Highlights: ISRO will choose three 9th standard students for a two-week special programme. Chosen students will get to meet eminent ISRO scientists and tour various ISRO labs and facilities. ISRO will pay for the transportation and accommodation of the chosen students. Registrations for the programme are currently open and close on April 3. The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has quietly launched a special programme for school students called “Yuva Vigyani Karyakram”. Shortened to “Yuvika” or also referred to as Young Scientist Programme, the new ISRO initiative will play host to a small selection of young high school students aspiring to become scientists during their summer holidays in May. Registrations are currently open and close on April 3. The space agency will invite three chosen students from each state or union territory for a two-week-long all-expenses-paid tour to an ISRO centre, where they will get a chance to be included in exclusive talks, meet and hear from eminent scientists, and tour labs and other ISRO facilities. The programme is limited to students who have completed the 9th standard of school and are currently waiting to start the 10th standard. Though the national space agency has arranged this special programme for young space science-inclined students in an effort to “catch them young” and encourage them to study space science in the future, ISRO has a few conditions, which are mentioned on the online registration page. ISRO will choose three students from each state or union territory in the country for the programme based on their performance in the 8th standard and other related academic parametres. “Students belonging to the rural area have been given special weightage in the selection criteria. In case there is tie between the selected candidates, the younger candidates will be given priority,” ISRO clarifies. “The selected students will be accommodated in ISRO guest houses/hostels.” In addition to paying for the students’ transportation and accommodation, ISRO will pay for the train fare of one parent or guardian accompanying them on their journey to the ISRO centre. Useful links: ISRO Yuvika Information Page ISRO Yuvika FAQ page Related Read: Mission Shakti: PM Modi wants draft space doctrine prepared around ASAT missile: Report Mission Shakti: India demonstrates anti-satellite (ASAT) weapon, becomes fourth space warfare-ready country
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Highlights: Xiaomi Mi Men’s Sports Shoes 2 to go on sale in India next month. Mi Sports Bluetooth Earphones and Mi 2-in-1 USB Cable (30cm) will also be available for purchase. The three products will be up for sale from midnight on April 4. Xiaomi has announced that its Mi Men’s Sports Shoes 2 will go up for sale on April 4. Mi Sports Shoes 2 were announced in India through its crowdfunding programme last month. Alongside the shoes, the Mi Sports Bluetooth Earphones and the Mi 2-in-1 USB Cable (30cm) will also go on sale on April 4. Do note that the Mi Sports Bluetooth Earphones and Mi 2-in-1 USB Cable are just being announced in the country and are not to be confused with the previously announced Mi Sports Bluetooth Earphones Basic and Mi 2-in-1 USB Cable (100cm). The Mi Men's Sports Shoes 2 are priced at Rs 2,999 but those who backed them during the crowdfunding stage received them for Rs 2,499. The shoes come in Grey, Black and Blue colour options. The company has not yet revealed the pricing of the Mi Sports Bluetooth Earphones and Mi 2-in-1 USB Cable (30cm). The three products will be available for purchase via Mi.com from midnight, April 4. The Mi Men's Sports Shoes 2 are manufactured using a 5-in-1 uni-moulding technology, which is said to combine five different materials to enable more durable, shock-absorbent, and slip-resistant shoes. The Mi Men's Sports Shoes 2 feature a fishbone structure, which is meant to add comfort and support against accidental sprains. The shoes are covered in washable, breathable mesh fabric so that it can be machine washed in a washing machine. The Mi Sports Bluetooth earphones are sweat and water resistant and are touted to deliver up to seven hours of audio playback on a single full charge. Additionally, the device is said to deliver one hour of audio playback in ten minutes of charging. It comes equipped with MEMS microphones that the company claims enables better voice quality and lowers noise interference. Related Reads: Mi Men's Sports Shoes 2 launched in India through Xiaomi's crowdfunding programme, available for Rs 2,499 for early backers Xiaomi Mi LED TV 4A PRO, Mi Sports Bluetooth Earphones Basic launched in India alongside Redmi Note 7 Pro 
Highlights: IDC says Amaon led Indian smart speaker market in 2018. Amazon topped the list with 59% market share. Google with its Home devices was placed second with 39% share. Amazon remained the leader in the Indian smart speaker market with a 59 percent share in 2018 as a total of 753,000 units were shipped last year in the country, International Data Corporation (IDC)'s India Monthly Smart Speaker Device Tracker said. Google, which launched its devices in the second quarter of 2018, captured the second spot with 39 percent unit share for the year. The market research firm said Google Home Mini outsold all other smart speaker models, emerging as a top seller. However, the Echo Dot with its second and third generation models was the most dominant series with four out of ten devices sold in the country. According to IDC, a smart speaker is a speaker that is embedded with a smart assistant directly in it, and since the introduction of these devices in 2017Q4, more than half a dozen companies have launched their devices in this category. “Though the smart speaker is a relatively young product in India, the integration of voice assistants such as Alexa and Google Assistant in smart devices is gaining immense popularity in the country. The main driver of the early adoption so far is the novelty factor around this technology. However, it is certainly driving the shift in consumer behaviour and accelerating the adoption of voice interfaces in India,” Jaipal Singh , Associate Research Manager, Client Devices, IDC India, said in a statement. When it comes to the segment-wise segregation, the consumer segment contributed to the majority of smart speaker sales in the country, and the purchase by enterprises also witnessed a surge during the festival time, primarily for gifting purposes. The actual enterprise adoption for vertical specific use cases remains at a nascent stage, IDC says. On the sales on different channels, the market research firm said that the preferred channel for smart speakers was online and 55 percent of the smart speakers were sold on this medium. “Conversational computing is currently being driven by voice assistants which are becoming more pervasive and are being embraced in a positive way in India. Many Indians are using voice assistants for the first time in their smartphones - some even using them in their feature phones - now with more localized and enhanced use cases, they want to use voice interfaces in more and more devices,” Navkendar Singh , Research Director, IDC India, added. Singh notes that voice as an input will potentially revolutionise the way people interact with devices. For the online literate, the voice will be an add on, however, the real potential is said to be seen when people who are not yet online due to literacy will start using voice as their medium of online communication. “While India presents an unmatched opportunity for device makers and services providers, its diversity with scores of languages and hundreds of dialects will pose questions on how to make services relevant for the huge potential user base beyond big cities.” Singh added. Related Read: Amazon Echo Input Review
Highlights Microsoft and Sony working on consoles with more than 10.7 teraflops of power. Next-gen consoles are still a very tightly guarded secret. Big reveal expected from Microsoft at E3. Google made big waves when they announced Stadia, the company’s cloud gaming platform. With a whopping 10.7 teraflops of computing power behind the service, Google is poised to make a big splash in the gaming scene, so it would be assumed that Microsoft and Sony would have some reason for concern. Turns out, the two veteran console makers have plans of their own. According to Kotaku’s Jason Schreier, both Microsoft and Sony are readying consoles, the Xbox One Scarlett and PS5 respectively, which would go well beyond the 10.7 teraflops. Schreier has been steadfast in his predictions of 2020 being the year we get new “next-generation” consoles, not 2019. In the ResetERA forums, Schreier says that very few developers have been brought into the knowledge of the next-gen consoles. “Even within companies like, say, DICE, there’ll be a small team of engineers who now have a rough idea of specs, and everyone else will know when they need to know. Not a lot of devs are disclosed on next-gen right now. “In other words, don’t expect much in the way of substantial leakage just yet. The only thing to know for sure is that both Sony and Microsoft are aiming higher than that ‘10.7 teraflops’ number that Google threw out last week. (And, as has been reported, Microsoft’s got a few things in the works.)” The Xbox One and PlayStation 4 have been in the market for some time now, and while their “pro” versions, the Xbox One X and PlayStation 4 Pro have shown no signs of slowing down in terms of their performance. However, with the world moving towards a trend for favouring “on-the-go” experiences, both Sony and Microsoft are expected to announce something on similar grounds. What we do hope for, however, is some detail about the companies’ respective consoles being revealed this year at E3. Related Read: Understanding Google's cloud gaming service Stadia
Highlights: PM Modi recently announced the successful testing of India's ASAT missile. He now wants NSA Ajit Doval to prepare a draft space doctrine around the missile. Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a couple of days ago that India had successfully tested its anti-satellite (ASAT) missile by destroying a defunct satellite in low earth orbit. The test, part of Mission Shakti, lasted three minutes and acted as a show of force for India and other nations. But fresh news from a Hindustan Times report tells us that the Prime Minister wants National Security Advisor Ajit Doval to prepare a draft space doctrine around the use of the ASAT missile. “We have to lay down the defensive/offensive steps required in case Indian satellites are destroyed or degraded or there is access denial by an adversary through electromagnetic radiation,” said a senior official at DRDO to Hindustan Times. Senior officials at DRDO reportedly feel that this ASAT weapon must be converted into a strategic capability now that it has been tested and demonstrated. One of the key questions revolving around the to-be-drafted doctrine is whether India will conform to an NFU policy with regard to the ASAT missile. An NFU (No First Use) refers to a policy drafted by a nation with nuclear power. Through the policy the country pledges not to use nuclear weapons as a means of warfare unless it’s attacked by an adversary using nuclear weapons. India first adopted an NFU policy after its Pokhran-II nuclear tests in 1998. The doctrine for it was drafted one year later. An ASAT missile (or anti-satellite missile) is a missile launched either from the air or from the ground. Its purpose is to seek and destroy a target in low earth orbit (within an altitude of 2,000 kilometres), which is usually an enemy satellite. Though no ASAT system has been used in warfare until now, some nations have destroyed their own satellites (usually defunct) in a show of force. Related Read: Mission Shakti: India demonstrates anti-satellite (ASAT) weapon, becomes fourth space warfare-ready country
