purpose: To act as a systemic change enabler in India's skilling ecosystem through a multi-stakeholder, cross-sectoral approach.
• Core Objectives:
  • Enhance awareness and shift mindsets about the need for future skills.
  • Promote collaboration and knowledge sharing between government, industry, and academia.
  • Reform policies and institutional structures for an agile and responsive skilling framework.
• Sectoral Priorities:
  • Focus on high-growth areas: AI, robotics, cloud computing, cybersecurity, advanced manufacturing, energy, and Global Capability Centres (GCCs).
  • Emphasis on formalizing the informal workforce.
• Lifelong Learning: Mobilize investments in upskilling and reskilling across various life stages to support agile career transitions.
• Data-Driven Governance: Use surveys, mapping tools, and the WEF’s Global Learning Network for peer benchmarking and progress tracking.
• Implementation Strategy:
  • Identify 10–12 high-impact priorities with measurable outcomes.
  • Establish thematic working groups to ensure coordinated execution.
  • Align initiative with the WEF’s Future of Jobs Report 2025.

Significance

• Addresses the fact that 65% of organizations cite skill gaps as a major barrier to growth.
• Positions India to leverage its demographic dividend and become the "Skill Capital of the World".
• Supports India's goal of skilling not just for domestic needs but also for global workforce demand.
• Reinforces federal cooperation, involving institutions like NSDC, NCVET, DGT, UGC, AICTE, NCERT, and CBSE.

In News:

Researchers from the University of Oxford and Universidad de Sevilla have demonstrated quantum supremacy using a simple mathematical game based on the odd-cycle graph colouring problem. The study, published in Physical Review Letters, marks a significant milestone in quantum computing.

What is Quantum Supremacy?

Quantum supremacy refers to the ability of a quantum computer to perform a task that is practically impossible for classical computers to solve efficiently. This advancement showcases the unique capabilities of qubits, which leverage two core principles:

• Superposition: Qubits can represent both 0 and 1 simultaneously.
• Entanglement: Measurement of one qubit instantly affects another, even over a distance.

These principles enable exponential scaling of computational power. For instance, a 50-qubit quantum computer could potentially outperform the most powerful classical supercomputers.

The Odd-Cycle Game: A Novel Approach

The team implemented a game inspired by graph theory:

• Players (Alice and Bob) are tasked with colouring an odd-numbered cycle (e.g., triangle) using only two colours such that adjacent points differ in colour.
• Mathematically, this is impossible in classical terms for odd cycles due to inevitable repetition of colours.

In the experiment:

• Two strontium atoms placed 2 meters apart were entangled using lasers.
• A referee sent each atom a "question" (mapped to a point on the cycle).
• Players performed quantum operations based on the questions and returned either 0 or 1 (representing colours).

The experiment was repeated 101,000 times, covering circles from 3 to 27 points.

Results and Significance

• Classical win rate: 83.3% for 3-point cycles.
• Quantum win rate: 97.8%, clearly surpassing classical limits.
• Quantum supremacy was evident up to 19-point circles.
• The entanglement correlation was the strongest ever recorded between two separated quantum systems.

Comparison with Previous Demonstrations

• Google’s Sycamore (2019): Used 53 superconducting qubits for a complex problem called random circuit sampling.
• China’s Jiuzhang: Used Gaussian boson sampling.
• In contrast, this new approach used just two entangled qubits, making it simpler, efficient, and easier to verify.

Practical Implications

This simplified game-based model of quantum advantage could have real-world applications in problems where coordination is needed without communication—such as the "rendezvous problem". Quantum systems can dramatically reduce search steps compared to classical ones (e.g., Grover’s algorithm can reduce 1 million steps to 1,000).

In News:

The Biomass Mission is a new Earth observation mission by the European Space Agency (ESA) aimed at enhancing our understanding of the global carbon cycle through accurate forest biomass measurements.

Launch Details:

• Rocket: Vega-C
• Launch Site: Europe’s Spaceport, French Guiana
• Orbit: Sun-Synchronous Orbit (SSO) at an altitude of ~666 km
• Scheduled Launch Date: 29 April 2025 (subject to final checks)

Key Features:

• First satellite to use P-band radar (long-wavelength synthetic aperture radar).
• Capable of penetrating dense forest canopies to scan tree trunks, branches, and stems — where most of a tree’s carbon is stored.
• Will generate 3D maps of the world’s tropical forests.

Mission Objectives:

• Measure above-ground forest biomass and forest height.
• Create five global biomass maps over its five-year mission.
• Monitor changes in forests to assess their role in carbon sequestration and climate regulation.

Scientific Importance:

• Forests absorb ~8 billion tonnes of CO? annually and are often referred to as "Earth’s green lungs."
• By analyzing forest carbon storage and changes, the mission will contribute significantly to:
  • Monitoring climate change
  • Supporting carbon accounting
  • Improving air quality assessments

Phases of the Mission:

1. Initial Phase: Produces detailed 3D forest maps globally.
2. Second Phase: Generates global estimates of forest height and biomass.

Relevance to Climate Action:

• Helps in quantifying carbon uptake and release.
• Supports global climate models and carbon budgeting.
• Aids in policy-making for sustainable forest management.

In News:

A new species of land snail, Theobaldius konkanensis, has been discovered by a collaborative team of Indian and UK researchers from the Konkan region of Maharashtra. This species adds to the growing biodiversity records of the northern Western Ghats, a globally recognized but under-explored biodiversity hotspot.

Key Facts at a Glance

• Scientific Name: Theobaldius konkanensis
• Discovered in: Ratnagiri and Raigad districts, Maharashtra (Dev Gireshwar Temple, Uttamrao Patil Biodiversity Garden, Kesharnath Vishnu Temple, and Phansad Sanctuary)
• Elevation: 80–240 metres above sea level
• Habitat: Tropical evergreen and semi-evergreen forests
• Active Months: June to September (monsoon); only shells visible in other months
• Habits: Active both day and night, often under forest canopy in shaded, moist leaf litter

Morphological Features

• Shell Characteristics:
  • Slightly flattened with a raised centre and deep triangular notch near the aperture
  • Operculum (protective cover) has raised whorl edges and short spines
  • Corneous yellow with brown striations
  • Thick, conoidally depressed, and widely umbilicated
• Body: Stout and rounded

Taxonomic Context

• Family: Cyclophoridae (Caenogastropoda)
• Genus: Theobaldius
  • Now includes 20 species: 9 in India, 11 in Sri Lanka, and 1 in Sumatra (Indonesia)
  • In India, 6 species are endemic to the Western Ghats
  • Only T. annulatus is found in both Sri Lanka and the Western Ghats

Ecological and Conservation Significance

• Bioindicators: Land snails are sensitive to climatic changes and environmental disturbances
• Endemism: T. konkanensis is restricted to specific forest patches in the Konkan, highlighting the ecological uniqueness of the region
• Threats: Increasing anthropogenic pressures and habitat degradation threaten snail species with restricted distribution

Reproductive Biology (General Traits of Land Snails)

• Breeding mainly in monsoon
• Reproduce through both cross- and self-fertilisation
• Courtship includes dart-shooting behavior; mating may last hours
• Eggs laid in moist soil or leaf litter; hatch in 2–4 weeks
• Lifespan: 2 to 7 years

In News:

A US biotech company, Colossal Biosciences, claims to have genetically engineered three grey wolf pups to carry traits of the extinct dire wolf, calling it a de-extinction.

What is De-Extinction?

De-extinction is the process of reviving extinct species using advanced biotechnological methods such as:

• Gene editing (e.g., CRISPR-Cas9),
• Cloning (e.g., somatic cell nuclear transfer),
• Ancient DNA sequencing and genome reconstruction,
• Synthetic biology to reintroduce key traits of extinct organisms.

Colossal Biosciences and the Dire Wolf Project

In late 2024, a U.S.-based biotechnology firm, Colossal Biosciences, announced the birth of three genetically engineered wolf pups—Romulus, Remus, and Khaleesi—claimed to be the world’s first successful case of "functional de-extinction."

About the Dire Wolf

• Scientific name: Aenocyon dirus
• Habitat: Grasslands and forests of North America during the Pleistocene Epoch
• Extinction: ~12,500–13,000 years ago
• Characteristics: 25% larger than modern grey wolves; strong jaws to hunt megafauna like bison and horses; light-colored dense fur; social, pack-hunting predators.

Scientific Process Involved

• DNA Extraction: Ancient DNA was recovered from dire wolf fossils (13,000 to 72,000 years old).
• Genome Reconstruction: Sequencing and comparative analysis showed ~99.5% similarity between dire wolves and modern grey wolves.
• Gene Editing: Scientists edited 20 genes in grey wolves to replicate dire wolf traits like:
  • White, thick fur
  • Increased body mass
  • Enhanced musculature and coat pattern
• Cloning: Modified DNA was used to create embryos via somatic cell nuclear transfer.
• Surrogacy: Embryos were implanted in large domestic dogs. Of several attempts, three pups survived.

Scientific and Ethical Concerns

• Experts argue these are not true dire wolves but genetically edited grey wolves with some dire wolf-like traits.
• Critics highlight the absence of peer-reviewed publication, limited understanding of epigenetic and behavioral factors, and the artificial environment in which the pups are raised.
• Colossal terms the process "functional de-extinction", meaning re-creating genetically and ecologically similar organisms, not exact replicas.

Ecological and Conservation Relevance

• Colossal claims the technology could help endangered species like the red wolf (native to the southeastern U.S.), threatened by habitat loss and hybridization with coyotes.
• Four clones of red wolf–coyote hybrids have been produced with potential use in restoring genetic diversity.
• The company aims to democratize conservation biotechnology, pledging to share tools with global conservationists and working with Native American communities.

Contemporary Debates

• Over 60 environmental groups have protested proposed U.S. legislation to delist grey wolves from the Endangered Species Act, warning of ecological consequences.
• Scientists urge caution, stressing that true resurrection of extinct species requires more than gene editing, as behavior, evolutionary context, and environmental adaptation cannot be synthetically replicated.