India successfully tests homegrown ‘Bhargavastra’ counter-swarm drone system

'Bhargavastra' was successfully tested at the Seaward Firing Range in Odisha's Gopalpur on Wednesday.
Bhargavastra has been designed and developed by Solar Defence and Aerospace Limited (SDAL), signifying a substantial leap in countering the escalating threat of drone swarms. The Bhargavastra is meant for quick interception of drones for an assured hard kill using tiny, guided missiles with swarm engagement capability. This solution offers mobile protection against drone attacks with near-simultaneous engagement of multiple drones.
Highlights of ‘Bhargavastra’:
Multi-layered defence:
Layer 1: Unguided micro rockets with a 20-meter lethal radius to neutralise drone swarms up to 2.5 km.
Layer 2: Guided micro-missiles for precision targeting, already successfully tested.
China says to accelerate financial support for sci-tech innovation

China said on Wednesday it would further enhance capital market support for science and technology innovation enterprises and would expand bank credit support for firms in the sector.
The move comes as the nation steps up efforts to reduce dependence on foreign technology amid rising China-U.S. geopolitical tensions.
China would encourage qualified tech firms to go public domestically and abroad in accordance with the law, it said.
China would also expand its pilot programme for financial asset investment companies to 18 cities and provinces, which aims to guide more equity investment in tech innovation firms. Banks in pilot cities would be allowed to extend the loan term of merger and acquisition loans for tech firms to up to 10 years, it said.
AI is being used by British Airways planes to avoid bad weather and flight delays

BRITISH Airways’ £7billion investment in AI has led to the airline’s flight punctuality soaring to record levels - with 86 per cent of jets now taking off on time.
The airline achieved more than 90% on-time departures on 38 of the 89 operational days in the first quarter. AI-driven improvements include real-time weather routing to avoid delays, smart aircraft stand allocation based on live passenger data, and new digital tools for pilots and crew, collectively saving hundreds of thousands of minutes in delays.
Shiny New Things in Tech You Should Know
Android 16 with Material 3 Expressive & Gemini AI Integration

At Google's "Android Show: I/O Edition" on May 13, 2025, the company unveiled Android 16, introducing the new Material 3 Expressive design. This design emphasizes personalization, fluidity, and premium aesthetics.
Key features include:
A revamped user interface with expressive UI components
Forced dark mode across apps
Enhanced battery health menus
Live Updates resembling Apple's Dynamic Island
Desktop mode and "Find Hub" for location tracking
Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge

Samsung officially revealed the Galaxy S25 Edge on May 12, 2025. This ultrathin smartphone boasts a 5.85 mm profile, a 200MP main camera, and Corning’s Gorilla Glass Ceramic 2 for enhanced durability. Despite its slim design, some concerns have been raised about its 3900 mAh battery potentially affecting battery life. The device also introduces peer-to-peer payments via Samsung Wallet, allowing users to transfer money across wallet platforms using NFC.
AI Made Simple: What is an Autoencoder?
In the world of artificial intelligence, autoencoders are like the quiet heroes working behind the scenes. They’re not as flashy as robots or chatbots, but they play a key role in helping machines understand and clean up data.
So, what is an autoencoder?
Imagine you have a photo of a cat. The autoencoder works in two main steps: encoding and decoding.
Step 1: The Encoder
The encoder is like a machine that shrinks your picture down to just the important parts. It turns your cat photo into a small list of numbers — just enough to capture the shape, color, and key features. Think of it like turning a big, detailed image into a tiny summary.
Step 2: The Decoder
Now, the decoder takes that small summary and tries to rebuild the original picture. It uses those numbers to draw the cat again. If the model is trained well, the newly created image looks very similar to the original.
This entire process helps the AI learn how to compress and understand data efficiently. During training, it compares its output with the real image and gradually improves by learning from its mistakes.
Autoencoders are used in many practical tasks like removing noise from images, compressing files, and detecting patterns or outliers in data. They're simple, powerful, and a great starting point for anyone exploring how deep learning models work.
Whether you're new to AI or just curious about how machines learn to "see," autoencoders offer a fascinating look into how smart systems simplify and reconstruct the world around them.
Fun Corner! :)

Tech Jumble Puzzle
Unscramble the jumbled letters to find the tech word matching each clue. Check your answers afterward!
A type of machine learning model that compresses and reconstructs data
Jumbled: R A O E U T C D E N AThe protocol used to securely browse websites
Jumbled: S T P H SThe company behind the TensorFlow machine learning framework
Jumbled: O G G L E OThe main programming language used for iOS app development
Jumbled: I W F T SA cybersecurity attack where data is encrypted and held hostage
Jumbled: M N S O R AA network device that forwards data packets between computer networks
Jumbled: T O R U E RType of memory that retains data even when powered off
Jumbled: D S S
Key:
Autoencoder
HTTPS
Google
Swift
Ransom
Router
SSD