Category: News

Apr 08: Histria Books is pleased to announce the release of The Tale of Scrawny Billy J. by Andrew Biel and illustrated by Robin Dorn. This story is published by Histria Kids, an imprint of Histria Books dedicated to outstanding works for children that both educate and entertain.

At first glance, The Tale of Scrawny Billy J. looks like a classic children’s story about a skinny kid who wishes he was strong. But author Andrew Biel takes the standard confidence fable in a completely unexpected direction. When young Billy stumbles into a circus sideshow to meet the Marvelous Ms. Muscles, he does not receive a magical potion or a vague pep talk. Instead, he gets a surprisingly accurate, incredibly fun lesson in biomechanics.

The story uses playful rhymes to introduce kids to their masseters and gluteals, moving body positivity away from abstract concepts and grounding it in actual human physiology. Children learn that real strength is about understanding the functional machinery they already possess. It is a smart, practical approach to self-esteem that treats kids like intelligent readers.

Praise for The Tale of Scrawny Billy J:

“Biel’s rhymes scan well throughout, and his focus on how muscles are for daily activities reinforces the idea that anyone can achieve healthy living. Dorn’s painted illustrations are the standout, depicting both the weirdness of the circus and activated muscles in every day activity. The images don’t feel like diagrams―they move the story forward in addition to highlighting anatomy.” — Kirkus Reviews

Andrew Biel was once a skinny kid like his protagonist Billy J., convinced he had no muscles until he accidentally discovered one under his armpit. He went on to learn much more about anatomy, writing the best-selling textbook Trail Guide to the Body, and today uses his muscles to kayak, cross-country ski, and hike. The book is brought to life by Robin Dorn, a painter and scientific illustrator specializing in human anatomy, who enjoys keeping in touch with her whimsical side through vibrant characters like Ms. Muscles.

The Tale of Scrawny Billy J. by Andrew Biel, 36 pp., ISBN 978-1-59211-694-2 is available at HistriaBooks.com and from all major book retailers. This title is also available as an eBook. Titles published under the imprints of Histria Books are distributed in the United States and Canada by Simon & Schuster and in the rest of the world through Unified Book Distribution. 

The Odisha government has taken a new step to help people better understand the state budget. Speaking at the launch of the awareness program “Ame Janiba, Ama Budget” (Let Us Understand Our Budget), Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi said that a budget is not just about numbers—it is about the dreams and development of every citizen.

ବଜେଟ କେବଳ ଆୟ-ବ୍ୟୟର ତାଲିକା ନୁହେଁ, ବରଂ ଏହା ଓଡ଼ିଶାର ସମଗ୍ର ଉନ୍ନତି ସହ ପ୍ରତ୍ୟେକ ନାଗରିକଙ୍କ ସ୍ୱପ୍ନ ପୂରଣର ଏକ ସୁଦୃଢ଼ ରୋଡମ୍ୟାପ୍ ବୋଲି ରାଜ୍ୟସ୍ତରୀୟ ବଜେଟ ସଚେତନତା କର୍ମଶାଳା ‘ଆମେ ଜାଣିବା, ଆମ ବଜେଟ’ ଅବସରରେ ମାନ୍ୟବର ମୁଖ୍ୟମନ୍ତ୍ରୀ ଶ୍ରୀ ମୋହନ ଚରଣ ମାଝୀ କହିଛନ୍ତି ।

ରାଜ୍ୟସ୍ତରୀୟ ବଜେଟ ସଚେତନତା କର୍ମଶାଳା:-

✅… pic.twitter.com/2KwBDaGzod

— CMO Odisha (@CMO_Odisha) April 7, 2026

To make the budget more accessible, awareness workshops will be held from April 1 to April 14 across the state, reaching even the Panchayat level. The goal is to explain the budget in simple language so that common people can understand how government plans impact their daily lives.

The Chief Minister highlighted that this year’s budget is 7% higher than last year, showing a strong focus on growth and development. He also shared that the 2026–27 budget aims to make Odisha a key logistics and connectivity hub in eastern India.

The initiative reflects the government’s effort to build a more transparent and people-friendly system, where citizens are informed and involved in the development process.

Through this campaign, the government hopes to bring the budget closer to the people and ensure that its benefits reach every corner of the state.

 Apr 08: Histria Books is pleased to announce the release of Plumelet by Victoria Fomina. This story is published by Histria Kids, an imprint of Histria Books dedicated to outstanding works for children that both educate and entertain.

Princess Plumelet is a spoiled royal who thinks nothing of ruining a guest’s dinner with a fistful of hot pepper. But when the victim turns out to be a shape-shifting enforcer from the Ministry of Proper Behavior, Plumelet is cursed and swept away to a monochromatic tower made of antennas and mathematical spirals. 

Victoria Fomina’s picture book Plumelet takes the familiar framework of a bratty child learning her lesson and injects it with wild architectural surrealism. It is a visually arresting dreamscape where punishment means navigating mirrored corridors, negotiating personal space with a giant floating mouth, and confronting flocks of weeping eyes. Fomina’s collage art blends classical folklore with satellites, surveillance cameras, and sharp modern humor. It offers a wonderfully bizarre, edgy alternative for families tired of standard fables and ready for something weirder and infinitely more stylish.

Praise for Plumelet: 

“In this fascinating picture book Victoria creates a new universe, infinite and colorful, inhabited by surprising characters, sometimes a little frightening, sometimes funny – that’s what children usually like enormously.”– Anastasia Arkhipova, ex-vice President of The International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY)

Victoria Fominais an internationally acclaimed artist and illustrator of more than fifty books. Born on the Black Sea coast among ancient ruins, she brings a rich historical aesthetic to projects ranging from classic fairy tales to composer biographies. She collaborates with top global clients like Penguin Random House, Vogue, and What on Earth Publishing with His Majesty King Charles III. Her award-winning artwork has been featured in eighty exhibitions across seventeen countries.

Plumelet by Victoria Fomina, 44 pp., ISBN (Hardcover) 978-1-59211-664-5, ISBN (Paperback) 978-1-59211-664-5, is available at HistriaBooks.com and from all major book retailers. This title is also available in Hardcover and as an eBook. Titles published under the imprints of Histria Books are distributed in the United States and Canada by Simon & Schuster and in the rest of the world through Unified Book Distribution. 

Carlsbad, California, 8 April 2026: TAU Systems, a pioneer in compact particle accelerator technology, today announced a major scientific milestone: the first-ever demonstration of reliable, continuous operation of a laser-powered accelerator (LPA)-driven free-electron laser (FEL) sustained over more than eight hours without operator intervention. The achievement, published in a new research paper, marks a pivotal step toward making ultra-bright, tunable light sources practical for real-world scientific and industrial applications.

Traditional FEL facilities rely on large, costly radio-frequency accelerators that occupy entire campuses. LPAs shrink the acceleration distance from hundreds of meters to just millimeters by harnessing powerful laser pulses to accelerate electrons in a plasma. While the physics of LPA-driven FELs has been understood for almost 50 years, LPAs have historically had lower beam quality and stability, until now. Translating this technology into a stable light source has remained one of the field’s most stubborn engineering challenges.

The TAU Systems team, in collaboration with Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab), achieved this breakthrough by engineering a suite of interlinking stabilisation technologies onto the Hundred Terawatt Undulator (HTU) experiment at Berkeley Lab’s BELLA Center. The result was 100 MeV electron beams delivered at 1 Hz with high consistency over a continuous ten-hour period, driving a self-amplified spontaneous emission (SASE) FEL operating at 420 nm (in the visible blue-ultraviolet range) for more than eight hours without any manual adjustments.

Stephen Milton, VP of Accelerator Science at TAU Systems said: “This is the moment the community has been working toward. We have shown that an LPA-driven FEL is not just a proof-of-concept experiment. It is a platform capable of delivering the stability that real scientific and industrial users demand.”

Beyond simply operating the light source autonomously, the team used the extensive dataset collected during the run to map correlations between the properties of the drive laser, plasma source, and electron beam, and the resulting FEL output. These insights are already informing the next phase of performance improvements, with residual correlations in the data indicating that further gains in stability and brightness are within reach.

“This reported level of reliability and performance of the LPA-driven FEL not only represents a great improvement toward demonstrating the potential for future light source applications,” says Finn Kohrell, a postdoctoral scholar in the BELLA Center at Berkeley Lab and lead author of the published results. “It also allows us to gather an unprecedented amount of data about the highly complex interaction between the LPA and FEL process, and to identify which parameters are most impactful for further improving the FEL performance.”

The implications extend well beyond just one laboratory. Compact LPA-driven light sources have long been envisioned as a way to democratize access to high-brightness X-ray and UV beams, which are currently only available at a handful of national synchrotron and FEL facilities worldwide. Applications include structural biology, materials science, semiconductor lithography, medical imaging, and fundamental physics research. By demonstrating autonomous, multi-hour operation, TAU Systems and Berkeley Lab have cleared a critical barrier on the path to commercially deployable compact FELs.

TAU Systems characterizes the current system as a powerful research platform for the broader LPA-driven FEL community, enabling systematic studies of accelerator-to-light-source coupling that were previously impossible without long-duration stable operation. The company expects the findings to accelerate progress across the field and inform the design of future compact light source installations.

DUBLIN, Calif.–We are at the inflection point. After decades of building systems that assist humans, we are crossing into an era where intelligent systems act autonomously — executing decisions, orchestrating workflows, and adapting to complex environments in real time. Most companies are still laying the groundwork. Airrived has arrived.

Bhubaneswar railway station is undergoing a significant upgrade to enhance passenger comfort, safety, and operational efficiency. The redevelopment plan includes modernized waiting lounges, upgraded platforms, digital information systems, and improved amenities, aimed at providing a seamless travel experience for daily commuters and long-distance travelers alike.

Authorities stated that the project will also focus on better accessibility, enhanced safety measures, and aesthetic improvements, reflecting Bhubaneswar’s status as a major commercial and cultural hub. Once completed, the station is expected to handle increasing passenger traffic efficiently while offering a modern, world-class travel experience.

In a major step toward enhancing safety and efficiency, Indian Railways has approved an investment of ₹1,364 crore to expand the Kavach train collision avoidance system and upgrade modern signalling infrastructure across the network.

Pic Credit: Pexel

The initiative aims to strengthen rail safety, operational reliability, and train management, ensuring passengers enjoy a safer and smoother travel experience. By integrating advanced technology such as automatic train protection, the project will help prevent collisions, reduce human error, and improve on-time performance.

Officials said the expansion will cover critical routes nationwide and accelerate the modernization of India’s railway network. Industry experts believe this move will transform rail operations, support higher train speeds, and lay the foundation for future-ready, smart rail corridors.

With this significant investment, Indian Railways demonstrates its commitment to passenger safety, technological innovation, and efficient transportation, aligning with the broader vision of a modern, reliable, and resilient railway system.

Apr 7: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has highlighted that India’s strong fiscal position is giving the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) greater flexibility in framing monetary policy. Speaking on recent economic developments, she emphasized that prudent fiscal management has created room for the central bank to take measured policy decisions to support growth while maintaining price stability.

Sitharaman noted that the government’s focus on sound public finances, effective revenue collection, and targeted expenditure has strengthened India’s macroeconomic resilience. This robust fiscal health allows the RBI to address inflationary pressures and economic challenges without compromising the pace of growth.

Analysts say that a strong fiscal position coupled with disciplined government spending can enhance investor confidence, stabilize markets, and support sustainable economic expansion. The finance minister’s remarks underline the synergy between fiscal prudence and monetary flexibility in navigating India’s economic priorities.

India’s corporate sector is expected to maintain stable salary growth in 2026, with average pay hikes projected at 9.1%, according to industry reports. Despite global economic uncertainties and inflationary pressures, companies are continuing to offer competitive compensation to retain talent and reward performance.

Analysts say that while the growth rate is slightly moderated compared to previous years, it reflects a balanced approach by employers—ensuring employee satisfaction while managing operational costs. Sectors such as IT, BFSI, and e-commerce are likely to continue leading in terms of compensation increases, driven by high demand for skilled professionals.

Industry experts highlight that employee retention, upskilling, and performance incentives remain key factors influencing salary decisions. Stable hikes are also seen as a signal of confidence in India Inc’s resilience and its focus on sustainable growth in the coming year.

With wages expected to stay consistent, professionals can anticipate predictable increments, while companies continue to strategically invest in talent development and retention.

Pic Credit:Pexel

Indian Railways has achieved historic milestones in both passenger and freight operations in the 2025–26 fiscal year, reflecting growing demand and improved operational efficiency across the network.

Passenger revenue grew by approximately 6%, crossing ₹80,000 crore, up from ₹75,500 crore in the previous year. The increase outpaced the rise in passenger volumes, indicating stronger demand for long-distance and premium travel services.

On the freight front, Indian Railways transported a record 1,670 million tonnes (MT) of cargo, marking a 3.25% year-on-year growth. The growth highlights the railways’ crucial role in supporting India’s supply chains, with bulk commodities such as coal, cement, and agricultural products driving the increase.

Passenger and Freight Growth: A Dual Success

The combined growth in passengers and freight underscores the railways’ importance as both a mode of transport and a pillar of the economy. Increased freight volumes help industries move goods efficiently, while rising passenger revenues indicate recovery in travel and confidence in the network.

Modernization and Future Outlook

With ongoing projects including dedicated freight corridors, upgraded stations, and faster passenger trains, Indian Railways is well-positioned to continue its growth trajectory. Experts say these developments will further strengthen connectivity, boost economic activity, and enhance the overall travel experience for millions of Indians.

The record figures in FY26 demonstrate the resilience and strategic importance of Indian Railways as it balances passenger convenience with freight efficiency, playing a vital role in India’s economic growth.