The SIPRI’s recent report on international arms transfer reflects the dynamic trends in the global arms trade. While the US, the world’s largest arms supplier, dominates the international arms market and its share has dramatically increased over the previous five year from 34 percent in 2014-18 to 42 percent in 2019-23. France has emerged as the second-largest arms exporter for the first time displacing Russia, which descended to the third place.

In the emerging quantum world, establishing quantum secure communication is quite demanding and challenging affair. The quantum era is governed by rules of Quantum Physics, which has led to the development of quantum technologies aiming to harness applications in computing, communication, and precision sensing. Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) offers a means for information exchange, which is secure even in the presence of quantum computers.

The VIF under the S&T series organised a talk on “Semiconductor Technology: A Perspective on the Future of Intelligent Systems” by Prof Manan Suri, Department of Electrical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Delhi on 23 November 2023. Prof Suri’s talk focussed on the next generation of semiconductor memory technology while touching on some of the case studies. While highlighting his research journey in this field so far, he provided his perspective on the present and future of semiconductor technology.

As a part of Science and Technology (S&T) series, the VIF organised a talk by Shri Virat Bhatia, Managing Director, Apple India, who spoke on “Electronics, Trade and Geopolitics” at the VIF on 21 September 2023. The talk was followed by a discussion with government officials and strategic community. In his opening remarks, Director, Dr. Arvind Gupta underscored the growing significance of electronics, trade and the ongoing geopolitics around these. Currently, from decoupling to de-risking is taking place which reflects the changing world order where geopolitics comes in.