Science & Technology current affairs 2022

Science & Technology Affairs Current Affairs - November 2022

Mock Meat: Recently, the meat and seafood retailer Licious forayed into the marketing of “mock” chicken and mutton under a new ‘UnCrave’ brand.

About Plant-based meat & dairy:

“Plant-based” refers to products that bio-mimic or replicate meat, seafood, milk, and eggs derived from animals — by looking, smelling, and tasting like them.

• The variety includes mutton samosas, chicken nuggets, momos, fries, etc.
• Plant-based dairy products include ice-cream that isn’t simply frozen dessert that replaces milk fat with vegetable oil.
• Even the proteins and other solids-not-fat ingredients are sourced from plants.

As for plant-based dairy, the main products are milk from soyabean, coconut, oats, almond, and rice.

• Among these, oat milk is considered the closest to regular milk in taste and texture.

How are these made?

• Animal meat contains protein, fat, vitamins, minerals, and water, just like plants.

• This biochemical similarity allows for finding analogues in the plant kingdom or making them through mechanical, chemical, or biological treatment of such ingredients.
• The challenge lies in replicating muscle tissue that plants don’t have.
• The unique spatial arrangement of proteins in these tissues is what creates the distinct texture of animal meat.
• That’s why plant-based mutton samosas, kebabs or keema, having a simpler texture, are easier to make than larger whole cuts of animal meat such as pork chops andchicken breasts.

• As for plant-based dairy, the main products are milk from oats, almond, soyabean, coconut, and rice.

• Among these, oat milk is considered the closest to regular milk in taste and texture.
• It is also thicker and creamier, as oats absorb more water than nuts or rice during soaking, and more of the grain gets strained for incorporation into the final product.

Scope in India – meat & milk:

• Plant-based meat does not have much of a future in India because of the country's sizable vegetarian population.
• Plant-based meat can have only a niche market relevant for the top 1%.”
• The majority of Indians naturally enjoy milk,which is a classic “superior food”.
• Both milk (which includes curd, butter, ghee, ice-cream and other dairy products) and, to a lesser extent, meat (which includes prawn and fish) are superior foods — unlike sugar and cereals, whose share in the value of consumption reduces with increasing incomes, making them “inferior foods”.
• Since milk is regarded as a healthy food in India, digestive issues like lactose intolerance aren't seen as being that serious.
• "Real milk cannot be matched by plant-based beverages in terms of nutrients, flavour, or price.

Viral Spillover Risks: A new research found that in the next years, there may be an increased danger of "viral spillover" in some areas due to climate change in several parts of the world.

Key Points:

• This could cause pandemics over the next few years.
• This new research titled “Viral spillover risk increases with climate change in High Arctic lake sediments was published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B, the biological research journal of the UK’s The Royal Society.
• Scientists have long warned that a warming planet may increase the burden of diseases.
• But climate change might also usher in entirely new diseases, by allowing pathogens to move into new host species.

Key Points related to the study:

• The University of Ottawa researchers gathered sediment and soil samples from Lake Hazen in Canada, the largest High Arctic lake in terms of volume, in order to examine the potential for a viral spillover.
• High Arctic was chosen for this study since it is warming faster than the rest of the world.
• In order to reconstitute the virus composition in the lake area and calculate the risks of viral spillover, the researchers sequenced the RNA and DNA.
• In this study, while it was found that the risk of viral spillovers increases with changes in the environment at a particular location, driven by global warming, this by itself does not guarantee a higher possibility of a pandemic occurring via viruses here.
• This is because viral spillover depends on three main categories –

1. Pathogen pressure,
2. Human and vector behaviors and
3. attributes of the host.

• Dramatic occurrences are unlikely as long as viruses and their "bridge vectors," which serve as hosts and promote their propagation, are not both present at the same time in the environment.
• As recent simulations have shown, climate change causes changes in species' ranges and distributions. Additionally, new relationships may form, bringing with them potential vectors for mediating viral spillovers.
• Coronaviruses successfully overcame these barriers since they are RNA viruses capable of evolving more quickly than other virus families because of their ability to recombine and acquire point mutations.
• Other pathogens that have successfully spilled over to humans are eBOLA AND Influenza A.

Viral spillover:

• Viruses are some of the most abundant entities on earth, but they need to infect a host’s cell in order to replicate.
• According to the research, these virus/host relationships seem relatively stable within superkingdoms, the major groupings of organisms.
• However, below this rank, viruses may infect a new host from a reservoir host (in which it usually resides) by being able to transmit sustainably in a novel host – a process defined as ‘viral spillover’.

WHO FPPL: The World Health Organization (WHO) recently released the first-ever fungal priority pathogens list (WHO FPPL) that can be a threat to public health.

Key Points related to WHO FPPL:

• The WHO FPPL is the first-ever list of fungi that are recognized as “priority pathogens”.
• Fungal priority pathogens list (FPPL) includes 19 fungi that are considered to be the greatest public health threat.
• The FPPL is the first global effort to systematically prioritize fungal pathogens, with consideration to the unmet research and development requirements and the perceived global public health importance.
• The list is based on the bacterial priority pathogens list, which was first created by WHO in 2017 with a similar goal of mobilizing attention and action on a worldwide scale.

Aim:

• It aims to boost research and policy interventions to strengthen the international response to fungal infection and antifungal resistance.

How is the WHO FPPL list divided?

1. The WHO FPPL list is divided into three categories based on the pathogen’s public health impact or emerging antifungal resistance risk.
2. Critical Priority Group: It includes Candida auris, which is a highly drug-resistant fungi, Cryptococcus neoformans, Aspergillus fumigatus, and Candida albicans.
3. High Priority Group: It includes a number of other fungi from the Candida family as well as others such as Mucorales, a group containing "black fungus", an infection which rose rapidly in seriously ill people, particularly in India, during Covid-19.
4. Medium Priority Group: It includes a number of other fungi, including Coccidioides spp and Cryptococcus gattii.

Why are fungal pathogens a global threat?

• Fungal pathogens are increasingly becoming a threat to public health as they are becoming more common and highly resistant to treatment.
• Currently, only four classes of antifungal medicines are available, and very few new ones are currently being tested.
• Rapid and sensitive diagnostic tools are absent for most of the fungal pathogens. Invasive forms of fungal pathogens are severely affecting immunocompromised people like patients suffering from cancer, HIV/AIDS, chronic respiratory disease, and post-primary tuberculosis infection and organ transplant.
• Currently, incidences and geographical range of fungal diseases are expanding because of global warming and the rapid growth of international travel and trade.
• During the COVID-19 pandemic, the reported incidence of invasive fungal infections  increased because of the increase in hospitalization.
• Risks for the emergence of more invasive forms of diseases in the general population are rising along with the resistance of the fungi that cause common infections (such candida oral and vaginal thrush) to treatment.

Why is there a lack of quality data on fungal diseases?

• Despite the growing instances of fungal infections and antifungal resistance, little attention and resources are allocated to respond to them.
• This has resulted in the scarcity of data on fungal disease distribution and antifungal resistance patterns.
• Thus, the burden of fungal diseases and antifungal resistance is not known and the required government response is absent.

Population at Risk:

• Those with cancer, HIV/AIDS, organ transplants, chronic respiratory diseases, and post-primary tuberculosis infection are among the populations most at risk for invasive fungal infections.
• Patients with severe illnesses and those who have serious underlying immune system-related problems are frequently affected by these fungus infections.

Recommended Actions by FPPL Report:

• Strengthening laboratory capacity and surveillance.
• Sustaining investments in research, development, and innovation.
• Enhancing public health interventions for prevention and control.

Chandrayaan-2 Orbiter's X-ray spectrometer 'CLASS: According to the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), the X-ray spectrometer ‘CLASS’ instrument on the Chandrayaan-2 orbiter has mapped an abundance of sodium on the moon for the first time.

• Even though the Chandrayaan 2 mission ended tragically on the moon, the scientists are still able to make high and low new discoveries from the lunar surface due to the orbiter that is still operational and is currently in orbit around the moon.

Key Points:

• This is the first attempt to measure sodium on the lunar surface on a global scale using X-ray fluorescent spectra.
• This report has recently been published in 'The Astrophysical Journal Letters'.
• Built at the U R Rao Satellite Centre of ISRO in Bengaluru, CLASS provides clean signatures of the sodium line, due to its high sensitivity and performance.
• Two types of sodium atoms have been found on the Moon’s surface, those that are loosely bound on the surface and those that are part of the minerals.
• External agents such as solar radiation liberate the loosely bound atoms more easily thus acting as a source of the atoms in the lunar exosphere.
• The discovery of sodium's distinctive X-ray line by Chandrayaan-1's X-ray Fluorescence Spectrometer (C1XS) has opened up the possibility of mapping the amount of sodium on the Moon.
• This could also result in the development of analogous models for Mercury and other airless objects within and outside of our Solar System.

X-Ray Fluorescence:

It is commonly used to study the structure of matter in a non-destructive way.

When the Sun generates a solar flare, a large amount of X-ray radiation falls on the Moon, triggering X-ray fluorescence.

CLASS measures the energy of incoming X-ray photons from the Moon and calculates the total number.

The energy of the photon indicates the atom (for example, sodium atoms emit X-ray photons of 1.04 keV) and the intensity indicates the number of the atom.

Moon Mineralogy Mapper (M3):

• This is not the first time India’s lunar mission has made such a discovery.
• India’s maiden lunar mission, Chandrayaan-1 was launched a decade ago.
• It carried a similar instrument named Moon Mineralogy Mapper (or M3) for collecting and detecting surface water on the lunar surface.
• However, the range of detection was between 0.4 to 3 micrometre.
• It was developed by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and was not indigenous to ISRO.
• But now, ISRO’s IIRS, which has a higher wavelength and spectral range, permits better accuracy in results.

About Chandrayaan-2 Mission:

• Chandrayaan-2 is the second lunar mission of the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO).
• It was successfully launched on July 22nd, 2019 from the Sriharikota range.
• Chandrayaan-2 has new technology and upgraded instrumentation designed for planetary missions in the future.
• It includes an Indian-developed lunar orbiter, lander (known as Vikram), and rover (known as Pragyan).

Components of Chandrayaan-2:

1. Chandrayaan 2 Large Area Soft X-ray Spectrometer (CLASS): CLASS analyzes the X-ray Fluorescence (XRF) spectra of the Moon to map out the existence of elements on its surface.
2. Terrain Mapping Camera 2 (TMC 2): This is used to study the surface of the moon in the panchromatic spectral region from orbit with a high spatial resolution of 5 meters.
3. Solar X-ray Monitor (XSM): It measures the rays emitted by the sun and how intense the radiation in those sun rays is.
4. Orbiter High-Resolution Camera (OHRC): It captures the landing location from two angles to create DEMs (Digital Elevation Models). The DEMs are then used to look for plausible threats.
5. Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR): The radar system is used to measure the thickness and electrical conductivity of the Moon’s bedrock and find water ice inside craters that are always under a shadow.
6. Imaging Infrared Spectrometer (IIRS): Maps the distribution of molecular water and hydroxyl (OH) in the northern latitudes of the moon.
7. Dual Frequency Radio Science (DFRS) experiment: It studies the temporal evolution of electron density in the Moon’s ionosphere.
8. Chandra Atmospheric Composition Explorer 2 (ChACE-2): Chace is used to collect atom samples from the atmosphere over the northern latitudes of the Moon.

Tesla’s humanoid robot-Optimus: Tesla CEO Elon Musk recently unveiled the latest prototype of Optimus – a humanoid robot which uses many of the same Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools and sensors as their Autopilot driving assistance.

Key Points:

• Optimus has been developed by the American company Tesla.
• The prototype of Optimus was showcased during the annual Tesla AI Day 2022 event.
• The humanoid robot displayed its capacity to carry out basic duties including lifting metal bars, transporting boxes, and watering plants.
• Its main purpose is to replace a human task with a machine.
• The design of the robot mimics the human anatomy, with five independently moving fingers capable of grasping adaptively with high precision.
• This enables it to use tools in an accurate manner.
• This robot has a uniquely designed actuators – a complex set of gears, motors, sensors and controls that act like human muscles.
• There are a total of 6 actuators, which reduces the cost, simplifies the manufacturing process, speed, torque, mass and efficiency.
• Since it is powered by AI software, it has high cognitive ability of perceiving, planning and navigating the world.
• This is significant since other humanoid robot do not have this capacity.
• It was developed within a year, while other similar robots were developed after more than 10 years of efforts.
• This feat was achieved by integrating the technology used for self-driving cars into a humanoid body.
• It is using the same AI technology behind Tesla’s FSD technology (a driver assistance software requiring comparatively less driver input) to guide the robot.
• The robot will be trained by a custom data centre technology called Dojo, which is under development by Tesla.

Note: Dojo is a supercomputer that provides video training using video data obtained from Tesla vehicles.

• The mass production of these robots will cost less than 20,000 USD.

About Optimus:

• Optimus is a humanoid robot that can perform simple tasks like watering plants, carrying boxes and lifting metal bars.
• It has cognitive ability of perceiving, planning and navigating the world.

Science & Technology Affairs Current Affairs - October 2022

HAL'S Integrated Cryogenic Engines Manufacturing Facility: President Draupadi Murmu inaugurated the Integrated Cryogenic Engines Manufacturing Facility of Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) in Bengaluru, Karnataka.

Key Points

• She also laid the foundation stone for the zonal institute of virology virtually on the occasion.
• She is in her first visit to any state as the President of India.
• A cryogenic engine uses a cryogenic fuel or oxidizer (or both) liquefied, which is stored at very low temperatures. 
• Presently, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is using these engines for its heavy light rockets. 

India’s first High Thrust Cryogenic Rocket Engine:

• In 2015, India’s first indigenously designed and developed High Thrust cryogenic rocket engine generating a nominal thrust of 19 tonnes was successfully endurance tested for a duration of 800 seconds at ISRO’s Propulsion Complex in Mahendragiri. 
• The engine is being used for powering the Cryogenic stage (C25), the upper stage of ISRO’s GSLV Mk-III launch vehicle, which is capable of launching four tonne class satellites.
• To put things in perspective, the cryogenic engine of C25 Stage operates on Gas Generator Cycle using extremely low temperature propellants. 
• The various subsystems of the engine are – regeneratively cooled Thrust Chamber, Gas Generator, LOX and LH2 high speed turbopump systems, flow control components, close loop mixture ratio control system, Pyrogen igniters, fluid systems, among others.
• This high performance cryogenic engine was conceived, configured and realised by Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre (LPSC), the lead centre of ISRO, which is responsible for developing liquid propulsion systems for the Indian Space Programme. 
• The Engine design was a totally in-house effort with experts from different fields like fluid dynamics, combustion, thermal, structural, metallurgy, fabrication, rotor dynamics, control components, etc., coming together to make it a success.

5G services in India: Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi launched 5G (Fifth Generation) telephony services in India on October 01, 2022.

• It was launched at the 6th Edition of India Mobile Congress (IMC) 2022 organized at Pragati Maidan in New Delhi by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) of Ministry of Communications, and Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI).

Key Points:

• The 5G services in India will be launched in stages.
• Initially, it will be launched in 13 cities across India i.e., Delhi, Chandigarh, Bengaluru, Mumbai, Chennai, Ahmedabad, Gandhinagar, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Lucknow, Pune, Jamnagar and Gurugram.
• Important metro cities like Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai and Kolkata will be first to receive the 5G service.
• Reliance Jio is planning the rollout by Diwali.
• The next-generation network will be available throughout the rest of the nation by December 2023.

Benefits:

• The launch is anticipated to unleash new economic opportunities and societal benefits, transforming Indian society.
• 5G technology will provide seamless coverage, high data rate, low latency, and highly reliable communication.
• It will also increase energy efficiency, spectrum efficiency and network efficiency.
• The cumulative economic impact of 5G on India is estimated to reach $450 billion by 2035.
• It will help in connecting billions of Internet of Things devices, allow higher quality video services with mobility at high speed, delivery of critical services such as telesurgery and autonomous cars, among others.
• It will help in real-time monitoring of disasters, precision agriculture, minimizing the role of humans in dangerous industrial operations such as in deep mines, offshore activities etc.
• The requirements for each of these various use cases can be tailored inside the same network, unlike current mobile communication networks.
• Apart from powering ultra-low latency connections, which allow downloading full-length high-quality video or movie to a mobile device in a matter of seconds (even in crowded areas), 5G can enable solutions such as e-health, connected vehicles, more-immersive augmented reality and metaverse experiences, life-saving use cases, and advanced mobile cloud gaming, among others.

Note:

• C-DOT (Centre for Development of Telematics) has developed an indigenous 5G Non-Stand Alone (NSA) core.
• C-DOT is also developing 5G Radio Access Network (RAN) in collaboration with local industry and start-ups. C-DOT has already tested its 4G Core in collaboration with TCS and Tejas Networks successfully.
• All these will help in answering the Prime Minister’s clarion call on “Jai Anusandhan”.

About C-DOT:

• C-DOT is the Telecom R&D 9Research and Development) centre of Dot, Ministry of Communications.
• Its current Director and Chairman is Dr. Rajkumar Upadhyay.

What is 5G?

• The 5G or the 5th generation mobile network is a global wireless standard that provides 10 times faster internet speed than 4G network.
• It is capable of providing a maximum data speed of 20 Gbps per second or more than 100Mbps per second which ensures high data rate, reliable communication and low latency (minimum delay).
• It helps in connecting billions of IoT devices, improve the quality of streaming and improve important services such as telesurgery and autonomous cars.
• It also enables real-time monitoring of disasters, improve precision agriculture, automate hazardous industrial operations like offshore and deep mining.

About India Mobile Congress 2022:

• Prime Minister Modi also inaugurated the India Mobile Congress (IMC) 2022.
• IMC 2022 is being held from October 1 to 4 this year.
• The theme of the IMC-2022, the leading digital event in Asia is ‘Encapsulate, Engage and Experience a New Digital Universe’.
• This event brings together government, experts and major technology, media and entertainment, and telecommunications (TMT) companies.
• It is jointly organized by the Indian Government’s Telecom Department and the Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI).

Objectives of IMC 2022:

• Its main objective is to promote new technologies, particularly the indigenous ones and letting Citizens experience the usages and applications of 5G.
• The other objectives are

• Promoting local manufacturing,
• Fostering international regional cooperation,
• Inspiring inclusive & sustainable development,
• Promoting entrepreneurship and innovation,
• Driving foreign and local investments, amongst others.

Dimorphos: NASA, in a first-of-its-kind, clobbered a small, harmless asteroid named Dimorphos millions of kilometres away, save-the-world experiment.

Key points:

• The 1,210-pound (550 kilograms) DART craft — a squat, cube-shaped probe consisting of sensors, an antenna, an ion thruster and two 28-foot-long (8.5 meters) solar arrays made a direct hit with the 525-feet-wide (160 m) asteroid Dimorphos while traveling at roughly 13,420 mph (21,160 km/h) and dramatically disintegrated upon impact. 
• The two asteroids are not a threat to Earth, but as they do pass relatively close to Earth, they were chosen as the target for DART mission.
• NASA believes that the test will help scientists learn how to stop catastrophic asteroid impacts.
• The impact by the spacecraft DART is about asteroid deflection, not disruption.
• According to NASA, the hit will serve as a crucial example of how people can one day steer a dangerous asteroid away from a disastrous crash course with our planet.
• The probe's objective was to slow the orbit of Dimorphos around its larger partner, the 1,280-feet-wide (390 m) asteroid Didymos.
• However, the mission as per NASA will be deemed successful Dimorphos’s 12-hour orbit slows by 73 seconds, but the real change could be by as much as 10 minutes.
• To arrive at the twin asteroids, DART undertook a 10-month, 7 million-mile (11 million kilometers) journey from its launchpad at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, where it was launched aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.
• DART’s final moments were captured by its onboard Didymos Reconnaissance and Asteroid Camera for Optical Navigation (DRACO).

Target Asteroid Dimorphos:

• Target asteroid is Dimorphos about 9.6 million km from Earth.
• It is actually the puny sidekick of a 780-meter asteroid named Didymos, Greek for twin.
• Asteroid Didymos and its small moonlet Dimorphos make ups a binary asteroid system - meaning Dimorphos (moon) orbits Didymos (larger body).
• It was discovered in 1996.
• Didymos is spinning so fast that scientists believe it flung off material that eventually formed a moonlet.
• Dimorphos orbits its parent body at a distance of less than 1.2 km.

World Alzheimer’s Day 2022: World Alzheimer’s Day is observed annually on September 21 across the globe.

Key Points:

• This day is observed to raise awareness about neurological disorders.
• Alzheimer’s disease is the most common cause of dementia and affects the person’s memory, mental ability, and ability to carry out simple tasks.
• On World Alzheimer’s Day, healthcare organisations support Alzheimer’s walks while seminars and public activities are held in communities around the globe to raise awareness on Alzheimer’s.

Theme:

• The theme for World Alzheimer’s Month this year is ‘Know Dementia, know Alzheimer’s’.
• It is in continuation with the last year’s campaign which focused on warning signs and diagnosis of dementia and also the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the dementia community around the world.
• However, this year, special emphasis is being laid on post-diagnosis support for dementia.

Significance:

• According to Alzheimer’s Disease International, there were more than 55 million people suffering from the disorder worldwide in 2020.
• According to projections, this number will double every 20 years, reaching a total of 78 million cases in 2030 and 139 million cases in 2050.
• Alzheimer’s disease has been found to be affecting 50% to 60% of people with dementia.

• Symptoms of Alzheimer’s and other types of dementia have a broad similarity between them.
• These include declining short-term memory or forgetting events that have happened recently.

History:

• World Alzheimer’s Day was first marked on 21 September 1994 at the opening of ADI’s annual conference in Edinburgh.
• The day was celebrated to mark the 10th anniversary of the organization, which was founded in 1984.
• Alzheimer’s Disease International (ADI) promotes Alzheimer’s associations around the world and works to encourage the development of better policies at regional and international levels.
• World Alzheimer’s Day is part of the annual World Alzheimer’s Month which is observed in September to sensitize, educate, and demystify dementia.

Alzheimer’s Disease International (ADI) is an international federation which raises awareness on the disorder.

Changesite-(Y): The researchers in China have recently discovered a new type of crystal from the near side of the Moon.

Key Points:

• This tiny and transparent crystal was found among the volcanic debris of the near side of the moon.
• The newly discovered crystal has been named Changesite-(Y) after the Chinese moon goddess Chang’e.
• It is more than a billion years old and is as wide as a human hair.

Changesite- Significance

• According to researches with the International Mineralogical Association, who confirmed that this tiny moon crystal has a never-before-seen composition, and it is connected to other minerals that can only be found on the lunar surface or in meteors.
• It was found among the 1.8 km of lunar rocks brought back by Chang’e-5 mission in 2020.
• These samples are the first to the delivered to the Earth from Moon since 1976 and the first ever lunar samples collected by China.
• The Changesite-(Y) crystal is the sixth new mineral to be discovered on the Moon and the first identified by China.
• The previous 5 discoveries were made by either the United States or Russia.
• However, the teeny crystal was not the only remarkable discovery in the Chang'e-5 moon rock haul.
• Among the roughly 140,000 lunar particles analyzed, the lunar samples from Chang’e-5 also had helium-3, a version of helium that is extremely rare on Earth but is assumed to be highly abundant on the Moon.

Importance of Helium:

• As a potential source of fuel for nuclear fusion, helium-3 has drawn the attention of scientists for decades.
• Helium-3 is a primarily promising fuel source for fusion as it produces significantly less radiation and nuclear waste than other elements.
• Helium-3 is expected to be much more abundant on the moon, where it has been deposited directly onto the lunar soil for billions of years by the solar wind.
• The availability of Helium-3 on Earth is few and far between.
• Hence, its discovery has triggered a potential lunar resource race.
• Several space-faring nations and private companies are looking to mine the moon for Helium-3, including the US and China.

About Chang’e-5 Mission:

• The Chang’e 5 is China’s first lunar sample-return mission.
• It was launched in November 2020.
• It is China’s fifth lunar exploration mission.
• It returned the sample back to Earth in December 2020.
• It is the first lunar sample-return mission since the Soviet Union’s Luna 24 in 1976.
• With Chang’e 5 mission, China became the third country after the US and the USSR to return lunar samples to the Earth.

Science & Technology Affairs Current Affairs - September 2022

XR Startup Program: MeitY Startup Hub (MSH) and Meta collectively jointly launched the ‘XR Startup Program’ to support and accelerate XR technology startups in India.

Key Points:

• The MeitY Startup Hub, an initiative of MeitY, is a national platform focused on promoting technology innovation, start-ups, and the creation of intellectual properties.
• Currently, it has around 3000+ tech startups supported, with a vision to ramp it up to more than ten thousand startups in the next three to five years.

About the Program:

• The XR Startup Program is an accelerator program aimed at supporting and accelerating extended reality (XR) startups in India.
• This program focuses on skilling and building technological capabilities for the metaverse, and will help shape the ecosystem for these emerging technologies, including Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) in the country.
• It would aid 40 early-stage startups working in the extended reality technologies by providing a grant of Rs.20 lakh each.
• A Grand Challenge would be set up to encourage early-stage innovators in industries like agri-tech and climate action, healthcare, education, learning, gaming and entertainment and skills, tourism, and sustainability.
• It would also support startups and innovators by building consumer connections, joint venture prospects and fundraising.
• Assistance would be provided to innovators so they could move up from the research and development stage to produce useful products and services.
• Under this initiative, 80 innovators would be shortlisted to attend a bootcamp.
• Of these 16 would be provided grants to develop minimum viable products/prototypes.

Implementation:

• The program would be implemented by International Institute of Information Technology – Hyderabad Foundation, Hyderabad, Telangana (CIE IIIT-H); Gujarat University Startup and Entrepreneurship Council (GUSEC), Ahmedabad, Gujarat; AIC SMU Technology Business Incubation Foundation (AIC-SMUTBI), Rangpo, Sikkim and Foundation for Innovation and Technology Transfer (FITT), IIT Delhi, New Delhi.

Funding:

• It would be financially backed by Meta’s XR Programs and Research Fund – a two-year investment in programs and research with industry partners, civil rights groups, governments, NGOs and academic institutions.

MeitY Startup Hub:

• MeitY Startup Hub (MSH) is an initiative of the Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology (MeitY).
• The main goal of MSH is to achieve the Indian Government’s goals of promoting technology innovation, startups and creation of intellectual properties.
• This nodal organization would serve as the MeitY's central hub for national coordination, facilitation and monitoring center that integrates all the incubation centers, start-ups, and innovation-related activities.

What is XR technology?

• Extended reality (XR) is a term referring to all real-and-virtual combined environments and human-machine interactions generated by computer technology and wearables.
• It includes representative forms such as augmented reality (AR), mixed reality (MR) and virtual reality (VR) and the areas interpolated among them.
• Although AR and VR offer a wide range of revolutionary experiences, the same underlying technologies are powering XR.
• XR is a rapid growing field being applied in a wide range of ways, entertainment, marketing, real estate, training, and remote work.

India’s first HTS: Hughes Communications India (HCI) in collaboration with the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) officially launched its first High Throughput Satellite (HTS) broadband internet service in the country.

Key Points:

• The HCI, which is a subsidiary of US-based global broadband service major Hughes NetworkSystems had been testing its operation in North India for the last year.
• The company aims to connect enterprise and governmental networks by providing high-speed broadband across the entire nation, particularly in the most remote areas that are outside the range of terrestrial networks.
• The company, through the HTS technology, had till now been providing assistance in some states and also to the Indian security forces along the China border, including in the Galwan region.
• The Hughes HTS broadband service combines Ku-band capacity from Isro’s Gsat-11 and Gsat-29 satellites with Hughes’ JUPITER Platform ground technology to deliver high-speed broadband across India.

What is High Throughout Satellite Technology?

• High Throughout Satellite Technology (HTS) differs from a conventional satellite in the sense that it increases capacity when using the same amount of orbital spectrum while also decreasing the cost per bit.
• It provides much lower-cost bandwidth and a much higher user experience.
• Unlike traditional satellites which use a broad single beam or few beams, HTS uses Spot-beam to perform its operations.  
• Spot beam technology focuses on a limited area and provides seamless and fast connectivity.
• Home-grown Jupiter systems are used by Hughes India for both HTS and conventional satellite implementations worldwide.

Significance of HTS technology:

• HCI is currently providing satellite broadband access to more than two lakh business and government sites across India.
• The service allows applications such as Wi-Fi hotspots for for community internet access, managed SD-WAN solutions, backhaul to extend mobile network reach, and satellite internet for small businesses.
• Presently, Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), telecommunication 4G operators,  and cooperative banks are the customers of HTS service.
• It also aids the Indian Army, and paramilitary forces patrolling the Line of Actual Control (LAC) and other remote border outposts through the HTS technology.
• Hughes, at the moment, has 1 Gbps of capacity on HTS but expects to grow it to 10 Gbps to 100 Gbps in the future.
• As per Dr. Somnath, the new HTS capabilities powered by ISRO satellites, HCI will likely continue to deliver excellent quality satellite broadband services.
• HTS is most likely to enhance the connectivity experience that expedites India's digital transformation.

A Make-in-India initiative:

• The senior vice-president of Hughes India, Shivaji Chatterjee, stated that the company was sincerely committed to the Make in India project.
• The senior vice-president also said that the satellite is Indian.
• Reliance Jio, the complete system, the outside modem, and other components are currently built in India.
• The antenna and the dishes are also completely made by the company in India.
• The Indian Oil and SD-WAN project are too made in India.

National Engineer’s Day 2022: India, observes the National Engineer’s Day every year on September 15 every year to recognize and pay tribute to achievements of Mokshagundam Visvesvaraya.

Key Points:

• The National Engineer’s Day gives recognition to all engineers in India and to inspire the people to value engineers' work and their role in the development of the country.
• Along with India, Visvesvaraya’s great works are also celebrated in Sri Lanka and Tanzania on September 15 as Engineer’s day.
• Currently, India has the second largest number of engineers in the world.

History:

• In 1968, the Government of India (GoI) decided to observe September 15 as National Engineers Day.
• The day serves as a reminder for all engineers, particularly civil engineers, to take Sir Visvesvaraya as an inspirationand work towards accomplishing goals for the betterment of the country.

About Sir M Visvesvaraya:

• Sir Mokshagundam Visvesvaraya, popularly known as Sir MV, was born on September 15, 1861 in Karnataka.
• After completing his schooling, he went to the University of Madras to pursue a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree.
• He later changed his mind and enrolled in the College of Science in Pune to pursue a diploma in civil engineering.
• He also served as the Diwan of Mysore from 1912 to 1918.

Accomplishments of Sir MV:

• He is noted for setting up Mysore Soap Factory, Bangalore Agricultural University, State Bank of Mysore, Mysore Iron and Steel Works, Government Engineering College and several other industries.
• He undertook several complex projects and delivered remarkable infrastructural results during his engineering career.
• He is credited for the creation of block systems.
• He patented and installed an irrigation system with water floodgates at the Khadakvasla reservoir near Pune to raise the food supply level and storage to the highest levels known as ‘block system’ in 1903.
• The irrigation system was later installed at Gwalior’s Tigra Dam and Mysuru’s Krishnaraja Sagara (KRS) dam, the latter of which created one of the largest reservoirs in Asia at the time.
• Sir M Visvesvaraya is also known as the “precursor of economic planning in India”.
• He published two books – “Reconstructing India” and “Planned Economy of India” in 1920 and 1934 respectively.

Awards and Recognition:

He was the recipient of Bharat Ratna (India’s highest civilian award) and was recognized as the Knight Commander of the British Indian Empire.

About Engineers:

• Engineers are professionals who invent, design, and build complex systems, structures, and materials in order to fulfill functional objectives and deliverables, keeping in mind factors such as practicality, regulation, safety, and cost.
• The word ‘engineer’ is derived from the Latin words ‘ingeniare’ (which means ‘to create or generate’) and ‘ingenium’ (which means ‘cleverness’).

Inspire Awards: Union Science and Technology Minister Dr Jitendra Singh recently presented INSPIRE awards to 60 Start-Ups and financial support to over 53 thousand students.

• These innovators will be extended complete incubation support for their entrepreneurship journey.

About INSPIRE Scheme:

• The Indian Government's Department of Science and Technology (DST) launched the Innovation in Science Pursuit for Inspired Research (INSPIRE) programme to inspire individuals between the ages of 10 and 32 to pursue science and a career in research.
• The INSPIRE Scheme was approved by the Govt. of India in November 2008 and was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 13th December 2008.
• The key objective of INSPIRE is to attract talent to science at an early age and create the required resource pool for strengthening and expanding the Science & Technology system and research and development (R&D) base in the country.

This initiative has the following three components –

1. Scheme for Early Attraction of Talent (SEATS).
2. Scholarship for Higher Education (SHE). 
3. Assured Opportunity for Research Careers (AORC).

About INSPIRE Award – MANAK:

• The award is instituted by the Department of Science and Technology (DST), Government of India (GoI).
• The Govt. of India confers INSPIRE Award – MANAK (Million Minds Augmenting National Aspiration and Knowledge) every year under the SEAT Program.
• The INSPIRE - MANAK Awards targets one million original ideas/innovations rooted in science and societal applications to foster a culture of creativity and innovative thinking among school children in the age group 10-15 years (studying in classes 6 to 10).
• Rs. 10,000/- is given as an award to shortlisted ideas of students.
• As part of the INSPIRE AWARDS - MANAK Scheme, students all around India are encouraged to submit innovative and original technology ideas or breakthroughs that can address common problems.
• The idea that is selected is provided with complete incubation support required to promote the entrepreneurial journey of students.
• The scheme aims to help build a critical human resource pool for strengthening, expanding the science and technology system and increase the research & development base.

• The annual INSPIRE Awards - MANAK competition received an unprecedented 6.53 Lakh ideas and innovations from all States in 2020–2021, as the nation struggled to recover from the catastrophic effects of COVID–19.
• The scheme achieved an unprecedented level of inclusivity by representing ideas and innovations of 702 districts (96%), including 123 out of 124 aspirational districts, 51% representation from girls, 84% participation from schools located in rural areas of the country, and 71% of schools run by State/UT Governments.
• Of the 6.53 lakh students, 53,021 have received financial assistance of Rs. 10,000 to aid in the creation of prototypes for the ideas they submitted.

Inflatable Aerodynamic Decelerator (IAD): The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has successfully demonstrated the new technology with Inflatable Aerodynamic Decelerator (IAD) that could aid the cost-effective recovery of spent rocket stages.

Key Points:

• The IAD is designed, developed and successfully test-flown by ISRO's Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC).
• It was successfully test flown in Rohini-300 (RH300 Mk II) sounding rocket from Thumba Equatorial Rocket Launching Station (TERLS).
• Rohini sounding rockets are routinely used for flight demonstration of new technologies being developed by ISRO as well as by scientists from India and abroad.
• The IAD was initially folded and kept inside the payload bay of the rocket.
• At around 84 km altitude, the IAD was inflated and it descended through the atmosphere with the payload part of a sounding rocket.
• The IAD has systematically reduced the velocity of the payload through aerodynamic drag and followed the predicted trajectory.

Note: The force on an object that resists its motion through a fluid is called drag. When the fluid is a gas like air, it is called aerodynamic drag or air resistance.

 What is IAD?

• IAD serves to decelerate an object plunging down through the atmosphere.
• It is a technique used for an atmospheric entry payload.
• An inflatable envelope and an inflatant (anything that inflates the envelope, like air or helium) make up the inflatable aerodynamic decelerator.
• While entering the atmosphere, it inflates like a balloon and decelerates the lander.
• The inflatant is designed to fill the inflatable envelope to a condition such that it surrounds the payload meant to enter the atmosphere of a planet or satellite and causes aerodynamic forces to slow it down.
• In simpler words, IAD is designed to increase drag as soon as a spacecraft enters the atmosphere of any planetary body, including Earth, Mars, or even the Moon.
• Its shape is maintained by a closed, gas-pressured body and the inflatant gas is also generated internally.
• Some versions also use ram air or both.

Features of IAD

• ISRO’s latest IAD has been designed and developed at Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre.
• It also has a spin rocket that is ejectable.
• The inflatable structure is made out of Kevlar fabric, which is a very tough synthetic fibre that is also heat resistant to withstand atmospheric pressure and temperature changes.
• On top of it, it’s coated with polychloroprene, an oil and wax resistant rubber, which can also withstand extreme temperatures.
• The pneumatic system used for inflating the IAD was developed by the Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre (LPSC), Valiyamala.
• In the inflation system, it uses compressed nitrogen stored in a bottle.
• It has consistently decreased the payload’s velocity through aerodynamic drag while maintaining the expected trajectory during the test flight.

Significance:

• This is the first instance where an IAD has been specially created for spent stage recovery.
• The IAD will help ISRO in performing many space tasks effectively including recovery of spent stages of rockets, for landing payloads on missions to other planetary bodies.
• The IAD technology can be employed in future ISRO missions to Venus and Mars, the organisation claims, and this demonstration paves the door for cost-effective spent stage recovery.

• Some space agencies, including NASA, have already successfully tested advanced versions of the technology, including the supersonic and hypersonic variants.
• Its use was first proposed by NASA more than 50 years ago for planetary entries.

• However, for near future missions of ISRO, the current version that it tested is perfect.

About ISRO:

• Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) is the space agency of the Government of India (GoI) and was formed in 15 august 1969.
• It superseded the erstwhile “Indian National Committe For Space Research” (INCOSPAR) which was established in 1962 by the efforts of Independent India's first prime minister‚ Jawaharlal Nehru‚ and his close aide and scientist Vikram Sarabhai.
• In 1972, the Government of India had set up a Space Commission and the Department of Space (DOS), bringing ISRO under the DOS.
• ISRO then embarked on its mission to provide the Nation space-based services and to develop the technologies to achieve the same independently.
• Its vision is to “harness space technology for natural development while pursuing space science research & planetary exploration”. ISRO built India’s first Satellite Aryabhata.
• It is headquartered in Bangalore, India.
• The current Chairman of ISRO is Eminent rocket scientist Dr S Somanath.

About Antrix Corporation Limited (ACL):

• Antrix Corporation Limited (ACL) is a Marketing arm of ISRO for promotion and commercial exploitation of space products, technical consultancy services and transfer of technologies developed by ISRO.

Solar-Powered Drones: China’s first fully solar-powered unmanned aerial vehicle named “QIMINGXING 50” (meaning Morning Star-50) has successfully completed its maiden test flight with all onboard systems functioning optimally.

About QIMINGXING 50:

• QIMINGXING 50, with a wingspan of 164-ft, is a large machine powered entirely by solar panels.
• The high-altitude, long-endurance (HALE) UAV can stay airborne for long durations.
• It flies above 20-km altitude where there is stable airflow with no clouds.
• This helps these drones to make the maximum use of solar equipment to stay functional for extended durations.
• These drones are also referred to as ‘High Altitude Platform Stations’ or pseudo-satellites.

Significance:

• The fact that the drone can operate in near-space – 20 km to 100 km above the Earth’s surface – makes it capable of carrying out satellite-like functions.
• If satellite services are not available for, say, time-sensitive operations or in case of wartime disruption, then near-space UAVs can step in to fill the operational gap.
• It is capable of conducting high-altitude reconnaissance, apart from monitoring forest fires, and providing communication and environment relay.
• China already has this capacity, but the Qimingxing-50’s long-endurance provides an added advantage to make this capability available over a longer period.

Human Organ Transportation Drone: The Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari recently unveiled India’s first prototype of drone transportation of human organs to facilitate quick organ transplant in hospitals.

Key Points:

• The transplanted organs can now be transported from the airport to the hospital in a lot less time due to this innovation.
• Dr Prashanth Rajagopalan, director, MGM Healthcare, which has co-created the prototype drone technology said that this drone can be used to carry the organ box up to a distance of 20 km.
• With the goal of revolutionizing last-mile organ transportation, an agreement has been signed with a city-based drone company to transport organs.
• This facility, at present has been started by MGM Healthcare Hospital located in Chennai.

Significance:

• Organ shortages are universal.
• Asia lags far behind the rest of the world and India lags far behind other Asian countries.
• The problem is not a lack of organs available for transplant.
• Almost everyone who dies naturally or in a car accident is a potential donor.
• Despite this, the absence of proper logistical facilities prevents a patient's organ transplant from being completed in a timely manner, even when an organ donor is found.
• For instance, the heart lives for only 6 hours after being removed from the body, while the liver and kidneys live for 12 hours, but, in numerous cases because of logistical issues, vital organs could not be retrieved and transplanted.
• However, the lack of swift organ transportation is being addressed with this new launch.

Note: India ranks third in the world after United States and China, with a maximum of 17,000-18,000 solid organ transplants every year.

Women in Engineering, Science and Technology (WEST): The Women in Engineering, Science, and Technology (WEST)initiative was recently launched by Dr. Pravinder Maini, Scientific Secretary, Office of Principal Scientific Adviser (PSA) to the Government of India (GoI). 

Key Points:

• Women in Engineering, Science, and Technology (WEST) is a new I-STEM (Indian Science Technology and Engineering Facility Map) Initiative to strengthen the efforts of scientifically inclined women.
• The main goal of WEST programme is to empower women from Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) backgrounds to contribute to the science, technology and innovation ecosystem.

Key Points related to WEST:

• Under the WEST initiative, I-STEM shall provide a separate platform to scientifically inclined women researchers, scientists, and technologists for pursuing research in basic or applied sciences in frontier areas of science and engineering.
• Women can join WEST and explore opportunities to become stakeholders in various domains and pursue careers in R&D at various levels.
• Through this initiative, women will get more opportunities to enhance their skills and with this experience, more women can become consultants or even entrepreneurs.
• In addition, a digital group “Connect Quickly” has also been set up through I-Stem’s WhatsApp and Telegram platforms for online discussion and immediate help.
• A dedicated team of women will ensure the successful implementation of the WEST initiative

Significance of WEST:

• The new WEST initiative strengthens the idea of “Equal Opportunities to All”.
• I-STEM will provide a platform for women researchers to discuss achievements, issues and exchange ideas to take the country forward through advances in science, technology and innovation.
• Women with this experience can become entrepreneurs to serve as consultants for operation and maintenance of sophisticated equipment through i-STEM platform.
• This initiative would also give a push to the women who took a career break from the S&T domain.
• This will go a long way toward filling the “skills gap” and putting publicly funded tools to good use.

About I-STEM Portal:

• I-STEM is a national web portal that is used to share research equipment/facilities and is the umbrella under which many programs for promoting collaborations in R&D, and technological innovation among and between academia and industry.
• I-STEM portal was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in January 2020.
• The main objective of this portal was to provide access to information for needy researchers.
• It not only aimed at strengthening the R&D ecosystem in the country but also providing multiple opportunities to interested people.
• The portal will act as a gateway for the researchers and users to locate facilities that are required for their research and development work.
• In addition, after locating the facility, the researcher can make an online reservation in order to use the facility.
• With this, the start-ups can leverage public and private investments and come up with successful services and products.
• Initially, similar facility was operating at IISc Bengaluru and IIT Bombay.
• The I-STEM portal is a replica of these facilities.
• The facility at IISc Bengaluru was called the Centre for Nano Science and Engineering (CeNSE).

Human Papilloma Virus (HPV): India’s 1st indigenous cervical cancer vaccine called the Quadrivalent Human Papillomavirus vaccine (qHPV) was launched on 1st September 2022.

Key Points:

• This vaccine was launched by the Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Science & Technology Jitendra Singh at IIC Delhi.
• The vaccine has been developed by the Serum Institute of India (SII) and the Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Government of India (GoI).
• The Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) gave the market authorization to SII for the production of this indigenously developed vaccine against cervical cancer on 12 July, 2022.
• This is India's first Quadrivalent Human Papillomavirus vaccine (qHPV) against cervical cancer.

About CERVAVAC vaccine:

• The quadrivalent Human Papilloma Virus (qHPV) vaccine is India's first homemade vaccine against cervical cancer.

• The native quadrivalent HPV vaccine Cervavac, produced by the SII, offers protection against 4 of the most prevalent high-risk HPV strains, namely 6,11,16, and 18.
• This vaccination can lower the incidence of cervical cancer by more than 80% and is a more cost-effective option than foreign-grown Cervarix and Gardasil.
• The advantage of this Indian HPV vaccine to treat cervical cancer in women is both affordable and accessible.
• At present, India is totally dependent on foreign manufacturers for the HPV vaccine which is very expensive.
• The vaccination should ideally be administered as soon as possible, ideally no earlier than age 9 and no later than age 26.
• In 85–90% of cases, the vaccine was found to prevent cervical cancer.
• After the launch of this vaccine, the government will shortly undertake a nationwide immunization programme for females between the ages of 9 and 14.

What is Cervical Cancer?

• Cervical cancer is a type of gynecologic cancer that affects a woman’s reproductive organs.
• It occurs in the cells of the lower part of the uterus that connects to the vagina.
• his lower part of the uterus is known as the cervix.
• It is caused by the Human Papilloma Virus (HPV), a group of more than 200 related viruses, some of which are spread through vaginal, anal, or oral sex.
• The virus can infect both men and women, leading to cancer if the infection is long-lasting.
• According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, all women are at risk for cervical cancer.
• It occurs most often in women over age 30.

Cause of Cervical cancer:

• One of the top three most prevalent cancers in women in India is cervical cancer, which is also one of the rare tumours where a virus is truly the cause.
• Cervical cancer is caused by the Human Papilloma Virus (HPV), a group of more than 200 related viruses, some of which are spread through vaginal, anal, or oral sex. The virus can infect both men and women, leading to cancer if the infection is long-lasting.
• According to the National Cancer Institute, once the HPV invades the cell, it strikes at the mode in which cells communicate, causing the infected cells to multiply faster.
• While these infected cells are to be stopped by the immune system, they tend to grow quietly.
• This unchecked growth leads to the development of tumourous cells that end up causing cancer over time.
• However, if detected early, cervical cancer is highly treatable and associated with long survival and good quality of life.

Cervical Cancer in India:

• Cervical cancer is the second most common cancers among women in India.
• Almost 67,000 women die everywhere.
• According to World Health Organisation’s (WHO) International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC-WHO), India records around 1.23 cases of cervical cancer annually.
• India stands at 5th place in the world in terms reporting cervical cancer.
• As per Globocan 2020, cervical cancer stood at 9.4% of all cancers and 18.3% of new cancer cases in 2020.
• During 1990-2016, cervical cancer was the second main factor of cancer deaths for women across 12 Indian states.

About National Cancer Control Programme (NCCP):

• The National Cancer Control Program (NCCP) was launched by the Indian government's Ministry of Health and Family Welfare in 1975 as a result of the emergence of cancer as a growing threat to public health.
• In the beginning, the main focus of the program was prevention as its aim was to educate the population and make detection and diagnosis resources available.
• Another goal for the program was to increase capacity in the structures already dealing with cancer and address the short fallings of palliative care.
• The program was subsequently revised between 1984 and 1985 to better set it up for success in its goal of reducing cancer morbidity and mortality in the country, mainly through primary prevention and early detection.
• Between 1990 and 1991, the cancer control program was decentralised with the introduction of services at the district level.
• The last revision on the NCCP intervened in 2005.
• Under the programme, priorities were given to equip existing cancer hospital and institutions and Central assistance of Rs 2.50 lakhs was provided to each cancer institution, in a bid to purchase cobalt machines for radiotherapy.

Dark Sky Reserve: In a unique and first-of-its-kind initiative, the Department of Science & Technology (DST) recently announced the setting up of India’s first Dark Sky Reserve Ladakh.

Key Points:

• The proposed Dark Sky Reserve will be located at Hanle in Ladakh as a part of Changthang Wildlife Sanctuary.
• It is expected to be completed within the next three months.
• Hanle is about 4,500 metres above sea level.
• It hosts telescopes and is regarded as one of the world’s most optimal sites for astronomical observations.
• In addition, a visitor centre would also be set up to inform people about astronomy as well as wildlife and plant life in the adjoining Changthang Wildlife Sanctuary.

Significance:

• It will boost Astro tourism in India and will be one of the world’s highest-located sites for optical, infrared, and gamma-ray telescopes.
• The site will have activities to help in boosting local tourism and economy through interventions of science and technology.
• Villages around Hanle will not only be encouraged to promote homestays equipped with telescopes that visitors can use to view the night sky but will also be trained to help visitors with astronomical observations.

What is a Dark Sky Reserve?

• A dark-sky reserve is a designation given to a place that has policies in place to ensure that a tract of land or region has minimal artificial light interference.
• The main objective of a dark sky reserve is to promote astronomy.

International Dark Sky Association:

The International Dark Sky Association is a U.S.-based non-profit that designates places as International Dark Sky Places, Parks, Sanctuaries and Reserves, depending on the criteria they meet.

There are several of these reserves in the world, but none so far in India.

Other Telescopes situated in Hanle Observatory:

Prominent telescopes located at the Hanle observatory are as follows:

1. The Himalayan Chandra Telescope (HCT),
2. High Energy Gamma Ray telescope (HAGAR),
3. Major Atmospheric Cherenkov Experiment Telescope (MACE) and
4. GROWTH-India

MoU for Setting up Dark Reserve:

• A tripartite MoU was signed recently among the UT administration, Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council LAHDC Leh and the Indian Institute of Astrophysics, IIA, for launching the Dark Space Reserve.

Why was Ladakh selected as the location for the Dark Reserve?

• The Indian Astronomical Observatory, the high-altitude station of the IIA, is situated to the north of Western Himalayas, at an altitude of 4,500 metres above mean sea level.
• Located atop Mt. Saraswati in the Nilamkhul Plain in the Hanle Valley of Changthang, it is a dry, cold desert with sparse human population.
• The cloudless skies and low atmospheric water vapour make it one of the best sites in the world for optical, infrared, sub-millimetre, and millimetre wavelengths.

Ladakh:

• Ladakh is a region administered by India as a union territory, and constituting a part of the larger region of Kashmir, which has been the subject of dispute between India, Pakistan, and China since 1947.
• Until 2019, Ladakh was a region of the state of Jammu and Kashmir.
• In August 2019, the Parliament of India passed an act by which Ladakh became a union territory on 31 October 2019.
• The capital of Ladakh is Leh, Kargil.
• The current Lieutenant Governor of Ladakh is Radha Krishna Mathur.

Changthang Wildlife Sanctuary:

• Changthang Wildlife Sanctuary is located in the Changthang Plateau in the Leh district of Ladakh.
• The sanctuary is situated at an altitude of 14,000–19000 feet.
• It is spread over an area of ​​about 4000 sq km.
• This sanctuary also houses the highest lake on earth, Lake Tso Moriri. 
• It is considered to be the second largest nature reserve after Northeast Greenland National Park.  
• With its picturesque landscape, this sanctuary has a huge variety of flora and fauna.

IPDMS 2.0 & Pharma Sahi Daam 2.0 App: The National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) launched Integrated Pharmaceutical Database Management System 2.0 (IPDMS 2.0) and Pharma Sahi Daam 2.0 app.

• The two apps were launched by Union Minister of Chemicals and Fertilizers, Dr. Mansukh Mandaviya during the inaugural session of the silver jubilee celebrations of the NPPA.

About IPDMS 2.0:

• The Integrated Pharmaceutical Database Management System 2.0 (IPDMS 2.0) is an integrated responsive cloud-based application developed by NPPA with technical support from Advanced Computing Center (C-DAC).
• It is envisaged to optimize operational synergies in order to promote the government’s thrust on ‘Ease of Doing Business’.
• It would provide a single window for submissions of various forms as mandated under Drug Price Control Order (DPCO), 2013.
• It would also enable paperless functioning of NPPA and facilitate the stakeholders to connect with it from across the country.

About Pharma Sahi Daam 2.0 App:

• Pharma Sahi Daam 2.0 app will have updated features like speech recognition, Share button and bookmarking medicines.
• This updated version also has a facility for launching complaints by consumers through the consumer complaint-handling module.
• The app is available in Hindi and English language on both iOS and Android versions.

Note: Pharma Sahi Daam from NPPA is an online search tool for checking prices of Scheduled/Non-Scheduled medicines instantly at the time of purchasing medicines and for searching medicine substitutes.

About NPPA:

• The National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) is a government regulatory agency that controls the prices of pharmaceutical drugs in India.
• NPPA was constituted vide Government of India Resolution dated 29th August 1997 as an attached office of the Department of Pharmaceuticals (DoP), Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers as an independent Regulator for pricing of drugs and to ensure availability and accessibility of medicines at affordable prices.
• Its mandate is to fix/revise controlled bulk drugs prices and formulations, enforce prices and availability of medicines under DPCO, 2013.

Functions of NPPA:

1. To implement and enforce the provisions of the Drugs (Prices Control) Order in accordance with the powers delegated to it.
2. To deal with all legal matters arising out of the decisions of the Authority.
3. To monitor the availability of drugs, identify shortages, if any, and take remedial steps.
4. To collect/ maintain data on production, exports and imports, market share of individual companies, the profitability of companies etc, for bulk drugs and formulations.
5. To undertake and/ or sponsor relevant studies in respect of the pricing of drugs/ pharmaceuticals.
6. To recruit/ appoint the officers and other staff members of the Authority, as per rules and procedures laid down by the Government.
7. To render advice to the Central Government on changes/ revisions in drug policy.
8. To help the Union Government in parliamentary matters relating to the drug pricing.

Miniopterus Phillipsi: In a breakthrough discovery, a team of international researchers have recently discovered a new species of Bat has been discovered in India and Sri Lanka.

Key Points:

• The recently discovered species of bat have a distinct physical characteristic including long fingers as compared to other species.
• The team led by Tharaka Kusuminda of University of Rohana used DNA barcoded specimens to identify the New long-fingered bat species.
• It has been named Miniopterus Phillipsi after W W A Philips (1892-1981), for his contributions to studies on the mammals of Sri Lanka and South Asia.
• The specimens for this species were collected from Idulgashinna cave in Uva Province in Sri Lanka and are now deposited in the Natural History Museum of the neighbouring country.
• The discovery has been published in Acta Chiropterologica, an international scientific journalunder the title 'DNA Barcoding and Morphological Analyses Reveal a Cryptic Species of Miniopterus from India and Sri Lanka.”
• The newly discovered bat species is part of the larger Miniopteridae family which consists of at least 40 species worldwide.

Background:

• The initial research was carried out in Sri Lanka in 2019.
• It took three years to be completed in both Sri Lanka and India.
• During investigations, researchers found that the population of long-fingered bats in Robber's cave in Mahabaleshwar in the Western Ghats of India also belongs to this species which was earlier mistaken as Eastern bent-winged bats.

Physical Characteristics and Features:

• The long-fingered bats belonging to the family Miniopteridae are part of a large group comprising at least 40 species worldwide.
• They have similar morphology and overlapping dimensions rendering species identification problematic.

• Researchers DNA barcoded the specimens from India and Sri Lanka and compared them with all other Asian members of this group and found conclusive distinction among them.
• Strong evidence pointed towards the specimens to be belonging to a distinct species, the scientist said.
• Besides, researchers also analysed the morphological and anatomical features of the new species with the congeners occurring in India and Sri Lanka and found that the new species is indeed distinct.

Earlier discovery:

• A team of scientists had recently discovered a new species of thick-thumbed bat from a bamboo forest in Meghalaya and named it after the state.
• The discovery of Glischropus meghalayanus was published in Zootaxa, a prominent taxonomic journal.

CSA6: Scientists from Bengaluru’s Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Adva Centre for Advanced Scientific Research (JNCASR), Bangalore, India and Christophe d’Enfert’s group at Institut Pasteur, Paris, France have recently identified the gene called "CSA6" in Candida albicans.

Key Details:

• The study published in the journal Nature Communications represents the first-ever report of such an extensive screen in the human fungal pathogen C. albicans.
• C. albicans is a type of fungal species infamous for causing high rates of morbidity and morality under certain immuno-compromised conditions such as AIDS or during cancer treatment.
• According to the department of science and technology (DST) — JNCASR is an autonomous institute under DST, the fungal species residing in mucosal linings of the gastrointestinal and urogenital tract of healthy individuals turns into a pathogen under immuno-compromised conditions breaching the host defense causing superficial as well as life-threatening systemic infection.

Significance:

• This newly identified gene can hold the key to prevent fungal infection Candidiasis that often affects intensive-care unit (ICU) patients, cancer patients and patients receiving immunosuppressive therapy.

About the study:

• In a recent collaborative study between JNCASR and Christophe d’Enfert’s group at Institut Pasteur, authors carried out a large-scale screen to identify regulators of chromosome stability in C. albicans, a clinically relevant fungal model system.
• The authors from JNCASR, individually screened the effect of overexpression of more than a thousand genes of C. albicans on genome stability and were successful in identifying a set of six chromosome stability (CSA) genes that are important for maintaining genome integrity.
• While five of the CSA genes identified in the study are known to be important for cell division in other species, the sixth CSA gene, named CSA6 encoded for a protein that is essential for viability in C. albicans.
• They found that Csa6 was a critical regulator of cell cycle progression wherein both overexpression and deletion of Csa6 lead to reduced growth of C. albicans cells.
• The study, further identifies and elucidates the functions of a novel regulator of chromosome stability that is exclusively present in a group of medically relevant human fungal pathogens.
• Besides, it also provides a systematic scheme for identifying genes whose products may serve as potential therapeutic interventions for fungal infections by posing lesser adverse effects on humans.

• Hence, small molecule modulators that alter expression levels of the gene called Csa6 offer potential avenues for treatment with no side effects in humans.

Hydrogen-Powered Passenger Trains: Germany recently launched the world’s first fleet of hydrogen-powered passenger trains in the state of Lower Saxony, Germany.

Key Highlights:

• The first fleet of hydrogen-powered passenger trains has replaced 15 diesel trains that were previously operated.
• As per the German government’s announcement, the use of hydrogen is a clean alternative to fossil fuels.
• The new fleet consists of 14 Coradia iLint hydrogen trains.
• The trains are manufactured by the French company Alstom and are operated by regional rail company LNVGon routes between the northern towns of Cuxhaven, Bremerhaven, Bremervoerde, and Buxtehude.

Note: Currently, hydrogen is produced as a byproduct in chemical processes, but German specialty gas company Linde plans to manufacture it locally using only renewable energy within three years.

Key Points:

• Coradia iLint trains have a range of up to 1,000 kilometres and a maximum speed of 140 kmph (87 mph) on a single tank of hydrogen, similar to the range of diesel trains.
• The new trains are equipped with a hydrogen tank and fuel cells on the roof and will produce electricity by combining water and hydrogen.
• The company revealed that the excess energy produced will be stored in ion-lithium batteries.
• The estimated cost of this project is around 93-million-euro (USD 92 million).
• After the introduction of the first fleet of hydrogen-powered passenger trains, the hydrogen produced with renewable energy the trains will save up to 1.6 liters of diesel in a year.

Significance:

• Hydrogen trains are equipped with fuel cells that produce electricity by combining hydrogen with oxygen.
• This conversion process only emits steam and water, thus producing zero emissions.
• Excess energy produced is stored in ion-lithium batteries on board train.
• These trains also make very little noise.
• Moreover, hydrogen fuel cells have more advantages over batteries because instead of recharging, they can easily be refueled like gas or diesel engine.
• It is also easier to build refueling infrastructure for these trains at railway stations.

Disadvantage:

• The only disadvantage these hydrogen trains is that they are more expensive than fossil fuel-based trains.

Science & Technology Affairs Current Affairs - August 2022

Corneas Bioengineered from Pig Collagen: Researchers and entrepreneurs in Sweden have developed an implant made of collagen protein from pig's skin, which resembles the human cornea.

Key Highlights:

• In a pilot testing, the implant was used to successfully restore the vision of 20 people in India and Iran, majority of whom were blind due to keratoconus, a disease that leads to thinning of the cornea.
• The study was jointly led by researchers at Linköping and LinkoCare Life Sciences AB.
• The study has been published in Nature Biotechnology.

Key Points:

• An estimated 12.7 million people around the world are blind due to their corneas, which is the outermost transparent layer of the eye, being damaged or diseased particularly affecting those in poorer countries where there is a scarcity of donated human corneas.
• Researchers claim that just one in 70 patients receives a cornea transplant.
• As a substitute for human corneas, the researchers utilized medical-grade collagen derived from pig skin that were highly purified and produced under strict conditions for human use.
• The pig skin used is a byproduct of the food industry which is already used in medical devices for glaucoma surgery.
• According to the study, this is not only cheaper and easier to access than donated corneas, but requires a less invasive procedure.
• While donated corneas must be used within two weeks, the bioengineered corneas can be stored for up to two years before use.

Switch EiV 22: Union Transport Minister, Nitin Gadkari recently launched India’s first electric double-decker bus at Y B Centre in south Mumbai.

Key Highlights:

• The name of the bus is “Switch EiV 22”.
• Switch EiV 22 will be run by the Mumbai civic transport body from September.
• Two new electric buses, including the first air-conditioned double-decker bus in the country, will join the fleet of the Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) marking the latest in the history of the iconic public transport vehicle that came to India about a century ago.
• Nitin Gadkari said that 35% of the pollution is because of diesel and petrol, and the introduction of these buses will reduce pollution.

About the Bus:

The Electric Double-decker Bus, which is based on the iconic double-decker BEST buses from Mumbai, has been developed by Switch Mobility, a subsidiary of Ashok Leyland.

• It has been developed keeping in mind the new-age low-floor bus design and accommodatesa higher number of passengers while keeping the overall footprint on the floor.
• The double-decker Bus can ferry almost double the number of seated passengers.

key features of AC double-decker buses:

• The Switch EiV 22 is a double-decker AC bus which is based on its single-deck version called EiV 12.
• The double-decker bus employs a 231 kWh Nickel Cobalt Manganese (NMC) battery pack, which gives it a range of 250 Km on a single charge.
• The heavy-duty battery cells for the electric bus are being sourced from China.
• They are converted into usable battery packs for the bus at its production facility in Ennore, Tamil Nadu.
• The company has also employed an innovative design for the battery pack, which consists of liquid cooling and a dual gun charging facility.

Advantages of Electric Double-decker Bus:

• Fully Airconditioned
• Seating Capacity of 65
• Higher passenger-to-weight ratio
• App-based seat booking,
• live tracking and payment on the BEST Chalo App.
• A dedicated USB charging port for every passenger
• Adjustable footrest
• Express service with fewer stops during peak hours
• Monthly passes for regular passengers.

Target:

Ashok Leyland plans to deliver 200 air-conditioned units to Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST), starting from December.

Timeline:

• The hundred-year history of Kolkata’s double-decker buses can be traced back to 1922, when the motorbus, manufactured by Walford & Company, was first introduced to the city by the Calcutta Tramways Company.
• The double deckers were introduced to Mumbai by the British in 1937. They were modelled around London's motorised double decker buses.
• The cities of Ahmedabad and Vadodara ran red double decker buses till about 30 years ago.
• The buses in Vadodara were of the trailer type where the driver cabin was a separate body hinged to the double-storey passenger carriage to help navigate the narrow city roads.

India’s First 3D Printed Cornea: For the first time in India, in a ground-breaking research, researchers from Hyderabad have developed a 3D-printed artificial cornea from human donor corneal tissue.

Key Points:

• They have successfully transplanted the 3D-printed an artificial cornea into a rabbit eye.
• This project was undertaken by researchers from L V Prasad Eye Institute (LVPEI), Hyderabad in association with the Indian Institute of Technology-Hyderabad (IIT-H), and the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB, Hyderabad.
• It has been developed indigenously, with the help of government and philanthropic funding.

About Artificial Cornea:

• The artificial cornea is completely natural and have no synthetic components.
• It is free from animal residues.
• It was also found to be safe for use in patients.
• This cornea was developed using bio-ink, which can be used by army-personnel for sight-saving at the site of injury by sealing corneal perforation.
• It will also prevent any infection during war-related injuries.
• It will also be sight-saving in remote area, that have no tertiary eye care facility.

What is cornea?

• Cornea is the front layer of eye.
• It helps is focusing light and helps in clear vision.

Significance:

• But corneal damage has become a leading cause of blindness across the world.
• Globally, 1.5 million new cases of corneal blindness are reported every year. 
• Thus, development of 3D-printed artificial cornea is significant for treating the diseases like corneal scarring.

Low Altitude Escape Motor (LEM): In another important milestone in the Gaganyaan project, Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) recently carried out the test-firing of the Low Altitude Escape Motor (LEM) of Crew Escape System successfully.

Key Points:

• The test firing of LEM was carried out from Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh.
• The Crew Escape System (CES) takes away the crew module of the Gaganyaan mission in case of any eventuality and rescues the astronauts.
• In case of aborting the mission during the initial phase of flight, LEM provides the required thrust to CES to take away the crew module from the launch vehicle.

Objectives:

The main objectives of the static tests as listed by ISRO are:

• To evaluate motor ballistic parameters.
• To validate motor subsystem performance and to confirm the design margins.
• To evaluate the thermal performance of nozzle liners; especially to confirm the erosion / ablative characteristics.
• To validate integrity of all interfaces.
• To evaluate the head-end mounted safe arm (HMSA) based ignition system performance.
• To evaluate side thrust due to misalignment and variation in flow and other functional parameters including flow reversal.

About LEM:

• The LEM is a distinctive special purpose solid rocket motor.
• It has four reverse flow nozzles and generates a maximum sea level thrust of 842 kN (nominal) with a burn time of 5.98 seconds (nominal).
• The nozzle end of LEM is mounted at the fore end of the launch vehicle unlike at the aft end in conventional rocket motors to avoid exhaust plume impingement on the crew module.
• This necessitates the use of a reverse flow multiple nozzle in this solid rocket motor.
• The reverse flow nozzle implies the reversal of the exhaust gas flow direction in the nozzle region.

About Gaganyaan Mission:

• Gaganyaan Mission is India's maiden space mission.
• The mission is expected to be launched in 2023.
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on August 15, 2018 had formally announced the Gaganyaan initiative during his Independence Day speech.

With this launch, India will become the fourth nation in the world to launch a Human Spaceflight Mission after the USA, Russia and China.

Under the Gaganyaan schedule:

• Three flights will be sent into orbit.
• Two will be unmanned flights while one will be human spaceflight.
• The Orbital Module will have three Indian astronauts, including a woman.
• It seeks to circle Earth at a low-earth-orbit at an altitude of 300-400 km from the earth for 5-7 days.

Note: ISRO will send humanoid Vyom Mitra in unmanned Gaganyaan spacecraft ahead of human spaceflight (Monitoring module parameters).

About Gaganyaan:

• Gaganyaan is an Indian crewed orbital spacecraft that is intended to send 3 astronauts to space for a minimum of seven days by 2022 (delayed due to COVID-19).
• It was launched by ISRO's Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle GSLV Mk III (3 stages heavy-lift vehicle).
• It consists of a service module and a crew module, collectively known as an Orbital Module (Crew Module carries astronauts & Service Modules carries propellants).

About ISRO:

• Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) is the space agency of the Government of India (GoI).
• It was formed in 15 august 1969.
• It superseded the erstwhile “Indian National Committee For Space Research” (INCOSPAR) which was established in 1962 by the efforts of Independent India's first prime minister‚ Jawaharlal Nehru‚ and his close aide and scientist Vikram Sarabhai.
• In 1972, the GoI had set up a Space Commission and the Department of Space (DOS), bringing ISRO under the DOS.
• ISRO then embarked on its mission to provide the Nation space-based services and to develop the technologies to achieve the same independently.
• Its vision is to “harness space technology for natural development while pursuing space science research & planetary exploration”. ISRO built India’s first Satellite Aryabhata.
• It is headquartered in Bangalore, India.
• The current Chairman of ISRO is Eminent rocket scientist Dr S Somanath.

World Bio-fuel Day 2022: World Bio-fuel Day’ is celebrated annually on August 10 across the globe.

Key Points:

• This day is celebrated to highlight the importance of bio-fuels.
• On this date in 1893 that German inventor Sir Rudolf Diesel successfully operated his diesel engine on peanut oil.

What is Bio-fuel?

• Any fuel that is derived from biomass (plant, or algae material, or animal waste) is known as biofuel.

Benefits of Biofuel:

• They are renewable, biodegradable, and sustainable sources of energy.
• Unlike fossil fuels, they are produced in a short amount of time and are liquid or gaseous.
• They are environment friendly, renewable and biodegradable.
• In adddition, biofuels also have benefits like a reduction in import dependence, generation of additional income for farmers and employment generation, etc.

Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas (MoP&NG) and the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) started celebrating World Biofuel Day after 2015.

A webinar on the occasion of the World Biofuel day was organized today by the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, with the theme “Biofuels towards Atmanirbhar Bharat”.

Initiatives of the Indian Government to increase bio-fuels:

• Some major initiatives of the Government on India 9GoI0 include
• Administrative price mechanism for ethanol,
• Simplifying the procurement procedures by OMCs,
• Amending the provisions of Industries (Development & Regulation) Act, 1951,
• Long term ethanol procurement policy, ethanol distillation capacity addition, and enabling lignocellulosic route for ethanol procurement.

Indian Virtual Herbarium: The Indian Virtual Herbarium, the largest virtual database of the country's flora, has information on about one lakh plant specimens and is generating a lot of interest and turning out to be an eye-catching endeavour.

Key Points:

• In the Mann Ki Baat episode on July 31, PM Modi spoke about the novel initiative.
• He said that the herbarium was an interesting collection of plants and preserved parts of plants.

About the Indian Virtual Herbarium:

• The Indian Virtual Herbarium has been developed by scientists of the Botanical Survey of India (BSI).
• The herbarium was inaugurated by Union Minister of Environment Forest and Climate Change Bhupendra Yadav in Kolkata on July 1, 2022.
• Since then, the portal ivh.bsi.gov.in has had nearly two lakh hits from 55 countries.
• The portal includes about one lakh images of herbarium specimens with metadata comprising all digitized images of type specimens, Wallich specimens, Orchid specimens, and other specimens.
• Each record in the digital herbarium includes an image of the preserved plant specimen, scientific name, collection locality, and collection date, collector name, and barcode number.
• The digital herbarium includes features to extract the data State-wise, and users can search plants of their own States, which will help them identify regional plants and in building regional checklists.
• The information can be used by taxonomists, naturalists, ecologists, molecular biologists, amateur botanists, etc.

Major Herbaria in India:

The Botanical Survey of India (BSI) has more than 30,00,000 herbarium specimens persevered in different herbaria located in different parts of the country.

The major herbaria in India are:

The Central National Herbarium (CAL).

• It is located at Howrah, West Bengal.
• It was established in 1795.
• It comprises about 2,000,000 (2 million) specimens.
• The first herbarium in the country is one of the most important Asian Herbaria.

The Forest Research Institute, Dehradun contains 350,000 specimens.

The National Botanic Gardens, Lucknow contains 260,000 specimens.

The Blatter Herbarium, St. Xavier’s College, Fort Bombay contains 200,000 specimens.

The Botanical Survey of India has herbaria attached to their regional centres and units in different parts of India.

Saline Water Lantern: The Union Minister of State for Science and Technology Dr. Jitendra Singh recently unveiled India’s first Saline Water Lantern named ‘Roshni’.

Roshni was unveiled by him during a visit to SAGAR ANVESHIKA, a Coastal Research Vessel, operated and used by the National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT), Chennai for coastal research.

• This saline water lantern uses the sea water to power the specially designed LED lamps.

Significance:

• As India is surrounded by the oceans on three sides and around 30 percent of the nation’s population living in coastal areas and coastal regions play a major economic factor.

 

• It will support fisheries and aquaculture, tourism, livelihoods, and blue trade.
• The saline Water Lantern will bring “Ease of Living” to the fishing community living along the 7500 Kilometres long coastal line of India.
• Saline water-powered Roshini LED lamps will boost and supplement the centre’s ‘UJALA scheme’ which was launched in 2015 for distribution of LED bulbs across the country.
• This technology can also be used in hinterlands, where sea water is not available, as any saline water or normal water mixed with the common salt can be used to power the lantern, which is not only cost-effective, but very easy to operate.
• The Minister lauded the NIOT (National Institute of Ocean Technology) team for inventing the Roshini Lamp.
• He advised them to transfer the technology to the industry for mass production of this multipurpose lamp which can be of immense help in rural and remote areas and in the times of the disasters.

World’s most durable Hydrogen Fuel Cell: A new hydrogen fuel cell has been developed by scientists at The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST).

Key Points:

• It the world’s most durable cell to date.
• It is also more cost-effective, paving the way for a wider application of green energy in the pursuit of a carbon-neutral world.

Challenges faced by Hydrogen fuel cells commercially:

• Hydrogen fuel cells are a promising clean energy option as they efficiently generate power by converting hydrogen and oxygen into electricity, with zero emission of carbon dioxide, particulate matter, and other air pollutants that may cause smog and other health problems.
• Despite their advantages for the environment and years of research and development, hydrogen fuel cells have not yet been commercially commercialized.
• That is because its power generation depends heavily on an electrocatalyst which is largely comprised of the very expensive and rare metal platinum.
• Researchers have tried to develop alternatives by replacing platinum with more common and inexpensive materials like iron, nitrogen or carbon.
• However, those materials have either proven inefficient in power generation or have suffered from poor durability.

About World’s most durable Hydrogen Fuel Cell:

• But now, a research team led by Prof. Minhua Shao from the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering at HKUST, discovered a new formula.
• This formula cuts down the proportion of platinum used by 80%.
• It has also set a record with respect to durability level of cell.
• The new cell managed to maintain platinum catalytic activity at 97% after 100,000 cycles of accelerated stress test, as against the current catalyst whose performance reduced by 50% in 30,000 cycles.
• In another test, the new fuel cell did not show any performance decay after operating for 200 hours.

V.K. Paul Task Force: Following the discovery of cases of monkeypox in India, the Union government constituted a task force to monitor and provide guidance on the expansion of diagnostic facilities and to explore vaccination against the infection in the country.

Key Points:

• The team will be headed by V.K. Paul, member (Health), NITI Aayog.
• India has reported six confirmed cases of monkeypox so far.
• Four cases were confirmed in Kerala and two in Delhi.
• Himachal Pradesh's health department has also detected a person with symptoms similar to monkeypox in Solan`s Baddi.
• The patient's samples have been sent for testing to the National Institute of Virology (NIV).
• According to the World Health Organization (WHO), more than 18,000 cases have been reported from 78 countries.

About Monkeypox:

• Monkeypox is a zoonotic disease caused by the monkeypox virus, which belongs to the same family of viruses that causes smallpox.
• According to WHO, the disease is endemic in regions like West and Central Africa, but lately, cases have been reported from non-endemic countries too.

Symptoms:

• Monkeypox typically starts with flu-like symptoms such as fever and rashes are formed 1-4 days later.
• The monkeypox rashes started as raised spots that slowly turn into small blisters that are either hard and round or filled with pus or fluid.
• These blisters eventually dry up and fall off and a fresh layer of skin is formed.

The symptoms are -

• Fever
• Swollen Lymph Nodes
• Rash
• Skin Lesions
• Muscle Aches
• Chills

How is Monkeypox transmitted?

Monkeypox is transmitted from person-to-person through close contact.

It gets transmitted usually through following modes-

• Direct contact with skin lesions or body fluids of an infected person
• Sharing of personal items like bedding or clothing of an infected person
• Prolonged exposure to an infected person's respiratory secretions
• Monkeypox can also spread from animals to people through bites and scratches or use of meat from an infected animal.

It generally lasts for about 2-4 weeks until all rashes are healed, all scabs have fallen off and fresh layer of skin has formed.

Solar Storm: The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has informed that a solar storm is likely to hit the Earth today, August 3, 2022.

Key Facts:

• A 'hole' in the Sun's atmosphere is releasing gaseous materials which combined with a stream of strong solar winds, might result in a minor G1-class solar storm.
• The solar storm is likely to be weak but it is expected to impat satellite disruptions and cause power grid failures.

What are geomagnetic storms?

• A geomagnetic storm is a brief disturbance in the Earth's magnetosphere.
• The magnetosphere is a shield that protects our planet from dangerous solar and cosmic particle radiation, as well as solar wind erosion which is caused by the Sun's continuous outpouring of charged particles.
• When events such as solar flares send higher than normal levels of radiation towards Earth and this radiation interacts with the Earth’s magnetic field, a geomagnetic storm occurs.
• The frequency of occurrence of geomagnetic storms varies with the sunspot cycle which causes significant changes in the currents, plasmas, and fields in the Earth’s magnetosphere
• The US Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC) defines a Geomagnetic Storm as ‘a major disturbance of Earth's magnetosphere that occurs when there is a very efficient exchange of energy from the solar wind into the space environment surrounding Earth.’

• According to NASA, the solar magnetic field "interacts strongly" with the Earth's "oppositely oriented magnetic field".
• The Earth's magnetic field is then peeled open like an onion allowing energetic solar wind particles to stream down the field lines to hit the atmosphere over the poles.
• They are rated on a scale of 1 to 5, with 1 being the weakest and 5 being the strongest.

Solar storms are of the following types:

1. Solar Flares: An instant outbreak of electromagnetic radiation in the sun’s atmosphere is known as solar flares. These solar flares are usually seen in active regions and often but not every time, occur with the coronal mass ejections (CME) and other solar phenomena.
2. Coronal Mass Ejection: Coronal Mass Ejection (CME) refers to a notable release of plasma and a magnetic field through the solar corona. They frequently follow the solar flares and are generally present during a solar eruption.
3. Geomagnetic Storm: Some disturbances in the earth’s magnetosphere occur because of the interaction of solar wind waves and clouds of magnetic fields with the earth’s magnetic field. This disturbance is known as a geomagnetic storm.
4. Solar Particle Events: Solar particle events or solar proton event (SPE) or prompt proton event refer to the phenomenon that occurs when photons emitted by the sun become sped up either close to the sun or in interplanetary space by coronal mass ejection and shocks.

What are Sunspots?

Sunspots are phenomena on the Sun's photosphere that appear as temporary spots that are darker than the surrounding areas.

Effect of geo-magnetic storms on earth:

• When geo-magnetic storms occur, there is local heating in Earth's upper  atmosphere which causes extra drag on satellites in low-earth orbit.
• The local heating also creates strong horizontal variations in the in the ionospheric density that can modify the path of radio signals and create errors in the positioning information provided by GPS.
• The occurrence causes disruptions in navigation systems such as the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) and create harmful geomagnetic induced currents (GICs) in the power grid and pipelines.
• It can also lead to voltage disruptions leading to power outages, changes in soil voltage that enhance corrosion in oil pipelines, disruption in cellular communications networks, exposure to elevated levels of radiation, and reductions in flights with polar routes.
• Astronauts on spacewalks face health risks from possible exposure to solar radiation outside the Earth’s protective atmosphere.
• Aurora is commonly visible at high latitudes during this time.

Geomagnetic Storm Occurrences:

• The geomagnetic storm of 1859, also called the Carrington storm, was the largest geomagnetic storm ever recorded.

• There were reports of intense brightening of auroras and reports of telegraph systems malfunctioning, electrocuting operators.

• In 1989, a geomagnetic storm generated ground produced currents resulting in power outages throughout most of Quebec and Auroras as far south as Texas.

What is Coronal Mass Ejection (CME)?

• Coronal Mass Ejection (CME) is among the biggest eruptions from the surface of the Sun.
• It contains a billion tons of matter accelerated to several million miles per hour into space.
• It runs through the interplanetary medium.
• It has the potential to impact anything that comes in its path, be it a planet or spacecraft.

How are geomagnetic storms predicted?

Solar Storms or geomagnetic storms are predicted by:

• Solar physicists and other scientists deploy computer models to forecast solar storms and other solar activity.
• Current models can forecast the arrival timing and pace of a storm.
• But the structure or orientation of the storm cannot be foreseen.
• Certain magnetic field orientations can cause the magnetosphere to respond more intensely, resulting in more violent magnetic storms.
• Thus, with the increasing worldwide reliance on satellites for nearly every activity, improved space weather forecasts and more efficient measures to safeguard satellites are required.

Anti-Gravity Body Suit: Experts at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS-Delhi) have developed an anti-gravity body suit that will allow astronauts to perform yoga in space.

This was announced by the doctors of AIIMS doctors on the eve of International Yoga Day on 21 June.

About the Anti-Gravity Body Suit:

• This is India’s first bodysuit for astronauts.
• The space journey of astronauts adversely affects the functioning of muscle and bones.
• The anti-gravity gear will help astronauts to strengthen antigravity musculature and will also prevent atrophy (a health condition in which the size of body part decreases) in microgravity environment,
• It will help astronauts strengthen muscles and prevent loss of bone density minerals.
• It will increase their weight by more than 70% in space to prevent them from floating.

The claim has been validated by the National Institute of Technology, Jalandhar, and the proof of concept will be presented to ISRO.

How will it work?

It is known that when the astronauts reach space, their body weight becomes zero.

• When an astronaut wears this body gear, his body weight can be increased in a controlled manner and he will become comfortable and further stick to the surface of the defined ground in space by velcro-magnetic force.

Significance:

• Space physiology is one of the emerging focus areas for India in space sciences and technology development.
• This would be the first-such body suit for astronauts in the world.
• The anti-gravity body suit has been developed at a time when ISRO is preparing to fly Gaganyaan, its first manned space travel mission.

IOC launches Surya Nutan: The Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) recently unveiled its patented indigenous solar cook top called Surya Nutan.

Key Points:

• Surya Nutan is an indigenous indoor solar cooking system that has been developed by IndianOil R&D Centre, Faridabad.
• It is a Stationary, rechargeable, and always kitchen-connected indoor solar cooking.
• While charging, the system provides an online cooking mode.
• Pilot projects are currently being conducted in 60 locations, including Leh (Ladakh), to ascertain several operational and commercial aspects related to its implementation.

The solar cook top is in line with the steps taken by Ministry in ongoing global energy crisis, including:

• Pursuing green hydrogen mission in refineries.
• Increasing procurement price of Compressed Bio-Gas from Rs 45 per kg to Rs 54 per kg, under SATAT scheme.
• Increasing ethanol blending to 20%, and
• Increasing area under Exploration and Production from 7-8% to 15% of geographical area.

Cost of Surya Nutan:

• The solar cooktop initially cost Rs 12,000 for the base model and Rs 23,000 for the top model.
• With economies of scale, this expense is probably going to be far lower.

How does it work?

• It works on a Hybrid Mode which means that it can work on both solar & auxiliary energy source simultaneously.
• The insulation design of Surya Nutan minimises conductive and radiative heat losses.
• This makes the Surya Nutan a reliable cooking solution for all weather conditions.
• It can be used in all weather and seasons including when the Sun is not available for long durations or for continuous days, such as monsoons and extreme winters.

About SATAT Scheme:

Sustainable Alternative Towards Affordable Transportation (SATAT) is an initiative of Government of India (GoI).

This initiative is aimed at setting up of Compressed Bio-Gas production plants and making it available in the market for use in automotive fuels by inviting Expression of Interest from potential entrepreneurs.

The Scheme was launched in October 2018 by the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas in collaboration Public Sector Undertaking (PSU) Oil Marketing Companies (OMC) like Indian Oil Corporation Ltd., Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd. and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd.

SATAT has following four objectives:

• Utilization of more than 62 million metric tonnes of waste generated every year in India,
• Cutting down of import dependence,
• Creation of job creation India.
• Reduction of vehicular emissions and pollution from burning of agricultural or organic waste.

The scheme will help to maintain India’s commitment towards reducing carbon emissions, fulfilling agreements such as the Paris Agreement.

Benefits of the SATAT Scheme:

Through the use of Compressed Biogas (CBG), the SATAT has the following benefits -

• Responsible waste management, reduction in carbon emissions and pollution
• Additional revenue source for farmers
• Boost to entrepreneurship, rural economy and employment
• Support to national commitments in achieving climate change goals
• Reduction in import of natural gas and crude oil
• A safety net against crude oil/natural gas fluctuations.

Raytheon Hypersonic Weapon: The United States has successfully tested a Raytheon Technologies Corp (RTX.N).

Key Highlights:

• This success marks the third successful test in a string of hypersonic weapons across different U.S. programs in development.
• The test took place as the United States and its global rivals quicken their pace to build hypersonic weapons - the next generation of arms that rob adversaries of reaction time and traditional defeat mechanisms.
• There have been four air-breathing hypersonic weapons tests since September.
• Raytheon's product has been successful both times and Lockheed had one successful test and one failure.
• Both Raytheon and Lockheed Martin Corp (LMT.N) are competing for the ultimate contract award.
• The development program for the Hypersonic Air-breathing Weapon Concept (HAWC) is being run by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, or DARPA.

Note: In July, Russia said it had successfully tested a Tsirkon(Zircon) hypersonic cruise missile, a weapon President Vladimir Putin has touted as part of a new generation of missile systems without equal in the world.

About RTX.N:

• RTX.N is an air-breathing hypersonic weapon.
• It is capable of speeds faster than five times the speed of sound, making it the third successful test of that class of weapon since 2013.
• Air-breathing vehicles use air captured from the atmosphere to achieve sustained propulsion.
• Different propulsion types work in the vacuum of space.
• The HAWC vehicle operates best in an oxygen-rich atmosphere, where speed and maneuverability make it difficult to detect in a timely way.
• It could strike targets much more quickly than subsonic missiles and has significant kinetic energy even without high explosives

Note: Hypersonic weapons travel in the upper atmosphere at speeds of more than five times the speed of sound, or about 6,200 kilometers (3,853 miles) per hour.

Open Radio Access Network Technology (O-RAN): The Open Radio Access Network Technology (O-RAN) certificates were recently awarded to Keysight Open Radio Access Network Architect (KORA) solutions enabled MICAS.

Note: MICAS is a world class Independent Design House, that provides signal chain reference solutions including O-RU (FR1 and FR2) reference designs.

Key Points:

• O-RAN Conformance Certification was issued by Asia & Pacific OTIC in PRC (APOP).
• O-RAN badges and certificates are issued by Open Testing and Integration Centre (OTIC).
• OTICs provide collaborative, open and impartial working environment, in a bid to ensure consistency and quality in O-RAN products and solutions testing.
• O-RAN Certification & Badging Program has been designed to ensure interoperability and conformance of O-RAN products.
• The certification and badging programme were launched by O-RAN ALLIANCE in association with the OTIC.
• O-RAN certificates specifies that an equipment or function is allowable to O-RAN specifications.
• On the other hand, O-RAN badges confirm interoperability or functionality of O-RAN solution.

About Open Radio Access Network (O- RAN):

• O-RAN is a significant part of a mobile network system, which make use of cellular radio connections for linking devices to other parts of a network.
• It includes antennae.
• Antennae transmits and receives signals to and from smartphones or similar compatible devices.
• After this, the signal is digitized in RAN-base station and later connected to the network.

Objective:

• The main objective of Open RAN is to allow operators to mix and match components, as opposed to the traditional set-up where Radio Access Network is provided in integrated form of hardware and software.

O-RAN is based on interoperability and standardization of RAN elements.

NHA Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission Hackathon Series: The National Health Authority (NHA) recently organised the “Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission Hackathon Series at Smart City Operations Centre, Pune, in a hybrid format.

Highlights:

• It was the first hackathon organized under Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission Hackathon Series.
• The hackathon was concluded on July 17, 2022.
• The hackathon was organised as a part of Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM) in coordination with the Pune Smart City Development Corporation Limited (PSCDCL) and Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC).

Agenda of the hackathon:

• During the hackathon, several teams comprising of innovators, data experts and developers joined physically and virtually.
• They collaborated and built innovative solutions.
• Hackathon also focussed on mobilizing health Start-up ecosystem in country.
• This objective was fulfilled by bringing the organisations and individuals together for developing innovative solutions.

Prize pool:

• For Round 1-Kickstarting UHI (Unified Health Interface)’, Rs 60,00,000 has been fixed as tentative prize pool.
• Organisations or individuals will be awarded for developing innovative solutions.
• Their solutions will be assessed by independent jury.
• The prize will be given to top performers in each challenge track, under two themes:

1. Innovation Track:

• Under this theme, organisations or individuals are required to find innovative solutions to power digital health in open network across multiple use cases like ambulance booking, teleconsultation, physical consultation booking and lab tests booking.

1. Integration Track:

• Under this theme, organisations and individuals have been challenged to accelerate development of applications which are compatible with UHI.
• They have also been asked to integrate these applications with applications of other participants in a bid to enable digital health transactions across UHI network.

About National Health Authority (NHA):

• NHA is the nodal agency for implementation of India’s flagship scheme called Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY).
• It was set up to implement PM-JAY at the national level.
• In the States, State Health Agencies (SHAs) have been established to implement the scheme.

Space Industry Reforms: The Government of India has given 10 operational communication satellites to NewSpace India Limited (NSIL), a Government-run business, as part of reforms to the country’s space industry.

Overview:

• This move of transferring ownership of ten satellites of the GSAT series to NSIL, would help the company rent them out (transponder capacity, services etc.) and generate revenue out of the same.
• In a written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha, Union Minister of State (independent charge) Science & Technology; Minister of State (independent charge) Earth Sciences; MoS PMO Dr Jitendra Singh, said that communication satellites viz. GSAT-8, GSAT-10, GSAT-12R (CMS-01), GSAT-14, GSAT-15, GSAT-16, GSAT-17, GSAT-18, GSAT-30 and GSAT-31 have been transferred at a written down value of Rs 4697.60 crores against issue of equity to Government of India, with 01.04.2021 as the effective date of transfer.
• The Board of NSIL is permitted to price the transponder capacity as per the global trends.
• NSIL shall carry out the activities related to offering and allocation of capacity, as per the guidelines to be adopted by its Board.
• The transfer of operational satellites is part of the Space Sector reforms, aimed at strengthening the role of NSIL in order to enhance the nation’s share in the global space economy.
• The Minister also informed that the Government has taken several steps to increase India’s share in global space market, through the reforms undertaken in 2020, which seek to augment the space sector in the country with greater participation of Non-Governmental Entities (NGEs).
• The Department of Space, Government of India (GoI), established the Indian National Space Promotion & Authorization Centre (INSPACe), which serves as a single-window agency and seeks to level the playing field for private sector actors by promoting, guiding, and authorizing their activities.
• As a part of these reforms, NSIL has been mandated to task the building of launch vehicle through Indian Industry and launch as per satellite customer requirements.
• With the operationalization of IN-SPACe, the progressively evolving regulatory environment, a greater private sector participation in end-to-end space activities is expected, which may result in increased share of India in the global space economy.

Webb's First Deep Field: The first full-color image from NASA's James Webb Space Telescope was released on July 12, 2022 by US President Joe Biden.

Key Highlights:

• The James Webb Space Telescope has delivered the deepest and sharpest infrared image of the distant universe which contains light from galaxies that has taken many billions of years to reach us.
• The first image of James Webb Telescope, known as Webb's First Deep Field is galaxy cluster SMACS 0723.
• It is teeming with thousands of galaxies – including the faintest objects ever observed in the infrared.
• Among the other Webb subjects were two enormous clouds of gas and dust blasted into space by stellar explosions to form incubators for new stars — the Carina Nebula and the Southern Ring Nebula, each thousands of light years away from Earth.
• The images, created to look more clearly and farther than ever before at the creation of the cosmos, were hailed by NASA as a turning point in cosmic investigation.
• It provides glimpses of what the early Universe looked like.

About the First Image:

• The James Webb Image is one of the telescope’s first-full color images.
• The first photo has been taken by Webb’s Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam), which has brought distant galaxies into sharp focus.
• It is a composite made from images at different wavelengths, totaling 12.5 hours.
• It covers a patch of sky that is approximately the size of a grain of sand held at arm’s length by someone on the ground.
• The first photographs from the James Webb Space Telescope reach depths at infrared wavelengths beyond the deepest regions that took the Hubble Space Telescope weeks to complete.
• The first image shows galaxy cluster SMACS 0723 as it appeared 4.6 billion years ago.
• The galaxy cluster acts as a gravitational lens, magnifying much more distant galaxies behind it.
• The distant galaxies have tiny, faint structures that have never been seen before, including star clusters and diffuse features.
• The collection also included fresh images of another galaxy cluster known as Stephan’s Quintet, first discovered in 1877.

About James Webb Telescope:

• NASA's James Webb Telescope is the world's largest and most power space telescope ever launched.
• It has been developed by NASA in partnership with ESA (European Space Agency) and CSA (Canadian Space Agency).
• It was launched on December 25, 2021 beginning a one-million-mile journey to see 13.5 billion years into the past.

POP-FAME: Scientists at the US Lawrence-Berkeley Lab have developed “POP-FAME” which is a fuel from a bacterium that packs more energy than even the rocket fuels in use today.

• The research was published in the journal Joule.

About POP-FAME:

• POP-FAME is the acronym for “Polycyclopropanated Fatty Acid Methyl Ester”.
• Molecular structure of POP-FAME is similar to Syntin.
• Three-carbon ring (triangle with carbon atom at three vertex) is at its heart.
• Each carbon atom of the ring makes bonds with two other carbon atoms and two other elements.
• This structure is known as a cyclopropane.
• Cyclopropane have potential energy in their bonds.
• As per simulation data, POP-FAME fuel has energy density values more than 50 megajoules per litre, against 32 MJ for petrol and 35 MJ for RP-1, which is a rocket fuel based on kerosene.
• This increased energy density could help vehicles go farther on a single tank, or reduce the amount of fuel needed for rocket launches, saving more space and weight for cargo.
• At the same time, producing the fuels from bacteria cuts right down on their environmental impact.

About Syntin Fuel:

• A petroleum-based rocket fuel Syntin was developed by Soviet Union in 1960s.
• In the 1970s, this fuel was utilized to successfully launch a number of Soyuz rockets.
• However, despite its powerful performance, because of the expensive and uncomfortable manufacturing process, it was stopped.
• It was created through a series of synthetic processes involving explosive and unstable intermediates and poisonous by-products.

Why is POP-FAME being considered an ideal rocket fuel?

• POP-FAME is said to have higher energy densities than Syntin, which means even a small quantity of the fuel can pack considerable energy, making it an ideal rocket fuel.

Reduction of Green house gas:

• As these fuels would be produced from bacteria fed with plant matter which is made from carbon dioxide pulled from the atmosphere.
• Burning them in engines will significantly reduce the amount of added greenhouse gas relative to any fuel generated from petroleum.

Work in Progress:

• However, it is yet to be figured out as how to remove the two oxygen atoms in each molecule, which are dead weight.
• These biofuels aren’t quite ready for use just yet.
• The scientists haven’t yet produced enough fuel for field tests.
• They need to find ways to make larger amounts so it can be tested in engines, by engineering the process in more efficient bacteria strains.
• They also plan to investigate ways to make molecules of different lengths for different purposes.

Alpha Centauri: NASA has successfully launched a rocket from Australia's remote Northern Territory, making history as the agency's first commercial spaceport launch outside the United States.

Key Points:

• This Launch also made history for Australia as the first commercial space launch in the country.
• According to NASA, it was the first of three launches, with a further two planned for 4th and 12th of July.
• According to Equatorial Launch Australia, the rocket blasted off from the Arnhem Space Centre on the Dhupuma Plateau, near the township of Nhulunbuy.
• The rocket is expected to travel more than 300 kilometres into space on its mission to observe the Alpha Centauri 'A' and 'B' constellations, the nearest star systems to the Earth.

Significance of Alpha Centauri for Australia:

• Australia has a unique connection to Alpha Centauri.
• The Alpha Centauri can only be seen from the Southern Hemisphere and is one of the “pointers” to the Southern Cross constellation depicted on the nation’s national flag.

Three New ‘Exotic’ Subatomic Particles: Researchers at Conseil Européen pour la Recherche Nucléaire (CERN) recently announced that the Large Hadron Collider beauty (LHCb) experiment — which is investigating the slight differences between matter and antimatter by studying a type of particle called the “beauty quark”, or “b quark” — has observed three never-before-seen particles.

Key Highlights:

• The three “exotic” additions — a new kind of “pentaquark” and the first-ever pair of “tetraquarks” — to the growing list of new hadrons found at the LHC.
• It will help physicists better understand how quarks bind together into these composite particles.
• The LHC, re-ignited after three years in April, was cranked up to unprecedented levels of energy on July 5.
• The collider is smashing protons at almost the speed of light. which could throw up “new” physics beyond the Standard Model.

What are quarks?

• Quarks are elementary particles that come in six “flavours”: up, down, charm, strange, top, and bottom.
• They usually combine together in groups of twos and threes to form hadrons such as the protons and neutrons that make up atomic nuclei.
• In addition, they can also combine into four-quark and five-quark particles, called tetraquarks and pentaquarks.
• These exotic hadrons were predicted by theorists about six decades ago — around the same time as conventional hadrons.
• However, colliders such as the LHCb first observed it in the last two decades.

CERN:

• Conseil Européen pour la Recherche Nucléaire (CERN), is the European Organisation for Nuclear Research housing the LHS.

LHS:

• The LHS is the largest and most complex collider in the world.

ARYABHAT-1: Researchers at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) have built a prototype of an analog chipset called ARYABHAT-1 (Analog Reconfigurable technologY And Bias-scalable Hardware for AI Tasks).

Key Highlights:

• The team has created a design framework for developing the next generation of analog computing chipsets.
• It has been designed by Prateek Kumar, a PhD student at IISc.
• These chipsets can work fast.
• It will use less power than the digital processors used in various electronic gadgets.
• The researchers have outlined their findings in two pre-print studies that are currently under peer review.
• They have also filed patents and are planning to work with industry partners to commercialise the technology.

Key Facts about Aryabhata-1:

• Aryabhata-1 stands for "Analog Reconfigurable Technology and Bias-scalable Hardware for AI Tasks".
• This type of chipset can be especially helpful for Artificial Intelligence (AI)-based applications like object or speech recognition – like Alexa or Siri – or those that require massive parallel computing operations at high speeds.
• It can be configured up with several machine learning architectures so that it can function with digital CPUs and operate well in a variety of temperature ranges.

About Indian Institute of Science (IISc):

• IISc also known as Tata Institute was established in the year 1909 at Bangalore, Karnataka with the active support of Jamsedji Tata.
• IISc was granted deemed university status in 1958 and Institute of Eminence in 2018.
• It is a public research university for higher education and research in science, engineering, design and management.

CAPSTONE: NASA recently launched CAPSTONE, a microwave oven-sized CubeSat weighing just 55 pounds (25 kg).

About CAPSTONE:

• CAPSTONE, short for Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment, is designed to test a unique, elliptical lunar orbit.
• The satellite was launched on Rocket Lab’s Electron rocket from the Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1.
• It is heading toward an orbit intended in the future for Gateway, a Moon-orbiting outpost that is part of NASA’s Artemis program.
• As a pathfinder for Gateway, CAPSTONE aims to help reduce risk for future spacecraft by validating innovative navigation technologies, and by verifying the dynamics of the halo-shaped orbit.
• The orbit is known as a near-rectilinear halo orbit (NRHO).
• It is significantly elongated, and is located at a precise balance point in the gravities of Earth and the Moon.
• This offers stability for long-term missions like Gateway.

Key details of the Mission:

• CAPSTONE will enter NRHO, where it will fly within 1,600 km of the Moon’s North Pole on its near pass and 70,000 km from the South Pole at its farthest.
• The spacecraft will repeat the cycle every six-and-a-half days and maintain this orbit for at least six months to study dynamics.

Mission objectives:

The main objectives of the mission are as follows:

• To verify the characteristics of a cis-lunar near rectilinear halo orbit for future spacecraft
• To demonstrate entering and maintaining this unique orbit that provides a highly-efficient path to the Moon’s surface and back
• To demonstrate spacecraft-to-spacecraft navigation services that allow future spacecraft to determine their location relative to the Moon without relying exclusively on tracking from Earth
• Lay a foundation for commercial support of future lunar operations
• To gain experience with small dedicated launches of CubeSats beyond low-Earth orbit, to the Moon, and beyond

What is NASA Artemis program?

• The Artemis program is a human spaceflight program led by NASA to explore the Moon, aiming for its first touchdown on the lunar South Pole by 2025.
• The Artemis program began in December 2017 as part of successive efforts to revitalize the U.S. space program.
• The Artemis program is carried out predominantly by NASA and U.S. commercial spaceflight contractors, in partnership with the European Space Agency and the space agencies of several other nations.
• With Artemis missions, NASA will land the first woman and first person of color on the Moon, using innovative technologies to explore more of the lunar surface than ever before.
• Long-term objectives for Artemis are laying the foundations for the extraction of lunar resources, and eventually making crewed missions to Mars and beyond feasible.

Hermit Spyware: A new spyware called “Hermit” has recently been discovered by Lookout, a cloud-based security company.

This spyware is capable of affecting both Android and iOS devices.

About Hermit Spyware:

• Hermit is a commercial spyware that is known to be used by governments with victims in Italy, Kazakhstan and northern Syria.
• The spyware was first detected in Kazakhstan in April 2022 after the government violently suppressed protests against government policies.
• It was also deployed in north-eastern Kurdish region of Syria and by Italian authorities for an anti-corruption investigation.

How is Hermit distributed?

• Hermit is a modular spyware that hides its malicious capabilities in packages downloaded after it's deployed.
• These modules work in conjunction with the permissions the core apps have.
• These modules give Hermit the ability to attack a rooted device, record audio, make and reroute phone calls, as well as gather information including call logs, contacts, photographs, the position of the device, and SMS messages.
• Hermit tricks the users by serving up the legitimate webpages of the brands it impersonates as it kickstarts malicious activities in the background.

GSAT-24: Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has successfully launched India's communication satellite GSAT-24.

Key Points:

• The satellite was successfully launched into geostationary orbit from Kourou in French Guiana by the Ariane 5 rocket (South America).
• GSAT-24 is built by ISRO for NewSpace India Limited (NSIL).
• It was the 25th Indian satellite launched by Arianespace and the 11th of the GSAT (Geosynchronous Satellite) series.
• It was launched by French company Arianespace.

Note: Alongwith GSAT-24, Ariane 5 launcher also carried two satellites, MEASAT-3d for the Malaysian operator MEASAT. With this, the total payload of the launcher was approx. 10,863 kg.

Features of GSAT-24:

• GSAT-24 is a 24-Ku band communication satellite weighing 4180 kg with pan-India coverage for meeting  Direct-to-Home (DTH) application needs.
• This was the first demand driven communication satellite mission undertaken by NSIL post space sector reforms.
• It will provide high-quality television, telecommunications and broadcasting services over India.
• The 15-year mission life of GSAT-24 is configured on ISRO’s tried-and-true I-3k Bus.

Background:

• NSIL, a Central Public Sector Enterprise (CPSE) of Government of India (GoI) under the Department of Space (DOS), has leased the entire satellite capacity to Tata Play (formerly Tata Sky).
• The commercial arm of ISRO, NSIL was established in March 2019.
• NSIL was required to carry out operational satellite missions on a “demand driven” model as part of the “space reforms” announced by the government in June 2020.
• Under this model, NSIL is responsible for building, launching, owning, and operating satellites as well as providing services to its devoted customer.

Science & Technology Affairs Current Affairs - July 2022

Anti-Gravity Body Suit: Experts at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS-Delhi) have developed an anti-gravity body suit that will allow astronauts to perform yoga in space.

This was announced by the doctors of AIIMS doctors on the eve of International Yoga Day on 21 June.

About the Anti-Gravity Body Suit:

• This is India’s first bodysuit for astronauts.
• The space journey of astronauts adversely affects the functioning of muscle and bones.
• The anti-gravity gear will help astronauts to strengthen antigravity musculature and will also prevent atrophy (a health condition in which the size of body part decreases) in microgravity environment,
• It will help astronauts strengthen muscles and prevent loss of bone density minerals.
• It will increase their weight by more than 70% in space to prevent them from floating.

The claim has been validated by the National Institute of Technology, Jalandhar, and the proof of concept will be presented to ISRO.

How will it work?

It is known that when the astronauts reach space, their body weight becomes zero.

• When an astronaut wears this body gear, his body weight can be increased in a controlled manner and he will become comfortable and further stick to the surface of the defined ground in space by velcro-magnetic force.

Significance:

• Space physiology is one of the emerging focus areas for India in space sciences and technology development.
• This would be the first-such body suit for astronauts in the world.
• The anti-gravity body suit has been developed at a time when ISRO is preparing to fly Gaganyaan, its first manned space travel mission.

IOC launches Surya Nutan: The Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) recently unveiled its patented indigenous solar cook top called Surya Nutan.

Key Points:

• Surya Nutan is an indigenous indoor solar cooking system that has been developed by IndianOil R&D Centre, Faridabad.
• It is a Stationary, rechargeable, and always kitchen-connected indoor solar cooking.
• While charging, the system provides an online cooking mode.
• Pilot projects are currently being conducted in 60 locations, including Leh (Ladakh), to ascertain several operational and commercial aspects related to its implementation.

The solar cook top is in line with the steps taken by Ministry in ongoing global energy crisis, including:

• Pursuing green hydrogen mission in refineries.
• Increasing procurement price of Compressed Bio-Gas from Rs 45 per kg to Rs 54 per kg, under SATAT scheme.
• Increasing ethanol blending to 20%, and
• Increasing area under Exploration and Production from 7-8% to 15% of geographical area.

Cost of Surya Nutan:

• The solar cooktop initially cost Rs 12,000 for the base model and Rs 23,000 for the top model.
• With economies of scale, this expense is probably going to be far lower.

How does it work?

• It works on a Hybrid Mode which means that it can work on both solar & auxiliary energy source simultaneously.
• The insulation design of Surya Nutan minimises conductive and radiative heat losses.
• This makes the Surya Nutan a reliable cooking solution for all weather conditions.
• It can be used in all weather and seasons including when the Sun is not available for long durations or for continuous days, such as monsoons and extreme winters.

About SATAT Scheme:

Sustainable Alternative Towards Affordable Transportation (SATAT) is an initiative of Government of India (GoI).

This initiative is aimed at setting up of Compressed Bio-Gas production plants and making it available in the market for use in automotive fuels by inviting Expression of Interest from potential entrepreneurs.

The Scheme was launched in October 2018 by the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas in collaboration Public Sector Undertaking (PSU) Oil Marketing Companies (OMC) like Indian Oil Corporation Ltd., Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd. and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd.

SATAT has following four objectives:

• Utilization of more than 62 million metric tonnes of waste generated every year in India,
• Cutting down of import dependence,
• Creation of job creation India.
• Reduction of vehicular emissions and pollution from burning of agricultural or organic waste.

The scheme will help to maintain India’s commitment towards reducing carbon emissions, fulfilling agreements such as the Paris Agreement.

Benefits of the SATAT Scheme:

Through the use of Compressed Biogas (CBG), the SATAT has the following benefits -

• Responsible waste management, reduction in carbon emissions and pollution
• Additional revenue source for farmers
• Boost to entrepreneurship, rural economy and employment
• Support to national commitments in achieving climate change goals
• Reduction in import of natural gas and crude oil
• A safety net against crude oil/natural gas fluctuations

Indian 5G Test Bed: The Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, along with the Army Training Command (ARTRAC) recently announced that it will establish a 5G test bed.

Key Points:

• An agreement was signed in this regard today by Lt Gen MU Nair, AVSM, SM, Commandant, Military College of Telecommunication Engineering, on behalf of the Army Training Command, Shimla, and Prof V Kamakoti, director, IIT- Madras, in the presence of Army officials and faculty of the institute.
• The 5G test bed for Army Training Command will be established at the Military College of Telecommunication Engineering (MCTE), Mhow in Indore.
• The collaboration will facilitate the Indian Army to utilise the 5G technology for its operational use, especially along its borders.
• Under the ambit of the MoU, IIT Madras will provide consultancy, duly supported by research for feasibility studies and prototype development on 5G enabled future communications.

Aim of ARTRAC and IIT Madras collaboration:

• The main of the ARTRAC and IIT Madras collaboration is to of give impetus to induction of systems, equipment, and devices using niche technology.
• It is also aimed at using AI-based algorithms to enhance capabilities of armed forces.
• It will also promote collaborative and cooperative research as well as facilitate exchange of ideas for the development of new technology.

Background:

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi had launched India’s first 5G testbed  in May 2022.
• The 5G testbed allowed industries and start-ups to test and certify their technologies domestically.
• It was built at a cost of Rs 220 crore.
• The testbed was created in collaboration with eight institutes, led by IIT Madras.

About Army Training Command:

• The Army Training Command is one among the seven commands of Indian Army.
• It was established in 1991.
• It is based at Shimla.
• Its current commander is Lieutenant General SS Mahal.

About ARTRAC:

• ARTRAC was established on October 1, 1991 at Mhow in Madhya Pradesh.
• However, on March 31, 1993, it was moved to Shimla, Himachal Pradesh.
• The command aims to maximize the effectiveness of training.
• In 2019, it was announced to merge DGMT (Directorate General of Military Training) with ARTRAC.
• DGMT runs Rashtriya Military Schools (RMS).

Bhuvan-Aadhar Portal: A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) has been signed between the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), New Delhi and National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC), ISRO, Hyderabad, for technical collaboration.

Key Points:

• The NRSC will be developing the Bhuvan-Aadhar portal, which will provide information about aadhaar centres across India as well as their locations.
• The portal also provides a facility to search for suitable Aadhaar centres by area based on their needs.
• Bhuvan will facilitate complete geographic information storage, retrieval, analysis and reporting for Aadhaar centres, with a high resolution backdrop of natural color satellite images.

About UDAI:

• The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) is a statutory authority under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY).
• It was established under the provisions of the Aadhaar (Targeted Delivery of Financial and Other Subsidies, Benefits and Services) Act, 2016 on 12 July 2016 by the Government of India (GoI).

Kadam: Researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) , Madras, have launched the country’s first Made-in-India polycentric prosthetic knee ‘Kadam’.

 

Key Points:

• It seeks to improve the conditions for thousands above the amputees.
• It is a ‘Made in India’ product.
• The polycentric knee 'Kadam' has been developed in association with Society for Biomedical Technology (SBMT) andMobility India.
• It was developed by a team at  IIT Madras' TTK Center for Rehabilitation Research and Device Development (R2D2), which also developed and commercialized the country's first standing wheelchair ‘Arise,’ and NeoFlyNeoBolt, an active wheelchair.

Production and Sale of KADAM:

• Mobility India, a Bengaluru-based NGO, will mass-produce and sell Kadam.
• This NGO will also managing the fitting and training processes and guaranteeing simple access for users.

Features of Kadam:

• It is made of high-strength stainless steel and aluminium alloy, as well as strong chrome plated EN8 pins and polymer bushings with a long fatigue life.
• Kadam has an advantage over a hinge joint because of the many axes of rotation which gives the user extra control over the prosthesis while moving and allows for maximal flexion and extension of 160 degrees, making it considerably easier to sit in compact spaces like buses and vehicles.
• It is both affordable and of good quality and performance, meeting ISO 10328 criteria and undergoing 30 lakh cycles of fatigue testing.
• It makes it possible for above-knee amputees to walk with a comfortable gait.
• It not only aims to improve users' mobility, but also their quality of life by increasing community participation, access to education, livelihood opportunities, and overall well-being.
• Its innovative shape is specifically designed to provide stability and reduce the risk of stumbling when walking on uneven terrain.

About SBMT:

• SBMT was established under DRDO by former President Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam to enable indigenous medical device development.

About R2D2:

• R2D2 is active in human movement research, as well as the design and development of rehabilitative and assistive equipment for persons who have movement disabilities.

Iron Beam: Israel successfully tested a new laser missile-defence system ‘Iron Beam‘which can destroy any airborne object including drones.

About Iron Beam:

• Iron Beam is a new laser-based air defence system.
• It is the world’s first energy-based weapons system that uses a laser beam to shoot down incoming UAVs, rockets, mortars, long-range missiles, anti-tank missiles etc.
• It has been developed by the Rafael Advanced Defense Systems is using a directed-energy weapon system and can go a long way in providing aerial defence.
• Iron Beam works on a fibre laser system to destroy any airborne object.
• Iron Dome defense system has been a great success, with a 90% interception rate against incoming rocket fire.

About Israel:

• Israel formally known as the State of Israel  is a country in Western Asia.
• It is located on the southeastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea and the northern shore of the Red Sea.
• It is regarded as the biblical Holy Land by Jews, Muslims and Christians.
• Its most sacred sites are in Jerusalem which is also the Capital of Israel.
• The currency used here is Israeli Shekel.
• The current President and Prime Minister of Israel are Isaac Herzog Prime Minister and Naftali Bennett respectively.

Chelonoidis phantasticus: A rare species of ‘giant’ tortoise, long believed to have gone extinct, has been found alive after over a century on the Galápagos Islands.

Key Details:

• Named Fernanda after her Fernandina Island home, the tortoise is the first of her species, Chelonoidis phantasticus, to be identified in more than a century.

Note: Chelonoidis phantasticus means “fantastic giant tortoise”.

• A genetic test was carried in May 2021 to confirm that the single tortoise is from a subspecies Chelonoidis niger phantasticus.
• The single female discovered during a 2019 expedition to Fernandina Island has now been confirmed to belong to a Galapagos species long believed extinct.
• She is the first of her species identified in more than 100 years.
• A male species was found in 1906 by the explorer Rollo Beck during an expedition.
• The sighting was made by scientists from the California Academy of Sciences who sailed to the Galápagos Islands to carry out comprehensive survey of their flora and fauna.
• The animal, which belongs to the rare Chelonoidis phantasticus species, has been named Fernanda after her Fernandina Island home, a largely unexplored active volcano in the western Galápagos Archipelago.
• All giant Galápagos tortoises are all listed on the IUCN Red List from vulnerable to critically endangered, with one species already extinct.
• The study has been published in the journal Communications Biology.

About Fernandina Island:

• Fernandina Island (formerly known in English as Narborough Island, after John Narborough) is the third largest, and youngest, island of the Galápagos Islands, as well as the furthest west.
• The island was formed by the Galápagos hotspot.
• Fernandina has an area of 642 km2 (248 sq mi) and a height of 1,476 m (4,843 ft), with a summit caldera about 6.5 km (4.0 mi) wide.
• The caldera underwent a collapse in 1968, when parts of the caldera floor dropped 350 m (1,150 ft).
• A small lake has intermittently occupied the northern caldera floor, most recently in 1988.
• The island is an active shield volcano which has been erupting since April 11, 2009.

About Galapagos Islands:

• Galápagos Islands is a volcanic archipelago in the Pacific Ocean.
• These islands are a part of Republic of Ecuador.
• They are located in the Pacific Ocean and are distributed on either side of the equator.
• The islands surround the centre of Western Hemisphere.

DAVINCI Mission: NASA has set a launch date for its exploration of Venus’ hellish landscape.

Key Points:

• The DAVINCI Mission will launch in June 2029, with the goal of plummeting through the planet's harsh layers of atmosphere to reach the planet's surface by the end of 2031.
• NASA scientists and engineers revealed new details about the mission in a paper recently published in The Planetary Science Journal.

About DAVINCI:

• DAVINCI stands for Deep Atmosphere Venus Investigation of Noble gases, Chemistry, and Imaging.
• It is a planned mission for an orbiter and atmospheric probe to the planet Venus using both spacecraft flybys and a descent probe.
• Together with the VERITAS mission, which will also study Venus, it was selected by NASA on 2 June 2021 to be part of their Discovery Program.

VERITAS:

• VERITAS (Venus Emissivity, Radio Science, InSAR, Topography, and Spectroscopy  is an upcoming mission from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) to map the surface of planet Venus in high resolution.
• The combination of topography, near-infrared spectroscopy, and radar image data will provide knowledge of Venus's tectonic and impact history, gravity, geochemistry, the timing and mechanisms of volcanic resurfacing, and the mantle processes responsible for them.

World Brain tumor Day 2022: World Brain Tumor Day is observed every year on 8 June.

Key Facts:

• This day is observed to create awareness about brain tumors.
• According to the National Health Portal, every day worldwide more than 500 new cases are diagnosed with a brain tumor.
• The day also pays tribute to brain tumor patients, their families and healthcare professionals.

Theme:

• In 2022, the theme of World Tumor Day is ‘Together We Are Stronger’.

History:

• World Brain Tumor Day was first observed on June 8, 2000, by the German Brain Tumor Association (Deutsche Hirntumorhilfe e.V.) for supporting brain tumor patients.
• It was founded in the year 1998.
• It has 500 registered members from 14 nations.
• The idea was to give support and raise funds to help Tumor patients and their families.
• The association advocates science and research, especially in neuro-oncology, to develop some effective treatments for brain tumors.

About Brain Tumors:

• A brain tumor can form in the brain cells, or it can begin elsewhere and spread to the brain.
• It is a mass or growth of abnormal cells in your brain.
• As the tumor grows, it creates pressure on and changes the function of surrounding brain tissue, which causes signs and symptoms such as headaches, nausea and balance problems.
• There are two types of brain tumors, noncancerous (benign), and cancerous (malignant).

Geospatial Self-certification portal: Department of Science and Technology (DST) launched the “Geospatial Self-Certification Portal”.

Key Highlights:

• The portal was launched for conveying adherence to provisions of Geospatial Guidelines by individuals, organisations, companies, and government agencies.
• It has been developed in association with the National Informatics Centre (NIC).

Significance of the portal:

• This portal seeks to reduce the time it takes for Geospatial enterprises, universities, researchers, and innovators to receive permissions and approvals for carrying out geospatial-related operations.

New Geospatial Data Guidelines:

• The Government of India (GoI), under the aegis of the Prime Minister has been taking concrete steps to foster ease of doing business and entrepreneurship in the country, with a focus on data and technology-driven development.
• The release of new Geospatial Data Guidelines on February 15, 2021, by DST, was part of this vision and introduced much-needed changes to liberalize the Geospatial industry.
• One of the key developments brought in by the Guidelines was the replacement of process of prior approvals, security clearances, licenses and other restrictions for the collection, generation, preparation, dissemination, storage, publication, updating and/or digitization of Geospatial Data and Maps within the territory of India.
• It further provides for a Self-Certification Regime for conveying adherence to provisions of Geospatial Guidelines by Individuals, companies, organizations, and Government agencies.

Aim of Self-Certification Portal:

• The main aim of Geospatial Self-Certification portal is to remove such restrictions and making data more easily accessible to all.
• Making geospatial data accessible to all, corporations, organisations and individuals would be free to process acquired data and use it for developing required applications and solutions.

About National Informatics Centre (NIC):

• National Informatics Centre (NIC) is a department under Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY).
• NIC was established by Late N Shesagiri in 1976.
• It provides infrastructure, IT Services, IT Consultancy, etc to Central Government Departments and State Governments.
• Thus, it enables delivery of government services to Citizens.

Direct-to-mobile (D2M) Technology: The Department of Telecommunications (DoT), in association with public service broadcaster Prasar Bharat, are exploring the feasibility of a technology that allows to broadcast video and other forms of multimedia content directly to mobile phones, without needing an active internet connection.

About Direct-to-mobile (D2M) technology:

• The technology, called ‘direct-to-mobile’ (D2M) broadcasting is based on the convergence of broadband and broadcast. 
• It allows broadcasting video and other multimedia content directly to mobile phones, without active internet connection.
• It promises to improve utilization of spectrum and consumption of broadband.
• Using this technology, mobile phones will be able to receive terrestrial digital TV.
• It would be similar how people listen to FM radio on mobile phones, in which a receiver within the phone can tap into radio frequencies.

Uses of D2M technology:

• This technology can be used to directly broadcast content related to citizen-centric information.
• It will help in countering fake news, issuing emergency alerts as well as offering assistance in disaster management, among other things.
• It can also be used to broadcast live sports and news, etc. on mobile phones.
• Furthermore, the content should stream without any buffering whatsoever while not consuming any internet data.

Impact of this technology on the consumer:

• Through the D2M technology, consumers would be able to access multimedia content from Over The Top (OTT) or Video on Demand (VoD) content platforms without exhausting mobile data at a nominal rate.
• It will also allow people from rural areas, where internet access is not present or is limited, to watch video content.

Impact of this technology on the business:

• D2M technology will also enable the telecom service providers to offload video traffic for businesses for their mobile network on the broadcast network.
• It will thus help them in decongesting valuable mobile spectrum.
• The technology would also improve usage of mobile spectrum and free up bandwidth, thus reducing the call drops and increasing data speeds etc.

What are the challenges?

• This technology is still at a nascent stage.
• The "greatest challenge" in introducing D2M technology on a larger scale is going to be getting important stakeholders, such mobile operators, on board.
• Infrastructure upgrades and some regulatory changes will be necessary for a mass implementation of the technology.

Initiatives by Government:

A committee has been set by Department of Telecommunications (DoT), to study the feasibility of spectrum band, in order to offer broadcast services directly to to users’ smartphones.

Band 526-582 MHz is envisaged for working in coordination with broadcast services and mobile services.

Background:

• Public service broadcaster Prasar Bharati had in 2021 announced a collaboration with IIT Kanpur to test the feasibility of the technology.

AT present, this band is used by the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting across the country for TV transmitters.

World Brain tumor Day 2022: World Brain Tumor Day is observed every year on 8 June.

Key Facts:

• This day is observed to create awareness about brain tumors.
• According to the National Health Portal, every day worldwide more than 500 new cases are diagnosed with a brain tumor.
• The day also pays tribute to brain tumor patients, their families and healthcare professionals.

Theme:

• In 2022, the theme of World Tumor Day is ‘Together We Are Stronger’.

History:

• World Brain Tumor Day was first observed on June 8, 2000, by the German Brain Tumor Association (Deutsche Hirntumorhilfe e.V.) for supporting brain tumor patients.
• It was founded in the year 1998.
• It has 500 registered members from 14 nations.
• The idea was to give support and raise funds to help Tumor patients and their families.
• The association advocates science and research, especially in neuro-oncology, to develop some effective treatments for brain tumors.

About Brain Tumors:

• A brain tumor can form in the brain cells, or it can begin elsewhere and spread to the brain.
• It is a mass or growth of abnormal cells in your brain.
• As the tumor grows, it creates pressure on and changes the function of surrounding brain tissue, which causes signs and symptoms such as headaches, nausea and balance problems.
• There are two types of brain tumors, noncancerous (benign), and cancerous (malignant).

Geospatial Self-certification portal: Department of Science and Technology (DST) launched the “Geospatial Self-Certification Portal”.

Key Highlights:

• The portal was launched for conveying adherence to provisions of Geospatial Guidelines by individuals, organisations, companies, and government agencies.
• It has been developed in association with the National Informatics Centre (NIC).

Significance of the portal:

• This portal seeks to reduce the time it takes for Geospatial enterprises, universities, researchers, and innovators to receive permissions and approvals for carrying out geospatial-related operations.

New Geospatial Data Guidelines:

• The Government of India (GoI), under the aegis of the Prime Minister has been taking concrete steps to foster ease of doing business and entrepreneurship in the country, with a focus on data and technology-driven development.
• The release of new Geospatial Data Guidelines on February 15, 2021, by DST, was part of this vision and introduced much-needed changes to liberalize the Geospatial industry.
• One of the key developments brought in by the Guidelines was the replacement of process of prior approvals, security clearances, licenses and other restrictions for the collection, generation, preparation, dissemination, storage, publication, updating and/or digitization of Geospatial Data and Maps within the territory of India.
• It further provides for a Self-Certification Regime for conveying adherence to provisions of Geospatial Guidelines by Individuals, companies, organizations, and Government agencies.

Aim of Self-Certification Portal:

• The main aim of Geospatial Self-Certification portal is to remove such restrictions and making data more easily accessible to all.
• Making geospatial data accessible to all, corporations, organisations and individuals would be free to process acquired data and use it for developing required applications and solutions.

About National Informatics Centre (NIC):

• National Informatics Centre (NIC) is a department under Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY).
• NIC was established by Late N Shesagiri in 1976.
• It provides infrastructure, IT Services, IT Consultancy, etc to Central Government Departments and State Governments.
• Thus, it enables delivery of government services to Citizens.

Direct-to-mobile (D2M) Technology: The Department of Telecommunications (DoT), in association with public service broadcaster Prasar Bharat, are exploring the feasibility of a technology that allows to broadcast video and other forms of multimedia content directly to mobile phones, without needing an active internet connection.

About Direct-to-mobile (D2M) technology:

• The technology, called ‘direct-to-mobile’ (D2M) broadcasting is based on the convergence of broadband and broadcast. 
• It allows broadcasting video and other multimedia content directly to mobile phones, without active internet connection.
• It promises to improve utilization of spectrum and consumption of broadband.
• Using this technology, mobile phones will be able to receive terrestrial digital TV.
• It would be similar how people listen to FM radio on mobile phones, in which a receiver within the phone can tap into radio frequencies.

Uses of D2M technology:

• This technology can be used to directly broadcast content related to citizen-centric information.
• It will help in countering fake news, issuing emergency alerts as well as offering assistance in disaster management, among other things.
• It can also be used to broadcast live sports and news, etc. on mobile phones.
• Furthermore, the content should stream without any buffering whatsoever while not consuming any internet data.

Impact of this technology on the consumer:

• Through the D2M technology, consumers would be able to access multimedia content from Over The Top (OTT) or Video on Demand (VoD) content platforms without exhausting mobile data at a nominal rate.
• It will also allow people from rural areas, where internet access is not present or is limited, to watch video content.

Impact of this technology on the business:

• D2M technology will also enable the telecom service providers to offload video traffic for businesses for their mobile network on the broadcast network.
• It will thus help them in decongesting valuable mobile spectrum.
• The technology would also improve usage of mobile spectrum and free up bandwidth, thus reducing the call drops and increasing data speeds etc.

What are the challenges?

• This technology is still at a nascent stage.
• The "greatest challenge" in introducing D2M technology on a larger scale is going to be getting important stakeholders, such mobile operators, on board.
• Infrastructure upgrades and some regulatory changes will be necessary for a mass implementation of the technology.

Initiatives by Government:

A committee has been set by Department of Telecommunications (DoT), to study the feasibility of spectrum band, in order to offer broadcast services directly to to users’ smartphones.

Band 526-582 MHz is envisaged for working in coordination with broadcast services and mobile services.

Background:

• Public service broadcaster Prasar Bharati had in 2021 announced a collaboration with IIT Kanpur to test the feasibility of the technology.

AT present, this band is used by the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting across the country for TV transmitters.

WSIS Forum 2022: Union Minister for Communications, Shri Devusinh Chauhan recently attended the opening ceremony of World Summit of Information Society (WSIS) 2022.

Key Highlights:

• It is being organized by International Telecommunications Unions(ITU) at its headquarter in Geneva, Switzerland from 30th May to 3rd June, 2022.
• India showcased its telecom prowess during multilateral & bilateral engagements at the event.
• The participation comes with India contesting the re-election to the ITU (International Telecommunication Union) Council, for the term 2023-2026.
• India has been a member of ITU, since 1869 and has been continuously participating, actively in the works, and activities of the Union.

Key Points about WSIS 2022:

• The WSIS 2022 represents the world's largest annual gathering of the ICT for development community.
• The event started from 15 March onwards in a virtual format with the final week being held physically with enhanced remote participation from 30 May to 3 June 2022 at the ITU Headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland.
• The WSIS Forum is co-organized by ITU, UNESCO, UNDP and UNCTAD, in close collaboration with all WSIS Action Line Facilitators/Co-Facilitators.

WSIS 2022 Theme:

World Summit of Information Society (WSIS) 2022 is being organized under the theme “ICTs for Well-Being, Inclusion and Resilience: WSIS Cooperation for Accelerating Progress on the SDGs”.

Significance:

• WSIS 2022 has proven to be an efficient mechanism for the following:

• Coordination of multi-stakeholder implementation activities,
• Information exchange,
• Creation of knowledge,
• Sharing of best practices and continues to provide assistance in developing multi-stakeholder and public/private partnerships to advance development goals.

• WSIS 2022 Forum will provide structured opportunities to network, learn and participate in multi-stakeholder discussions and consultations on WSIS implementation.
• The Agenda and Programme of the WSIS 2022 Forum will be built on the basis of the submissions received during the Open Consultation Process.

 

Furthermore, the 2022 WSIS Forum will provide an opportunity to serve as a platform to track the achievements of WSIS Action Lines in collaboration with the UN Agencies involved and provide information and analyses of the implementation of WSIS Action Lines since 2005.

International Liquid Mirror Telescope (ILMT): The International Liquid-Mirror Telescope (ILMT) has recently been set up at the Devasthal Observatory campus owned by Aryabhatta Research Institute of Observational Sciences (ARIES), Nainital in Uttarakhand.

Key Highlights:

• India’s first liquid mirror telescope first came to light in early 2022.
• This telescope will observe asteroid, space debris, supernovae, and all other celestial objects from an altitude of 2,450 metres in Uttarakhand.
• Located at 2,450 metres above mean sea level, there are two firsts with this — it’s the only one to have been developed for astronomy research and is also the only one of its kind to be operational anywhere in the world.

About international liquid-Mirror Telescope:

• It is world’s first liquid-mirror telescope, which was commissioned for astronomy.
• Other liquid-telescopes were previously built either to track satellites or were used for military purposes.
• ILMT will be the third telescope facility at Devasthal, that has become world’s pristine sites for obtaining astronomical observations.
• It is set to commence its full-scale scientific operations in October 2022.
• It will work along with 3.6-metre Devasthal Optical Telescope (DOT), which is India’s largest telescope in operation.

How is conventional telescope different from ILMT?

• A conventional telescope is steered to point towards the celestial source of interest in the sky for observations.

While the liquid-mirror telescopes, on the other hand, are stationary telescopes that image a strip of the sky which is at the zenith at a given point of time in the night that means ILMT  will survey and capture any and all possible celestial objects — from stars, galaxies, supernovae explosions, asteroids to space debris.

• Conventional telescopes comprise of highly polished glass mirrors, either single or a combination of curved ones. These glasses are steered in a controlled fashion to focus on targeted celestial object on specific nights. This light is then reflected to create images.

 While the liquid-telescope is made up of mirrors with reflective liquid. In ILMT, mercury has been used as reflective liquid.

• Conventional telescopes help in observing specific stellar sources for fixed hours in accordance with study requirement and time allotted by respective telescope time allotment committee.

While, ILMT will help in capturing images of sky on all nights between two successive twilights for the next five years starting October 2022..

Which countries are involved in its development?

• India, Canada, Poland, Belgium and Uzbekistan are the main countries to collaborate on setting up the ILMT.

It was designed and built at Advanced Mechanical and Optical Systems Corporation and Centre Spatial de Liège in Belgium.

Space Junk and NETRA Project: With space junk posing increasing threat to Indian assets in space, the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) is building up its orbital debris tracking capability by deploying new radars and optical telescopes under the Network for Space Objects Tracking and Analysis (NETRA) project.

Overview:

• A space debris tracking radar with a range of 1,500 km and an optical telescope will be inducted as part of establishing an effective surveillance and tracking network under NETRA.
• The government has given the go-ahead for the deployment of the radar, which will be capable of detecting and tracking objects 10 cm and above in size.
• It will be indigenously designed and built.
• ISRO plans to have two such radars deployed 1,000 km apart for spatial diversity.
• Curently, ISRO has a Multi Object Tracking Radar at Sriharikota range, but it has a limited range.
• The SSA Control Center in Bengaluru coordinates ISRO's efforts in space situational awareness (SSA), which are administered by the Directorate of Space Situational Awareness and Management at ISRO headquarters.

What is Space Debris?

• The space debris or space junk is a term used to describe a group of unwanted objects in Earth's orbit, whether man-made or natural.
• Natural Debris is made up of natural bodies that orbit the sun, such as asteroids and meteors.
• Artificial space junk or debris consists of exhausted rocket stages, dead satellites, shards of space objects, and debris from the Anti-satellite (ASAT) System.

• These free floating space debris, hurtling through space at a speed of 27,000 kmph in Low Earth Orbit (LEO), pose a genuine hazard as collisions involving even centimetre-sized fragments can be lethal to satellites.
• These particles are a potential hazard for operational satellites and colliding with them can leave the satellites dysfunctional.
• This is referred to as Kessler Syndrome, named after National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) scientist Donald Kessler in 1978.
• According to Kessler Syndrome, if there is too much space trash in orbit, it could cause a chain reaction in which more and more objects hit and create additional space junk, eventually rendering Earth's orbit uninhabitable — a Domino Effect.

Project NETRA:

• NETRA project is an early warning system in space to detect debris and other hazards to Indian satellites.
• NETRA Project was initiated by ISRO in August 2020.
• Under NETRA, ISRO plans to put up the following:

1. Many observational facilities:
2. Connected radars,
3. Telescopes;
4. Data processing units and
5. A control centre.

Note: Radars and optical telescopes are vital ground-based facilities for keeping an eye on space objects, including orbital junk.

• They can also spot, track and catalogue objects as small as 10 cm, up to a range of 3,400 km and equal to a space orbit of around 2,000 km.
• Once operational, it will give India its own capability in Space Situational Awareness (SSA) like the other space powers which is used to ‘predict’ threats from debris to Indian satellites.
• It also goes so far as to serve as an unstated warning against missile or space attack for the country.
• Under this project, SSA was first used for low-earth orbits or LEO which have remote-sensing spacecraft.
• NETRA’s ultimate goal is to capture the GEO, or geostationary orbit, scene at 36,000 km where communication satellites operate.

Why the need?

• With countries launching more and more satellites, each one a strategic or economic asset, preventing collisions may grow increasingly difficult in the future.
• In the year 2021, ISRO monitored 4,382 events in LEO and 3,148 events in the geostationary orbit where space objects closely approached Indian assets.
• For protecting its space assets, ISRO was forced to perform 19 Collision Avoidance Manoeuvres (CAM).
• Fragments from the Fengyun-1C satellite (part of the anti-satellite test (ASAT) by China in 2007) and the Cosmos 2251-Iridium satellite collision in 2009 accounted for the maximum number of these threats.
• The observations also covered 84 “close approaches of less than one km” between Starlink satellites and Indian assets.

PACER Scheme: The Polar Science and Cryosphere (PACER) scheme has been approved for continuation during 2021-2026.

About the PACER scheme:

• Polar Science and Cryosphere Research (PACER) scheme comprises of the Antarctic program, Indian Arctic program, Southern Ocean program and Cryosphere and Climate program.
• It is implemented through National Centre for Polar and Ocean Research (NCPOR), an autonomous institute under the Ministry of Earth Sciences.

Objective:

• The main objective of the scheme is to improve our understanding of Polar Science and the cryosphere system.

Components of PACER:

PACER encompasses the following six components.

1)Construction of polar research vessel

2)Construction of the third research base in Antarctica

3)Indian scientific endeavours in the Arctic

4)Polar expeditions-Antarctica

5)Replacement of Maitri station

6)Southern Ocean

PACER Scheme is one of the five major programs of MoES, other four are:

1)Atmosphere and Climate Research – Modelling, Observing Systems and Services (ACROSS).

2)Ocean Services, Technology, Observations, Resources, Modelling and Science (OSTORMS).

3)Seismology and Geosciences (SAGE).

4)Research, Education, Outreach and Training (REACHOUT).

Major achievements of the PACER scheme in the recent three years are:

1. Executed 39th & 40th Indian Scientific Expedition to Antarctica.
2. 41st Indian Scientific Expedition to Antarctica is ongoing.
3. Clear-air atmospheric observatories containing automatic weather stations, a suite of sensors to measure aerosol and greenhouse gas concentrations has been established at Maitri and Bharati stations.
4. Twenty-three research projects related to glaciology, marine science, polar biology, and atmospheric science were successfully carried out during 2019-20 Arctic Expedition.
5. IndARC mooring system along with Hydrophone system was successfully retrieved and deployed in Kongsfjorden, Svalbard.

Studies in Western Himalayas:

1. Glaciological field campaigns were carried out in six benchmark glaciers in Chandra basin of Lahaul-Spiti region of Western Himalaya.
2. Differential Global Positioning System (DGPS) and Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) survey were conducted.
3. Snow, ice, meltwater, water and cryoconite samples were collected from various glaciers and lakes.
4. Automatic Weather Station (AWS) systems were installed at Baralacha La, a high elevation site in the arid Spiti region to strengthen infrastructure across the Chandra basin.

Indian Antarctic Program:

1. The Indian Antarctic Program is a multi-disciplinary, multi-institutional program under the control of the National Centre for Polar and Ocean Research, Ministry of Earth Sciences.
2. It was initiated in 1981with the first Indian expedition to Antarctica.
3. The program gained global acceptance with India's signing of the Antarctic Treatyand subsequent construction of the Dakshin Gangotri Antarctic research base in 1983, superseded by the Maitri base from 1989.
4. The newest base commissioned in 2012 is Bharati.
5. Under the program, atmospheric, biological, earth, chemical, and medical sciences are studied by India.
6. As of today, Maitri and Bharati are fully operational.

About NCPOR:

The National Centre for Polar and Ocean Research (NCPOR), Goa—an autonomous institute under the Ministry of Earth Sciences—manages the entire Indian Antarctic program.

The Antarctic Treaty:

1. The Antarctic Treaty was signed in Washington on 1 December 1959 by the twelve nations (Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Chile, France, Japan, New Zealand, Norway, South Africa, United Kingdom, United States and USSR).
2. The Treaty, applies to the area south of 60° South latitude.
3. The Treaty now has 52 signatories.
4. India became a member of this treaty in 1983.
5. It is headquartered in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

What is the cryosphere?

1. The cryosphere is the frozen water part of the Earth system.
2. The term “cryosphere” comes from the Greek word, “krios,” which means cold.
3. Ice and snow on land are one part of the cryosphere.
4. These are places on Earth that are so cold that water is frozen solid.
5. These areas of snow or ice, which are subject to temperatures below 0°C 32°F for at least part of the year, compose the cryosphere.
6. This includes the largest parts of the cryosphere, the continental ice sheets found in Greenland and Antarctica, as well as ice caps, glaciers, and areas of snow and permafrost.
7. When continental ice flows out from land and to the sea surface, we get shelf ice.
8. The other part of the cryosphere is ice that is found in water.
9. This includes frozen parts of the ocean, such as waters surrounding Antarctica and the Arctic.
10. It also includes frozen rivers and lakes, which mainly occur in polar areas.

Semicon India Conference 2022: The Semicon India Conference was recently held in Bangaluru Karnataka.

Key Highlights:

• It was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narander Modi.
• The flagship conclave with the theme ‘Catalysing India’s Semiconductor Ecosystem’ was held in Bengaluru from 29th April to 1st May 2022.
• The three day conference was organized by India Semiconductor Mission in partnership with industry associations with the focus being on catalysing India’s Semiconductor Ecosystem.
• The conference featured eminent specialists from industry associations, research organisations, and academia.
• They discussed policy, talent, and the government’s role and efforts in fostering a favourable growth environment for the country’s semiconductor ecosystem.

Objective:

• According to a Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) statement, the three-day conference was held to advance PM Modi’s objective of making India a global hub for Semiconductor Design, Manufacturing, and Technology Development.
• The conference aligns with the larger national narratives such as Make in India and Atmanirbhar Bharat and is pegged as the launchpad to India Semiconductor Mission (ISM).

Background:

• The Semicon India program was approved in March 2022 by the Union Cabinet for the development of the semiconductor and the display manufacturing ecosystem in India.
• With the fiscal outlay of 76000 crore, there are various schemes under this programme such as the scheme to set up Semiconductor fabs and display fabs, Design linked incentive schemes, schemes for setting up compound semiconductors.

Way forward:

• As India is known for its fast growing ecosystem it is projected to cross the consumption of semiconductors by $110 billion by 2030.
• India is considered an attractive destination for investment due to various factors some of them being the building of digital infrastructure to connect over 1.3 billion Indians.

HS200 Booster: The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has successfully carried out the static test of the human-rated solid rocket booster (HS200) solid rocket booster.

Key Highlights:

• The successful completion of this test marks a major milestone for the prestigious human space flight mission of ISRO, taking the space agency one more step closer to the keenly awaited Gaganyaan human spaceflight mission.
• The static test of HS200 for the Gaganyaan programme was completed at Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh.

About HS200:

• HS200 booster designed and developed at Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, Thiruvananthapuram.
• The HS200 booster is the 'human-rated' version of the S200 rocket boosters used on the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mk-III (GSLV Mk-III), also called the LVM3.
• The GSLV Mk-III rocket, which will be used for the Gaganyaan mission, will have two HS200 boosters that will supply the thrust for lift-off.
• The HS200 is a 20-metre-long booster with a diameter of 3.2 metres and is the world’s second largest operational booster using solid propellants.
• Since Gaganyaan is a manned mission, the GSLV Mk-III will have improvements to increase reliability and safety to meet the requirements of ‘human rating.’
• Out of the three propulsion stages of the GSLV Mk-III, the second stage known as L110-G uses liquid propellant while the third stage C25-G with cryogenic propellant are in the final phase of qualification, including tests with static firing.

About Gaganyaan Mission:

• Gaganyaan Mission is India's maiden space mission to send a three-member crew to space for a period of five to seven days by 2022.
• The space mission was first announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2018 in his independence day address to the nation.
• However, this mission was delayed due to COVID-19 pandemic.
• Ahead of the manned mission, ISRO plans to send two unmanned missions to space as part of the Gaganyaan mission.

About ISRO:

• It is an abbreviation for the Indian Space Research Organization. 
• ISRO is the space agency of the Government of India (GoI) and was formed in 15 august 1969.
• It superseded the erstwhile “Indian National Committe For Space Research” (INCOSPAR) which was established in 1962 by the efforts of Independent India's first prime minister‚ Jawaharlal Nehru‚ and his close aide and scientist Vikram Sarabhai.
• In 1972, the Government of India had set up a Space Commission and the Department of Space (DOS), bringing ISRO under the DOS.
• ISRO then embarked on its mission to provide the Nation space based services and to develop the technologies to achieve the same independently.
• Its vision is to “harness space technology for natural development while pursuing space science research & planetary exploration”. ISRO built India’s first Satellite Aryabhata.
• It is headquartered in Bangalore, India.
• The current Chairman of ISRO is eminent rocket scientist Dr S Somanath.

Use of Disposable in Cement Mixture: Researches recently demonstrated a solution to an environmental problem regarding single used masks.

• Single-use masks that were being used during the pandemic are now turning out to be an environmental problem.
• Disposable masks do not decay for decades and therefore they pose a risk to the ecosystem.

 Key facts:

• They have found a way of to use these masks into a mixture of cement to create more durable and stronger concrete.
• The researchers, in a paper that was published in the journal named Materials Letters have demonstrated that the mixture made using mask materials was 47 percent stronger than the cement that is commonly used.
• This study was led by Zhipeng Li, a graduate student in WSU’s Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering.
• The study was funded by the US Department of Transportation’s National Center for Transportation Infrastructure Durability and Life Extension.

The global effect of Cement production:

• Cement production is a carbon-intensive process that is responsible for 8 percent of the world’s carbon emissions.

About the test:

• If concrete is reinforced by using microfibres, the amount of cement needed for a project can be reduced.
• Also, the concrete lasts longer thus saving money and cutting down on carbon emissions.
• There are fibres present in medical masks that can be useful for this industry.
• A process was developed by the researchers to fabricate tiny mask fibres that ranged from 5 mm to 30 mm in length. The fibres were then added to the cement concrete so as to strengthen it and prevent it from cracking.
• The cotton and metal loops from the masks were removed and then they were cut and incorporated into ordinary Portland cement.
• The mask microfibres were mixed into a solution of graphene oxide (GO) which provides an ultrathin layer that strongly adheres to the fibre surfaces to aid in the waste-mask mix (WMM) adhering to the cement mix.
• These were then incorporated into Portland cement, the most used type of cement in the world, which consists of just concrete, mortar and grout. 

However, without the fibres, there will be microscopic cracks in the concrete that would later lead to wider cracks and the failure of the material.

Conclusions:

• Researchers are conducting more studies to test the idea about mask microfibres improving the durability of the concrete as well as protecting it from deicing chemicals and frost damage.

W Boson: Researchers from Collider Detector at Fermilab (CDF) Collaboration, in the U.S., recently announced, through a paper in Science, that they have made a precise measurement of the mass of the so-called W boson, one of nature's force-carrying particles.

Key Points:

• They stated that this precisely determined value did not match with the estimates from the standard model of particle physics.
• The recent experiment which measured the mass of the W boson as 80,433.5 +/- 9.4 Mev/c2 is more than what is expected from the standard model.
• The expected value using the standard model is 80,357 +/- 8 MeV/c2. This implies the incompleteness of the standard model description.
• This is a major claim, since the standard model has been extraordinarily successful in the past decades
• This mass discrepancy of the W boson needs to be checked and confirmed to the same accuracy by other research facilities.

What is W Boson?

• Discovered in 1983 at CERN, located on the Franco-Swiss border, the W boson is a fundamental particle.
• In contrast to the photon, which is massless, the W bosons are quite massive, so the weak force they mediate is very short ranged.
• Together with the Z boson, it is responsible for the weak force, one of four fundamental forces that govern the behaviour of matter in our universe.
• Particles of matter interact by exchanging these bosons, but only over short distances.
• The W boson, which is electrically charged, changes the very make up of particles.
• It switches protons into neutrons, and vice versa, through the weak force, triggering nuclear fusion and letting stars burn.
• This burning also creates heavier elements and, when a star dies, those elements are tossed into space as the building blocks for planets and even people.
• It is responsible for the nuclear processes that make the sun shine and particles decay.

What are the four fundamental forces at work in the universe?

There four fundamental forces at work in the universe are -

1.The strong force,

2.The weak force,

3.The electromagnetic force, and

4.The gravitational force.

• They work over different ranges and have different strengths.
• Gravity is the weakest but it has an infinite range.

Bharat Drone Mahotsav 2022: India's biggest Drone Festival - Bharat Drone Mahotsav 2022 was recently inaugurated at Pragati Maidan in New Delhi by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Key Highlights of the Mahotsav:

• The inauguration ceremony was also attended by Union Ministers Shri Narendra Singh Tomar, Shri Giriraj Singh, Shri Jyotiraditya Scindia, Shri Ashwini Vaishnaw, Shri Mansukh Mandaviya, Shri Bhupendra Yadav, many Ministers of State and leaders and entrepreneurs of drone industry.
• PM modi interacted with Kisan drone pilots, witnessed open-air drone demonstrations and interacted with startups in the drone exhibition centre.
• He also gave away 150 drone pilot certificates.
• He highlighted the importance of drone technology in the fields of defence, disaster management, agriculture, tourism, film and entertainment.
• He pointed out that the use of this technology is bound to increase in the coming days.
• Appreciating the use of drones in PM-SVAMITVA scheme, he said, 65 lakh property cards have been generated with the help of drones.
• Drone industry in India is estimated to achieve 15 thousand crore rupees turnover by the year 2026.
• He also narrated the use of drones in his official decision making through examples of PRAGATI reviews and Kedarnath projects.

About Bharat Drone Mahotsav 2022:

• The Bharat Drone Mahotsav 2022 was a two day festival which took place from 27-28 May 2022.
• Several industry leaders, government officials, foreign diplomats, representatives from Public Sector Units (PSUs), private companies and drone start-ups are participated in the Mahotsav.
• They deliberated upon India’s Civil Aviation sector.
• More than 70 exhibitors showcased various drone use cases.
• Additionally, it saw the introduction of products, panel talks, flying demos, and the display of a Made in India Drone Taxi prototype, among other things.

 

Science & Technology Affairs Current Affairs - June 2022

Axiom Space Ax-1 Mission: A SpaceX capsule carrying three paying customers and a former NASA astronaut arrived at the International Space Station, finishing the first leg of this first-of-its-kind mission that will last about 10 days.

Key Highlights:

• On board this mission are Michael Lopez-Alegría, a former NASA astronaut turned Axiom employee who is commanding the mission; Israeli businessman Eytan Stibbe; Canadian investor Mark Pathy; and Ohio-based real estate magnate Larry Connor.
• The Ax-1 mission, which was organized by Houston Company Axiom Space, is flying on the SpaceX Crew Dragon Endeavour.
• The mission was launched from Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
• The spacecraft, which separated from the rocket after reaching orbit, spent about 20 hours free-flying through orbit as it maneuvered closer to the ISS.

About Ax-1:

• Axiom Mission 1 (or Ax-1) is a private crew mission to the International Space Station (ISS).
• It is operated by Axiom Space out of Axiom Space's Mission Control Center (or MCC-A) in Houston, TX.
• The flight was launched on 8 April 2022, from Kennedy Space Center.

Axiom Space:

• Axiom Space was founded in 2016 with the goal of creating the world's first commercial space station.
• In 2020, Axiom was granted access to the ISS's forward port, with intentions to dock its "Axiom Orbital Segment" there.
• It is a complex that will be expanded to five pressurized modules with a huge observation window by 2024.
•  Axiom also plans to charter paid missions to the International Space Station for the planet's wealthiest citizens.

Gaofen-3 03: China recently launched a new Earth observation satellite named Gaofen-3 03 on 7th April 2022.

Key Points:

• Gaofen-3 03 was launched successfully from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre on board a Long March-4C rocket.
• The new satellite will become part of its land-sea radar satellite constellation by forming a network with the orbiting Gaofen-3 and Gaofen-3 02 satellites.
• These 3 satellites will form a land-sea radar satellite constellation and will be capturing stable, reliable, synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images.

Use of the Satellite:

• It will capture images to help China safeguard its maritime rights and interests.
• It will help in the mitigation and prevention of marine disasters, help in the monitoring of the dynamic marine environment, environmental protection, marine research, agriculture, water conservancy, and meteorology. 

About SAR Images:

• The Earth Observation (EO) satellites capture a large number of SAR images every day.
• These images are characterized by all-weather operation, high spatial resolution, among other things.
• These photos have a 1-meter resolution, which enhances China's surveillance capabilities.

K2-2016-BLG-0005Lb: Astronomers have recently discovered an identical twin of Jupiter dubbed as K2-2016-BLG-0005Lb.

Key Highlights:

This newly discovered twin of Jupiter has a similar mass and is at a similar location (420 million miles away) from its star as Jupiter is from our Sun (462 million miles away).

It has been discovered by an international astrophysicist’s team using data obtained that was obtained by NASA’s Kepler space telescope.

The study led by Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics and David Specht, a Ph.D. student, from the University of Manchester has been published as a preprint on ArXiv.org and submitted to the journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.

Key Points about K2-2016-BLG-0005Lb :

• K2-2016-BLG-0005Lb is “the first bound microlensing exoplanet to be discovered from space-based data.
• It is located 17,000 light-years away from Earth.
• This newly discovered identical twin of Jupiter not only has a mass that is similar to Jupiter but its position from its respective Sun is also similar to that of Jupiter from the Sun.
• It was first detected by the Kepler space telescope in 2016.
• The scientists employed Albert Einstein's Theory of Relativity and a gravitational microlensing method to spot this twin of Jupiter.
• The planet was spotted after the scientists temporarily magnified and bent the light from a background star.

 

Science & Technology Affairs Current Affairs - April 2022

Space Junk and NETRA Project: With space junk posing increasing threat to Indian assets in space, the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) is building up its orbital debris tracking capability by deploying new radars and optical telescopes under the Network for Space Objects Tracking and Analysis (NETRA) project.

Overview:

• A space debris tracking radar with a range of 1,500 km and an optical telescope will be inducted as part of establishing an effective surveillance and tracking network under NETRA.
• The government has given the go-ahead for the deployment of the radar, which will be capable of detecting and tracking objects 10 cm and above in size.
• It will be indigenously designed and built.
• ISRO plans to have two such radars deployed 1,000 km apart for spatial diversity.
• Curently, ISRO has a Multi Object Tracking Radar at Sriharikota range, but it has a limited range.
• The SSA Control Center in Bengaluru coordinates ISRO's efforts in space situational awareness (SSA), which are administered by the Directorate of Space Situational Awareness and Management at ISRO headquarters.

What is Space Debris?

• The space debris or space junk is a term used to describe a group of unwanted objects in Earth's orbit, whether man-made or natural.
• Natural Debris is made up of natural bodies that orbit the sun, such as asteroids and meteors.
• Artificial space junk or debris consists of exhausted rocket stages, dead satellites, shards of space objects, and debris from the Anti-satellite (ASAT) System.

• These free floating space debris, hurtling through space at a speed of 27,000 kmph in Low Earth Orbit (LEO), pose a genuine hazard as collisions involving even centimetre-sized fragments can be lethal to satellites.
• These particles are a potential hazard for operational satellites and colliding with them can leave the satellites dysfunctional.
• This is referred to as Kessler Syndrome, named after National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) scientist Donald Kessler in 1978.
• According to Kessler Syndrome, if there is too much space trash in orbit, it could cause a chain reaction in which more and more objects hit and create additional space junk, eventually rendering Earth's orbit uninhabitable — a Domino Effect.

Project NETRA:

• NETRA project is an early warning system in space to detect debris and other hazards to Indian satellites.
• NETRA Project was initiated by ISRO in August 2020.
• Under NETRA, ISRO plans to put up the following:

1. Many observational facilities:
2. Connected radars,
3. Telescopes;
4. Data processing units and
5. A control centre.

Note: Radars and optical telescopes are vital ground-based facilities for keeping an eye on space objects, including orbital junk.

• They can also spot, track and catalogue objects as small as 10 cm, up to a range of 3,400 km and equal to a space orbit of around 2,000 km.
• Once operational, it will give India its own capability in Space Situational Awareness (SSA) like the other space powers which is used to ‘predict’ threats from debris to Indian satellites.
• It also goes so far as to serve as an unstated warning against missile or space attack for the country.
• Under this project, SSA was first used for low-earth orbits or LEO which have remote-sensing spacecraft.
• NETRA’s ultimate goal is to capture the GEO, or geostationary orbit, scene at 36,000 km where communication satellites operate.

Why the need?

• With countries launching more and more satellites, each one a strategic or economic asset, preventing collisions may grow increasingly difficult in the future.
• In the year 2021, ISRO monitored 4,382 events in LEO and 3,148 events in the geostationary orbit where space objects closely approached Indian assets.
• For protecting its space assets, ISRO was forced to perform 19 Collision Avoidance Manoeuvres (CAM).
• Fragments from the Fengyun-1C satellite (part of the anti-satellite test (ASAT) by China in 2007) and the Cosmos 2251-Iridium satellite collision in 2009 accounted for the maximum number of these threats.
• The observations also covered 84 “close approaches of less than one km” between Starlink satellites and Indian assets.

PACER Scheme: The Polar Science and Cryosphere (PACER) scheme has been approved for continuation during 2021-2026.

About the PACER scheme:

• Polar Science and Cryosphere Research (PACER) scheme comprises of the Antarctic program, Indian Arctic program, Southern Ocean program and Cryosphere and Climate program.
• It is implemented through National Centre for Polar and Ocean Research (NCPOR), an autonomous institute under the Ministry of Earth Sciences.

Objective:

• The main objective of the scheme is to improve our understanding of Polar Science and the cryosphere system.

Components of PACER:

PACER encompasses the following six components.

1)Construction of polar research vessel

2)Construction of the third research base in Antarctica

3)Indian scientific endeavours in the Arctic

4)Polar expeditions-Antarctica

5)Replacement of Maitri station

6)Southern Ocean

PACER Scheme is one of the five major programs of MoES, other four are:

1)Atmosphere and Climate Research – Modelling, Observing Systems and Services (ACROSS).

2)Ocean Services, Technology, Observations, Resources, Modelling and Science (OSTORMS).

3)Seismology and Geosciences (SAGE).

4)Research, Education, Outreach and Training (REACHOUT).

Major achievements of the PACER scheme in the recent three years are:

1. Executed 39th & 40th Indian Scientific Expedition to Antarctica.
2. 41st Indian Scientific Expedition to Antarctica is ongoing.
3. Clear-air atmospheric observatories containing automatic weather stations, a suite of sensors to measure aerosol and greenhouse gas concentrations has been established at Maitri and Bharati stations.
4. Twenty-three research projects related to glaciology, marine science, polar biology, and atmospheric science were successfully carried out during 2019-20 Arctic Expedition.
5. IndARC mooring system along with Hydrophone system was successfully retrieved and deployed in Kongsfjorden, Svalbard.

Studies in Western Himalayas:

1. Glaciological field campaigns were carried out in six benchmark glaciers in Chandra basin of Lahaul-Spiti region of Western Himalaya.
2. Differential Global Positioning System (DGPS) and Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) survey were conducted.
3. Snow, ice, meltwater, water and cryoconite samples were collected from various glaciers and lakes.
4. Automatic Weather Station (AWS) systems were installed at Baralacha La, a high elevation site in the arid Spiti region to strengthen infrastructure across the Chandra basin.

Indian Antarctic Program:

1. The Indian Antarctic Program is a multi-disciplinary, multi-institutional program under the control of the National Centre for Polar and Ocean Research, Ministry of Earth Sciences.
2. It was initiated in 1981with the first Indian expedition to Antarctica.
3. The program gained global acceptance with India's signing of the Antarctic Treatyand subsequent construction of the Dakshin Gangotri Antarctic research base in 1983, superseded by the Maitri base from 1989.
4. The newest base commissioned in 2012 is Bharati.
5. Under the program, atmospheric, biological, earth, chemical, and medical sciences are studied by India.
6. As of today, Maitri and Bharati are fully operational.

About NCPOR:

The National Centre for Polar and Ocean Research (NCPOR), Goa—an autonomous institute under the Ministry of Earth Sciences—manages the entire Indian Antarctic program.

The Antarctic Treaty:

1. The Antarctic Treaty was signed in Washington on 1 December 1959 by the twelve nations (Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Chile, France, Japan, New Zealand, Norway, South Africa, United Kingdom, United States and USSR).
2. The Treaty, applies to the area south of 60° South latitude.
3. The Treaty now has 52 signatories.
4. India became a member of this treaty in 1983.
5. It is headquartered in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

What is the cryosphere?

1. The cryosphere is the frozen water part of the Earth system.
2. The term “cryosphere” comes from the Greek word, “krios,” which means cold.
3. Ice and snow on land are one part of the cryosphere.
4. These are places on Earth that are so cold that water is frozen solid.
5. These areas of snow or ice, which are subject to temperatures below 0°C 32°F for at least part of the year, compose the cryosphere.
6. This includes the largest parts of the cryosphere, the continental ice sheets found in Greenland and Antarctica, as well as ice caps, glaciers, and areas of snow and permafrost.
7. When continental ice flows out from land and to the sea surface, we get shelf ice.
8. The other part of the cryosphere is ice which is found in water.
9. This includes frozen parts of the ocean, such as waters surrounding Antarctica and the Arctic.
10. It also includes frozen rivers and lakes, which mainly occur in polar areas.

 

GSAT 7B Satellite: The Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) has given the Acceptance of Necessity (AoN) for Capital Acquisition proposals of Armed Forces amounting to Rs 8,357 crore. 

Key Highlights:

• The AoN for procurement of a GSAT 7B satellite, along with equipment like Night Sight (image intensifier), 4X4 light vehicles, and Air Defence Fire Control Radar (light) was given at the meeting of 22nd March 2022 held under the Chairmanship of Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh.
• All of these proposals have been approved under ‘Buy (Indian IDDM)’ category with focus on indigenous design & development and manufacturing in India, as an impetus to ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’.

Note: IDDM stands for indigenously designed, developed and manufactured.

• The DAC also accorded consolidated AoN for procurements of Rs 380.43 crore from iDEX startups and MSMEs in a ground-breaking programme to encourage innovation.
• The DAC, to accelerate the pace of indigenisation, achieve self-reliance in defence and to facilitate Ease of Doing Business for defence industry approved effecting the following policy initiatives in the DAP-2020:

• All modernisation requirements of defence forces to be indigenously sourced  with imports used only as a last option.
• To reduce financial burden on defence industry, the IPBG (Integrity Pact Bank Guarantee) requirement will be eliminated, and an Earnest Money Deposit (EMD) will be used as bid security and PCIP(Pre Contract Integrity Pact) coverage up to contract stage.
• EMD will be applicable only for proposals of Rs 100 Cr and above and MSMEs & Startups will be exempted from EMD.
• Vendors whose products are successfully trial evaluated will be provided a certificate to that effect.
• iDEX and Make II procedures have been simplified resulting in compressing timelines and ensuring early placement of contracts on successful iDEX and Make II vendors.

About GSAT 7 satellites:

• The GSAT 7 satellites are advanced satellites developed by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) to meet the communication needs of the defence services.
• The GSAT 7 satellite was launched in August 2013 from an Ariane 5 ECA rocket from Kourou in French Guiana.
• It is a 2,650 kg satellite which has a footprint of nearly 2,000 nautical miles in the Indian Ocean region.
• This satellite is mainly used by the Indian Navy for its communication needs.
• The GSAT 7 provides a gamut of services for military communication needs, which includes low bit voice rate to high bit rate data facilities, including multi-band communications.
• Named Rukmini, the satellite carries payloads in UHF, C-band and Ku-band.
• It helps the Navy to have a secure, real time communication link between its land establishments, surface ships, submarines and aircraft.
• The satellite was injected into a geosynchronous transfer orbit (GTO) of 249 km perigee (nearest point to earth), 35,929 km apogee (farthest point to earth) and an inclination of 3.5 degree with respect to the equator.
• The Army currently is using 30% of the communication capabilities of the GSAT 7A satellite, which has been designed for the Indian Air Force (IAF).

About DAC:

• The Defence Acquisition Council (DAC)is the highest decision-making body in the Defence Ministry for deciding on new policies and capital acquisitions for the three services (Army, Navy and Air Force) and the Indian Coast Guard.
• The Minister of Defence is the Chairman of the Council.
• It was formed, after the Group of Ministers recommendations on 'Reforming the National Security System', in 2001, post Kargil War (1999).

Objective of DAC:

• The main objective of the DAC is to ensure expeditious procurement of the approved requirements of the Armed Forces in terms of capabilities sought, and time frame prescribed, by optimally utilizing the allocated budgetary resources.

Monster Missile Hwasong-17: North Korea successfully test-fired the Hwasong-17 intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) recently.

• The Hwasong-17 missile was launched for testing from a Transporter Erector Launcher (TEL) vehicle.

About Monster Missile Hwasong-17: 

• This is the world's largest intercontinental ballistic missile ever developed.
• The diameter of this missile is between 2.4 and 2.5 meters.
• When fully fuelled, it has a total mass of around 80,000 to 1,10,000 kg.
• This missile has the capability to deliver a nuclear warhead to any United States (US) location.
• The analysts have named this missile a ‘monster missile’.
• This missile was first shown to the public at a military parade commemorating the ruling Workers' Party's 75th anniversary in the year 2020.
• It was again displayed in 2021 in Pyongyang at a defense exhibition.
• Due to this missile’s size, it is being speculated that the Hwasong-17 capable of carrying numerous decoys and warheads, allowing it to effectively penetrate a country's missile defence system.

Ayurveda for Rheumatoid Arthritis: Ayush Ministry has recently launched the world’s first multicenter phase III clinical trial that will be assessing Ayurveda’s efficacy in Rheumatoid Arthritis treatment.

Key Details:

• The clinical trial will be conducted in accordance with stringent International Council for Harmonisation of Technical Requirements for Pharmaceuticals for Human Use – Good Clinical Practice guidelines.
• The trial will be closely monitored by Dr Daniel Erick Furst, a renowned rheumatologist at University of California Los Angeles in the United States of America.
• Dr. Edzard Ernst, currently the Director of Clinical Research at Arthritis Association of South California (AASC) and a vociferous critic of CAM,  has endorsed the study as a model for future investigations on Complementary and Alternative Medicine(CAM).
• The trial will be conducted by the AVP Research Foundation, affiliated to the Arya Vaidya Pharmacy (Coimbatore) Ltd and the Central Council for Research in Ayurveda (CCRAS), Ministry of Ayush.
• The study is expected to begin in May 2022 and is expected to be completed in the next two years.
• The sample size has increased almost five times, from 48 patients to 240.

Where will the trials be conducted?

It will be conducted at three locations which are -

1. Central Ayurveda Research Institute for Metabolic Disorders,
2. Bengaluru, AVP Research Foundation, Coimbatore, and
3. Raja Ramdeo Anandilala Central Ayurveda Research Institute for Cancer, Mumbai.

About Rheumatoid Arthritis:

• Rheumatoid arthritis is an inflammatory autoimmune disease in which the body’s immune system attacks the healthy cells by mistake.
• This causes inflammation in the body parts that are affected.
• This disease mainly occurs in the joints like the joints in the knees, wrists, and hands.

 

Science & Technology Affairs Current Affairs - March 2022

Hydrogen-based advanced Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle (FCEV): India's Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) Nitin Gadkari recently launched India's first green hydrogen-based advanced fuel cell electric vehicle (FCEV) called Toyota Mirai at New Delhi.

• This is a first of its kind project in India which seeks to create a Green Hydrogen based ecosystem in the country and help India to become ‘Energy Self-reliant’ by 2047.

About the Toyota Mirai:

• Toyota Mirai is the world’s most advanced technology-developed FCEV which is completely powered by Hydrogen.

Note: In Japanese, the word 'Mirai' means 'future'.

• It is capable of providing a range up to 650 km in a single charge, with a refuelling time of five minutes.
• This pilot project was initiated by Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM) Pvt. Ltd and International Center for Automotive Technology (ICAT).
• The project is conducting a pilot project to study and evaluate the world's most advanced FCEV Toyota Mirai, which runs on hydrogen, on Indian roads and climatic conditions.
• The project's goal is to spread the knowledge about hydrogen and FCEV technology, as well as disseminate its benefits, in order to help India transition to a hydrogen-based society.

Background:

• Toyota Mirai was launched in 2014.
• It is one of the world’s first hydrogen fuel electric vehicles.

About FCEV:

• Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle (FCEV) is powered by hydrogen.
• It is environment-friendly, as it has zero tailpipe emissions.
• Therefore, it is one of the best zero-emission solutions.

About Green hydrogen:

• Green Hydrogen can be generated using renewable energy renewable energy and abundantly available biomass through electrolysis.

Significance:

• Introduction and adoption of technology to tap into the Green hydrogen’s potential  will play a key role in securing a clean and affordable energy future for India.
• Transportation powered by Green hydrogen is going to be a key technology option of the future with significant application, especially across bigger cars, buses, trucks, ships and trains and best suited for medium to long distances.
• Green Hydrogen offers huge opportunities to decarbonize a range of sectors including road transportation and is gaining unprecedented momentum globally.

Mega Moon Rocket: For the first time, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) rolled out the integrated Space Launch System (SLS) and spacecraft of Artemis-1 moon mission on 17th March 2022.

Key Highlights:

The rocket and spacecraft for NASA's Artemis I mission were kept at the Kennedy Space Center's Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) and it is on the way to Launch Complex 39B for a wet dress rehearsal test.

The integrated SLS and Orion system atop it are being rolled out on a 6.6-million-pound crawler-transporter.

Key Points:

• Once the SLS and Orio ship is secured at the pad, engineers will prepare for a critical wet dress rehearsal test that includes loading all the propellants.
• It will begin on April, 3, 2022.
• Artemis 1 is currently scheduled to launch no earlier than late May 2022.
• SLS and Orion, along with the commercial human landing system and the Gateway that will orbit the Moon, are NASA's backbone for deep space exploration.

About Artemis Program:

• The Artemis program is a United States-led international human spaceflight program.
• Its primary goal is to return humans to the Moon, specifically the lunar south pole, by 2025.
• If successful, it will include the first crewed lunar landing mission since Apollo 17 in 1972, the last lunar flight of the Apollo program.
• The Artemis program began in December 2017 as the reorganization and continuation of successive efforts to revitalize the U.S. space program since 2009.

Objective:

• If the Artemis plan successfully continues, then in 2024, the Artemis 2 mission will follow sending astronauts around the moon and back.
• Artemis mission 3 will put astronauts down on the moon, near the Lunar South Pole with the aid of spaceX's Starship vehicle and is targeted for the year 2025 or 2026.
• The Artemis missions (named after the twin sisters of Apolo in Greek Mythology), NASA will land the first woman and the first person of colour on the Moon and establish long-term exploration in preparation for missions to Mars.
• Long-term objectives are laying the foundations for the extraction of lunar resources, and eventually, making crewed missions to Mars and beyond feasible.

GenOMICC Project: Scientists in the United Kingdom (UK) as part of a research project, GenOMICC (Genetics of Mortality in Critical Care), have identified 16 new genetic variants that make a person more susceptible to a severe COVID-19 infection.

About GenOMICC Study:

• The GenOMICC study is reportedly the largest of its kind.
• It is a research study that brings together clinicians and scientists from around the world to find the genetic factors that lead to critical illnesses.
• The scientists involved compare the DNA of critically-ill patients with members of the general population.
• However, ferreting out such differences requires a large number of people and comparing their genetic structures at multiple levels of resolution.
• Since 2015, the GenOMICC has been studying emerging infections such as SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome), flu, sepsis, MERS (Middle East respiratory syndrome) and other forms of critical illness.

PARAM Ganga: The National Supercomputing Mission (NSM) has installed a supercomputer named “PARAM Ganga” at IIT Roorkee.

About PARAM Ganga:

• PARAM Ganga has a supercomputing capacity of 1.66 Petaflops (Peta Floating-Point Operations Per Second).
• It has been designed and commissioned by Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC) under Phase II of the build approach of the National Supercomputing Mission (NSM).
• The critical components required to build PARAM GANGA, as well as an indigenous software stack created by the C-DAC, are manufactured and assembled in India.
• This is a step forward in the government's Make in India agenda.

Significance:

• The PARAM Ganga” Supercomputer will speed up the research and development activities in multidisciplinary domains of science and engineering with a focus on providing computing power to the IIT Roorkee and neighbouring academic institutions' user communities.

About National Supercomputing Mission (NSM):

• NSM is a joint initiative of Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology (MeiTY) and the Department of Science and Technology (DST).
• It is being implemented by the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC) and the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore.
• C-DAC is in charge of deployment, designing, developing and commissioning the supercomputing system in India.

NSM has three phases:

• Phase I included assembling supercomputers.
• Phase II was manufacturing certain components within the country.
• Phase III is indigenously developing a supercomputer.

NSM has the following four major pillars:

1. Infrastructure
2. Applications
3. R&D (Research and Development)
4. HRD (Human Resource Development)

Some of the large-scale applications being developed under NSM are as follows:

1. NSM Platform for Genomics and Drug Discovery.
2. Urban Modelling: Science-Based Decision Support Framework to Address Urban Environment Issues (Meteorology, Hydrology, Air Quality).
3. Flood Early Warning and Prediction System for River Basins of India.
4. HPC Software Suite for Seismic Imaging to aid Oil and Gas Exploration.
5. MPPLAB: Telecom Network Optimization.

 

• The main goal of NSM mission is to build and deploy 24 supercomputers in India with a total compute power of over 64 petaflops.
• Till now, under NSM Phases 1 and 2, C-DAC has installed 11 such systems at IISc, IITs, IISER Pune, JNCASR, NABI-Mohali, and C-DAC.
• These systems have a cumulative compute power of more than 20 Petaflops.

What is a super computer?

• A supercomputer is a computer with a high level of performance as compared to a general-purpose computer.
• The performance of a supercomputer is commonly measured in floating-point operations per second (FLOPS) instead of million instructions per second (MIPS).
• Petascale computing refers to the computing systems that are capable of calculating at least 1015 FLOPS.
• Supercomputers play an important role in the field of computational science.

Uses of Supercomputers:

• They are used for a wide range of computationally intensive tasks in various fields, including quantum mechanics, oil and gas exploration,  climate research, weather forecasting, molecular modeling (computing the structures and properties of chemical compounds, biological macromolecules, crystals and polymers), and physical simulations (such as simulations of the early moments of the universe, airplane and spacecraft aerodynamics, the detonation of nuclear weapons, and nuclear fusion).
• They have also been essential in the realm of cryptanalysis.

MoU Between ICMR AND DFG, Germany: The Union Cabinet, chaired by PM Modi was apprised of a MoU signed between the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft e.V. (DFG), Germany in accordance with Rule 7(d)(i) of the Second Schedule of Government of India (Transaction of Business) rules 1961.

The MoU about cooperation in scientific research and technological development was signed in December 2021.

Objectives of the MoU:

The objectives are as follows:

• Cooperation in the field of medical sciences/health research in areas including Toxicology, Neglected (Tropical) disease, rare diseases and any other areas of mutual interest.
• Cooperation in scientific research and technological development includes joint funding of scientific research projects, researcher exchanges, and funding of joint seminars, symposia, and workshops of high scientific quality and benefit to the advancement of science, all of which are scientifically significant.

About ICMR:

• The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) is the apex body in India for the formulation, coordination and promotion of biomedical research, is one of the oldest and largest medical research bodies in the world.
• The ICMR was founded in 1911.
• It is funded by the Government of India (GoI) through the Department of Health Research, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
• It is headquartered in New Delhi, India.

About DFG, German Research Foundation:

• Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) is the central, independent research funding organization in Germany.It serves all branches of science and the humanities by funding research projects at universities and other research institutions.

MoU between ICMR, NIAID: The Union Cabinet, chaired by PM Modi has also approved another MoU between ICMR, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), National Institute of Health of Department of Health and Human Services, USA.

It was signed in accordance with Rule 7(d)(i) of Second Schedule of Government of India (Transaction of Business) rules 1961.

Objectives of the MoU:

• Cooperation will be undertaken primarily at the ICMR's National Institute for Research on Tuberculosis (NIRT) in Chennai, India, in the scientific area, including but not limited to, basic, translational and applied innovative research, epidemiology, medicine, molecular biology, medical entomology, parasitology, immunology, medicine, microbiology and virology, with a focus on techniques for prevention, diagnosis and treatment of tropical infectious and allergic diseases.
• Focus on collaboration includes HIV/AIDS, Allergic diseases, immune system diseases, tuberculosis, parasitic infections, other emerging and re-emerging pathogens, and other diseases of shared scientific interest.

Background:

• The Indo-US joint statement was originally signed in 2003 for the establishment of an International Center for Excellence in Research (ICER) in Chennai.
• The same has been extended in 2008 and again renewed in 2017 and now renewed as MOU.
• The ICER is located in Chennai and is a partnership between NIAID and the National Institute for Research on Tuberculosis (NIRT) of ICMR.

Significance:

• This collaboration has aided in developing a fundamental understanding of the immunology of helminth infections, elaborating the effects of diabetes mellitus on the immune response to tuberculosis, conducting several studies to better understand malnutrition and tuberculosis, and initiating a pilot study to investigate the effects of helminth infection, SARS-CooV-2 seropositivity on the immune response, among other things as well.

Mandatory Testing & Certification of communication Equipment (MTCTE): A skill development training program for girl students from rural background has recently been organized by the Telecommunication Engineering Center (TEC) in collaboration with industry.

Key Highlights:

• It was organized on the occasion of the International Woman’s Day on the 8th of March 2022.
• To begin with, EMC Test and Training Center has volunteered to provide a one-week online training programme on EMI/EMC testing.
• Moreover, numerous additional labs have already expressed an interest in providing training in the field of telecom testing, which will be taken up by TEC.

About MTCTE:

• Government of India (GoI) has notified Mandatory Testing & Certification of communication Equipment (MTCTE) in 2017.
• Under the scheme, all telecom equipment, whether imported or indigenously manufactured, are to be tested and certified before their induction/ sale in India for Safety, EMI/ EMC and technical requirements.
• MTCTE for Phase -III and Phase-IV has been notified vide letter dated 22.09.2021.
• Telecommunication Engineering Centre (TEC) is the designated authority for implementation of this scheme.

About Telecommunication Engineering Centre (TEC):

• TEC is a body under telecom commission and a nodal agency of the Department of Telecommunications, Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, GoI.
• It is headquartered in New Delhi.

World Kidney Day 2022: World Kidney day is celebrated on the second Thursday of March every year.

Key Highlights:

• This year, it is being observed on March 10.
• World Kidney Day aims to raise awareness of the importance of our kidneys to our overall health and to reduce the frequency and impact of kidney disease and its associated health problems worldwide.

Theme for 2022:

• The theme for World Kidney day 2022 is “Kidney Health for All”.
• The 2022 campaign focuses on the efforts to increase education and awareness about kidney health and on reducing the stubbornly high CKD knowledge gap at all levels of kidney care.

History of the day:

• The observance of this day was started by the International Society of Nephrology and the International Federation of Kidney Foundations.
• World Kidney Day was first celebrated in 2006.

Objectives of World Kidney Day:

• To raise awareness about kidneys and how to take care of them.
• To highlight that diabetes and high blood pressure are key risk factors for Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD).
• To encourage systematic screening of all patients with diabetes and hypertension for CKD.
• To encourage preventive behaviours.
• To educate all medical professionals about their key role in detecting and reducing the risk of CKD, particularly in high-risk populations.
• To encourage Transplantation as a best-outcome option for kidney failure, and the act of organ donation as a life-saving initiative.
• To stress the important role of local and national health authorities in controlling the CKD epidemic.
• On World Kidney Day all governments are encouraged to take action and invest in further kidney screening.

Kavach: The Union Minister of Railways Shri Ashwini Vaishnaw recently inspected the trial of the ‘Kavach’ working system between Gullaguda-Chitgidda Railway stations on Lingampalli-Vikarabad section in Secunderabad Division of South Central Railway.

Key Points:

• The Kavach (meaning armour in English) is an indigenously developed ATP system by Research Design and Standards Organization (RDSO) in collaboration with the Indian industry.
• This indigenous kavach system adheres to the spirit of Make in India and Atmanirbhar Bharat.
• It is a state-of-the-art electronic system of Safety Integrity Level - 4 standards.
• It is meant to provide protection by preventing trains to pass the signal at Danger (Red) and avoid a collision.
• If the driver fails to control the train as per the speed restrictions then it automatically activates the train braking system.
• In addition, it prevents collision between two Locomotives equipped with a functional KAVACH system.
• It is also known as Train Collision Avoidance System (TCAS).
• ‘Kavach’ is one of the cheapest; Safety Integrity Level 4 (SIL-4) certified technologies with the probability of error are 1 in 10,000 years.
• It also opens avenues of export of this indigenous technology for Railways.

Note:

• It will be soon operational all over India in a gradual manner, as proposed in the Budget.
• As a part of Atmanirbhar Bharat, 2,000 km of the network will be brought under Kavach for safety and capacity augmentation in 2022-23.
• Around 34,000 Kms of the network will be brought under Kavach.

Background:

• It is being developed since 2012.
• In 2016 first field trials were conducted.
• Currently, it is operational in the Lingampalli & Vikarabad section of the South Central Railway (SCR) zone.

Features of Kavach:

1. Prevention of Signal Passing at Danger (SPAD).
2. Continuous update of Movement Authority with a display of signal aspects in Driver Machine Interface (DMI) / Loco Pilot operation cum Indication Panel (LPOCIP).
3. Automatic Braking for Prevention of Over Speeding.
4. Auto Whistling while approaching Level Crossing Gates.
5. Prevention of collision between two Locomotives equipped with functional KAVACH.
6. SoS Messages during emergency situations.
7. Centralized live monitoring of Train movements through the Network Monitor System.

Cluster Bombs and Thermobaric Weapons: Human rights groups Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch accused Russia of using cluster bombs and vacuum bombs in the ongoing war.

Vacuum Bomb:

• A vacuum bomb sucks in oxygen from the surrounding area to generate a high-temperature explosion.
• It has the capability of vaporizing human bodies.
• Vacuum bombs are not prohibited by any international law or agreement, but their use against civilian populations in built-up areas, schools, or hospitals, could attract action under the Hague Conventions of 1899 and 1907.

Thermobaric weapon:

• Thermobaric weapons are also known as aerosol bombs, fuel-air explosives, or vaccum bombs.
• They use oxygen from the air for a large, high-temperature blast.
• A thermobaric weapon causes significantly greater devastation than a conventional bomb of comparable size.
• It can be fitted to hand-held launchers, can be fired as rockets from tank-mounted launchers, or dropped from aircraft.

Cluster munitions:

• According to the 2008 Convention on Cluster Munitions, a cluster munition means a “conventional munition that is designed to disperse or release explosive submunitions each weighing less than 20 kilograms, and includes those explosive submunitions”.
• Essentially, cluster munitions are non-precision weapons that are designed to injure or kill human beings indiscriminately over a large area, and to destroy vehicles and infrastructure such as runways, railway, or power transmission lines.
• They can be dropped from an aircraft or launched in a projectile that spins in flight, scattering many bomblets as it travels.
• Countries that have ratified the Convention on Cluster Munitions are prohibited from using cluster bombs.

Dangers of cluster munitions:

• These cluster munitions are non-precision weapons so they release many small bombs over a large area that can indiscriminately kill civilians.
• It is difficult to locate and remove such unexploded bombs.
• Many of these bombs don’t explode immediately but continue to lie on the ground.
• Hence, even long after the conflict is over they continue to pose threat to the life of civilians.

About Convention on Cluster Munitions (CCM):

• The Convention on Cluster Munitions (CCM) is an international treaty that prohibits all use, transfer, production and stockpiling of cluster bombs.
• It was adopted in Dublin, Ireland, in 2008.
• It entered into force on 1 August 2010, six months after it was ratified by 30 states.
• As of 10th February, 2022,123 states have joined the Convention, with 110 states that have ratified it, and 13 states have signed the Convention but not yet ratified it.
• Apart from prohibiting cluster bombs, the convention also establishes a framework to support the victim assistance, clearance of contaminated sites, risk reduction education, and stockpile destruction.
• It also specifically identifies “cluster munition remnants”, which include “failed or abandoned cluster munitions, unexploded submunitions, and unexploded bomblets.

Note: Ukraine and Russia are not signatories to this convention.

 Obligations:

Countries that ratify the convention will be obliged “never under any circumstances to”:

1. Use cluster munitions
2. Develop, produce, otherwise acquire, stockpile, retain or transfer to anyone, directly or indirectly, cluster munitions
3. Assist, encourage, or induce anyone to engage in any activity prohibited to a State Party under this Convention

Exceptions:

• However, the treaty allows certain types of weapons with submunitions that do not have the indiscriminate area effects or pose the same unexploded ordnance risks as cluster munitions.
• Permitted weapons must contain fewer than ten submunitions, and each must weigh more than 4 kilograms and must contain self-deactivation mechanisms.
• Weapons containing submunitions that all individually weigh at least 20 kg (44 lb) are also excluded.
• A limited number of prohibited weapons can be acquired for training and development of, detection, clearance, and destruction techniques and counter-measures.

Resilient Crops: Scientists at the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI), in collaboration with several other research institutions, have identified about 15,000 selected germplasms of rice and wheat.

Key Details:

• These have been identified for developing varieties that are tolerant to floods, droughts, heatwaves, and diseases to mitigate the adverse impact of climate change on food production.
• This is being done to mitigate the adverse impact of rising in temperature because of climate change on food production.
• Agricultural scientists have sourced rice and wheat genetic resources from a gene bank located at the heart of Delhi as part of a Department of Biotechnology (DBT) project to develop improved crop varieties to combat climate change.
• This gene bank is managed by the National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources (NBPGR).
• The gene bank has around 4 lakh accessions (a unique identifier given to a protein sequence) in its collection.
• These accessions represent the wide natural genetic variation across the 15 agro-climatic regions in the country.

About the technology being used by scientists:

• After identification of genes, 'marker-assisted backcross breeding technology' is being used by the scientists for developing rice and wheat varieties, which could withstand extreme weather conditions such as drought, floods and heatwaves, as well as diseases such as bacterial blasts and blight.
• With the use of this technology, it takes three-five years to develop a new variety which previously used to take at least 10 years.

Varieties of Crops Developed:

• IARI has developed three different types of disease resistance basmati rice which are PB 1847, PB 1886, and PB 1885.
• These have been developed through projects funded by DBT and will be distributed to private sector seed companies for multiplication.
• An MoU with private seed companies will be entered into shortly.
• In the case of wheat, varieties to cope with new challenges with climate-changing scenarios are being developed by NBPGR in coordination with several other institutions.

How many such crop varieties have reached farmers?

• According to DBT, there is a development of 17 varieties of crop plants with enhanced nutritional content, resistance to pathogens and tolerance to abiotic stress.
• The varieties are divided into

• Rice: 8,
• Wheat: 4
• Maize: 2
• Of these, six varieties have already reached farmers’ fields after multiplication by private players.

International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture:

• India is a signatory to the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture.
• It is a global agreement in harmony with the Convention on Biological Diversity.
• It aims at guaranteeing food security through the conservation, exchange and sustainable use of the world’s plant genetic resources for food and agriculture.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Intracortical Visual Prosthesis (ICVP): While there is currently no cure for blindness, a first-of-its-kind artificial vision system has undergone its first successful implantation, bringing with it the potential to restore partial vision to people who have lost their sight.

Key Details:

• This surgery is part of a Phase I Feasibility Study of an Intracortical Visual Prosthesis for People With Blindness.
• The Intracortical Visual Prosthesis (ICVP) is a type of implant that bypasses the optic nerves and the retina to link directly to the brain’s visual cortex.
• The ICVP system has been developed by a team which is led by Philip R. Troyk, executive director of Illinois Institute of Technology’s Pritzker Institute of Biomedical Science and Engineering.
• The study represents the culmination of nearly three decades of Illinois Tech research dedicated to ultimately providing artificial sight to those with blindness due to eye disease or trauma.

About ICVP:

• The Intracortical Visual Prosthesis (ICVP) System is the first intracortical visual implant that uses a group of fully implanted tiny wireless stimulators to see if blind people can benefit from the artificial vision it provides.
• This visual prosthesis system allows the devices to be permanently implanted, which is a unique advantage that provides researchers ample time to figure out how effectively the device works, and for the recipient to learn how the device can be useful.

About the clinical test:

• During the preclinical phase, the Illinois Tech team tied up with neurosurgeons from Rush University Medical Center to develop and optimize surgical procedures.
• This resulted in the successful implantation of 25 stimulators with a total of 400 electrodes in a blind person.
• The clinical test was aimed at testing whether this prosthesis will provide study participants with an improved ability to navigate and perform basic, visually guided tasks.
• After a 4-6-week recovery period, testing will commence at The Chicago Lighthouse.

Quantum Key Distribution (QKD): A joint team of Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT)-Delhi scientists successfully demonstrated a Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) link between Prayagraj and Vindhyachal, Uttar Pradesh, a distance of more than 100 kilometres.

Key Highlights:

• The technological breakthrough was achieved over the commercial-grade optical fibre already available in the field.
• This is for the first time in the country that QKD has been successfully demonstrated.
• This technology will enable security agencies to plan a suitable quantum communication network with indigenous technology backbone.

About Quantum Key Distribution (QKD):

• Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) also called Quantum Cryptography is primarily a mechanism to undertake secure communication, which utilizes a cryptographic protocol involving various components of quantum mechanics.

Process:

• The technology enables two communicating sides to come up with random secret keys shared by both of them and known exclusively to them, so only they can use it to encrypt and decrypt messages, thus achieving a very highly-secure communication.

• The distribution of encryption keys is the crucial factor for this.
• Sharing of keys over the air or wired links requires encryption, which in turn requires encryption keys to be pre-shared.

• Quantum-based communication offers a robust solution to sharing the keys securely.

Significance:

• Secure communications are vital not just for the defence and strategic agencies across the globe but also for various civilian applications.
• With this success, the country has demonstrated indigenous technology of secure key transfer for bootstrapping military-grade communication security key hierarchy.
• The performance parameters have been measured and have been found to be repetitively within the reported international standards at sifted key rates of up to 10 KHz.
• This technology will enable security agencies to plan a suitable quantum communication network with indigenous technology backbone.
• Now, highly secured military-grade communications could occur.

DRDO has undertaken multiple projects for the development of this technology.

Soft X-ray Spectrometer (CLASS): A Large Area Soft X-ray Spectrometer (CLASS), a payload onboard Chandrayaan-2 Orbiter, has detected solar proton events recently.

Key Highlights:

• The Solar Proton Events significantly increase the radiation exposure to humans in space.
• CLASS Payload, on January 18, 2022, also recorded coronal mass ejections (CMEs).
• Such multi-point observations help astronomers in understanding the propagation and its impact on different planetary systems.

What are Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs)?

• Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs) are a powerful stream of ionized material and magnetic fields, which reach the Earth a few days later.
• It leads to geomagnetic storms and lighting up the polar sky with auroras.

When do solar flares occur?

• When the sun is active, spectacular eruptions called solar flares occur.
• Such incidents sometimes also spew out energetic particles (called solar proton events or SPEs) into interplanetary space.
• Most of these flares are high-energy protons that impact space systems and significantly increase radiation exposure to humans in space.
• Solar proton events can cause ionization on large scales in the middle atmosphere of the Earth.

Classification of solar Flares:

• Solar flares are classified according to their strength.
• The smallest ones are A-class, followed by B, C, M and X.
• Each letter represents a 10-fold increase in energy output.
• This means that an M class flare is 10 times more intense than C-class flare and 100 times intense than B-class flare.
• Within each letter class there is a finer scale from 1 to 9 - a M2 flare is twice the strength of M1 flare.

M-class solar flares:

Recently, there were two M-class solar flares.

1. One flare (M5.5) spewed out energetic particles into interplanetary space.
2. The second flare (M1.5) was accompanied by a CME.

Detection of the event:

• The SPE event was seen by NASA's Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES) orbiting around the Earth. However, the CME event was not detected by GOES.
• The CLASS payload on Chandrayaan-2 saw both the SPE and CME events pass by from two intense flares on the Sun.

• It detected SPE due to an M5.5 class solar flare that occurred on January 20, 2022.
• It also detected a CME event, while passing through the moon due to an M1.5 class solar flare.

About CLASS:

The CLASS payload of Chandrayaan-2 measures Moon’s X-ray Fluorescence (XRF) spectra in order to examine the presence of major elements like Aluminium, Magnesium, Calcium, Titanium, Silicon, Iron, and Sodium.

National Science Day 2022: The National Science Day (NSD) is celebrated on 28 February each year in India to spread the message about the importance of science in the daily life of the people.

Key Points:

• This day holds great prominence as it was on this day in 1928 that the Indian Physicist Chandrashekhara Venkata Raman made a significant discovery in the field of Spectroscopy.
• The discovery was later named after him and was known as the ‘Raman Effect’.
• In 1930, CV Raman received the Nobel Prize in Physics for his work.

Theme of NSD 2022:

• The NSD theme for 2022 is ‘Integrated Approach in S&T for Sustainable Future’.
• This theme highlights a folds integrated approach for science and technology for a sustainable future.

History of NSD:

• In 1986, the National Council for Science and Technology Communication (NCSTC) had asked the Government of India to announce February 28 as the National Science Day in India.
• The first National Science Day was observed on February 28, 1987, for the first time.

Significance of this day:

• National Science Day 2022 recognizes the contributions of scientists towards the development of India which helped the country in marking its place in the world.
• The objective of this day is to increase awareness about the importance of science.
• Educational institutions celebrate NSD by organizing public speeches, science movies, radio, television, science exhibitions on various concepts and themes, quiz competitions, debates, science model exhibitions, and lectures.

About CV Raman:

• Indian physicist Sir Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman was a gifted child and he was born in 1888 in Thiruvanaikaval, Tiruchi.
• He completed his schooling in Visakhapatnam before enrolling in The Presidency College, which was part of the University of Madras, for a B.A. programme in 1903 when he was just 14 years old.
• In 1917, CV Raman was appointed the first Palit Professor of Physics at the Rajabazar Science College under Calcutta University.
• While working in the laboratory of the Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science in Kolkata, physicist CV Raman discovered the Raman Effect.
• He and his student K. S. Krishnan, using a spectrograph developed by Raman, discovered that when light passes through a transparent medium, the frequency, and wavelength of the deflected light change.
• They named this phenomenon “modified scattering” and was later termed the Raman scattering or Raman Effect.
• On February 28, 1928, he announced the discovery of the ‘Raman Effect.’
• In 1930, CV Raman received a Nobel Prize for his discovery in the field of Spectroscopy. He became the first Asian to receive a Nobel Prize in any branch of Science.
• In 1933, he moved to Bangalore to become the first Indian Director of the Indian Institute of Science.
• He also founded the Indian Academy of Science in the same year.
• In 1948, CV Raman established the Raman Research Institute where he worked until his last days.
• In 1954, CV Raman was awarded the Bharat Ratna, which is the highest civilian honour in India.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Science & Technology Affairs Current Affairs - February 2022

JPL-SES Joint Venture: Jio Platforms Ltd, the digital arm of Reliance Industries (RIL) has formed a Joint Venture (JV) with Luxembourg-based satellite and telecom services provider SES,  named Jio Space Technology Ltd. to provide satellite-based broadband communication services in India.

SES is a global satellite-based content connectivity solutions provider.

Key Points:

• The joint venture will deliver the next generation scalable and affordable broadband services in India, leveraging satellite technology.
• Jio Platforms Ltd will hold 51% and SES will own a 49% equity stake in the joint venture.
• The total value of the contract is around $100 million.
• As part of the investment plan, the joint venture will develop extensive gateway infrastructure in India to provide services within the country.

About the Joint Venture:

• The joint venture (JV) will use multi-orbit space networks that are a combination of GEO (geostationary equatorial orbit) and MEO (medium earth orbit) satellite constellations.
• It is capable of delivering multi-gigabit links and capacity to enterprises, mobile backhaul and retail customers across the length and breadth of India and neighbouring regions.
• The JV will be the vehicle for providing SES’s satellite data and connectivity services in India, except for certain international aeronautical and maritime customers who may be served by SES.
• It will also have availability of up to 100 Gbps capacity from SES.
• It will leverage Jio’s sales reach in India to unlock this market opportunity.

SES-12:

• The joint venture will leverage SES-12 which is the high-throughput GEO satellite of SES, serving India.
• It will also leverage O3b mPOWER which is the next-generation MEO constellation of SES.
• It will be done in a bid to extend and complement Jio’s terrestrial network as well as to increase access to digital services and applications.

Difference between Jio’s proposed satellite broadband service and Starlink or OneWeb:

• SES primarily has satellites in the GEO and the MEO, while those of Elon Musk-led Starlink and Bharti Group’s OneWeb are in low earth orbit (LEO).
• While GEO satellites are positioned at an altitude of 36,000 km, MEO and LEO are lower at altitudes of 5,000-20,000km and 500-1,200 km, respectively.
• The altitude of the satellite is directly proportional to the area of the earth that it covers. Therefore, the higher a satellite is positioned, the larger an area it covers.

Advantages and disadvantages of GEO, MEO and LEO:

• GEO and LEO satellites are considered to be the two extremes in satellite communications.
• GEO satellites provide a larger coverage and therefore only three satellites can cover the whole earth, hundreds of LEO satellites are needed to provide coverage to a larger area.
• While LEO satellites are smaller and are cheaper to launch than GEOs or MEOs.
• But, LEO-based satellites have risks, for instance, the recent incident of SpaceX’s satellites falling out of orbit as a result of the solar flare has put the spotlight on the riskiness of the technology and the threat from the space debris it creates.
• For MEO satellites, on the other hand, while a simple equatorial orbit covers 96% of the global population, it shares some disadvantages of GEO satellites such as the need for a high inclined antenna for locations away from the equator.

About SES:

• SES is the world’s leader in satellite-based content connectivity solutions.
• Listed on the Paris and Luxembourg stock exchanges, SES has over 70 satellites in two different orbits.
• It provided video and data services to customers across the world.
• Through a string of acquisitions, SES has managed to expand its video and data business beyond Europe to international markets such as the US, India, Kenya, Brazil, Mexico, South Africa, Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia and Australia.

Lassa Fever: Recently, one of the three persons diagnosed with Lassa fever in the United Kingdom (UK) has died on February 11, 2022.

Key facts:

• The cases have been linked to travel to West African countries.
• The Lassa virus is named after a town in Nigeria where the first cases were discovered.
• The death rate associated with this disease is low, at around one percent.
• However, the death rate is higher for certain individuals, such as pregnant women in their third trimester.
• According to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, about 80% of the cases are asymptomatic and therefore remain undiagnosed.
• Some patients may need to be hospitalized and develop the severe multi-system disease.
• 15% of hospitalized patients may die.
• It was first discovered in Lassa, Nigeria in 1969.
• This disease was discovered when two nurses died in Nigeria.

What is Lassa fever?

• Lassa fever also known as Lassa hemorrhagic fever (LHF) is a type of viral hemorrhagic fever caused by the Lassa virus.
• Lassa fever is an animal-borne (zoonotic) virus.
• The virus is commonly carried by rats.
• It is endemic in parts of West Africa — mainly in the regions of Ghana, Mali, Togo, Benin, Sierra Leone, Guinea, Liberia, and Nigeria.

How does it spread?

• According to the WHO, a person can become infected, when they come in contact with food items contaminated with urine or faces of an infected rat.
• People who catch and prepare the rats as food and who may breathe in tiny airborne particles infected with the rats’ faeces are also at risk.
• In rare cases, it can also spread, if a person comes in contact with infected bodily fluids of sick person or through mucous membranes like eyes, nose or mouth.
• Person-to-person transmission is common in healthcare settings.

Symptoms:

• Symptoms of Lassa fever typically occur 1-3 weeks after the patient is exposed to the virus.
• Mild symptoms include slight fever, fatigue, weakness and headache.
• More serious symptoms include bleeding, difficulty breathing, vomiting, facial swelling, pain in the chest, back, and abdomen and shock.
• Neurological problems may also occur including hearing loss, tremors, and encephalitis. Multi-organ failure may cause death within two weeks of symptom onset.
• Most common complication associated with it is deafness.
• The key to improving the survival rate is early supportive care with rehydration and symptomatic treatment.

How to prevent Lassa fever?

Primary transmission of the Lassa virus from its host to humans can be prevented by:

• Avoiding contact with rats.
• Storing food in rodent-proof containers.
• Maintaining hygiene by keeping the house clean and keeping food in rat-proof containers.
• Further human-to-human transmission can be avoided with preventive precautions against contact with patient secretions and proper sterilization.
• Patients should be isolated and PPE kits should be used.

PSLV-C52 Mission: The Indian Space Research Organization, ISRO has successfully launched the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle PSLV-C52.

Key Points:

• PSLV-C52 was launched from the first launch pad of Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota.
• This is the first launch of 2022.
• It is also the first launch since the failure of EOS – 03 missions.
• The PSLV-C52 mission has also injected three satellites into the orbits.
• PSLV C52 placed an EOS-04 radar imaging satellite which weighs 1710 kgs into orbit.

• EOS-04 is a Radar Imaging Satellite.
• It is designed to provide high-quality images under all weather conditions for applications such as forestry and plantations, agriculture, soil moisture and hydrology and flood mapping.
• It is to supplement the data from RISAT – 2B series, Cartosat and Resources at series.
• It generates 2280 W power.
• It has a mission life of 10 years.

• This satellite will be positioned into a Sun synchronous polar orbit gradually.
• As a co-passenger INS-2TD technology demonstrator satellite and INSPIRE sat 1 student satellite were also placed into orbit.

• INS-2TD is a precursor to India-Bhutan Joint Satellite INS-2B.
• INS-2TD carries a thermal imaging camera to assess land and water surface temperature and thermal inertia at day and at night.
• INSPIRE sat-1 is a small satellite from the Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology (IIST) in association with the Laboratory of Atmospheric & Space Physics at the University of Colorado.

This was the PSLV-C52 launch vehicle’s 54th launch in the series.

First-Ever Quadruple Asteroid: Astronomers have discovered a third moon orbiting the main-belt asteroid (130) Elektra, making it the first quadruple asteroid ever found.

Key Highlights:

• Astronomers have now discovered the third moon, orbiting Elekta.
• The team’s paper was published on February 8, 2022, in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics.
• The discovery of the first quadruple asteroid system slightly opens the way for understanding the mechanisms of the formation of these satellites.

About the 3rd Moon:

• It is designated as S/2014 (130) 2 or S3.
• It has a diameter of 1.6 km and an orbital period of 0.679 days.
• It revolves inside S2 orbit, with a semi-major axis of 344 km.
• It has an orbital period of 0.679 days.

About Elektra:

• Elektra is a large main-belt asteroid.
• It was first discovered on February 17, 1873, by Litchfield Observatory astronomer Christian Peters.
• Elektra has an effective diameter of 199 km (124 miles) and an estimated mass of 7*1018.

1st Moon of Electra:

• In 2003, Dr. William Merline and his team discovered the first moon of Elektra using “Keck II telescope” at the Mauna Kea Observatory.
• It is designated as S/2003 (130) 1 or S1.
• It has a diameter of 6 km. It orbits 1,300 km away from the parent asteroid, with a period of 5.3 days.

2nd Moon of Electra:

• On 6 December 2014, the second moon of Electra was discovered by Dr. Bin Yang and his team, using the SPHERE facility on ESO’s Very Large Telescope.
• It has a diameter of around 2 km.
• It orbits 500 km away from Elektra, once every 1.2 days.

SVAMITVA Scheme: Union Minister of State for Science and Technology Jitendra Singh recently said that India plans to prepare digital maps of all its 6,00,000 villages and pan-India 3D maps will be prepared for 100 cities.

Key Highlights:

• He said this at an event to mark the 1st anniversary of the release of Geospatial Data policy guidelines.
• Six lakh villages will be mapped under the SVAMITVA (Survey of Villages and Mapping with Improvised Technology in Village Areas) scheme.
• The ongoing SVAMITVA scheme piloted by the Panchayati Raj Ministry, called SVAMITVA (Survey of Villages and Mapping with Improvised Technology in Village Areas) was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in April 2020.

Key Points:

• The updated guidelines help private companies prepare a variety of maps without needing approvals from a host of Ministries and make it easier to use drones and develop applications via location mapping.
• The “trinity of geospatial systems, drone policy and unlocked space sector will be the hallmark of India’s future economic progress”.
• The complete geospatial policy would be announced soon as the liberalization of guidelines had yielded very positive outcomes within a year’s time.

Significance:

• The geographical information-based system mapping would also be useful in forest management, disaster management, electrical utilities, land records, water distribution, and property taxation.
• The size of the Indian geospatial market in 2020 to be ₹23,345 crore, including ₹10,595 crore of export which was likely to grow to ₹36,300 crore by 2025.

In addition to this, Singh also called for the roll out of a pan-India 3D map of 100 cities across the country by Genesys International.

 

 

 

 

 

 

POWERTHON-2022: Union Cabinet Minister of Power and New & Renewable Energy Shri R K Singh launched POWERTHON-2022.

Key Highlights:

• It was launched virtually on 7 February 2022 in presence of senior officials from various Ministries, REC, DISCOMS, IIT Bombay, and other stakeholders.
• Powerthon-2022 is a hackathon competition to find technology-driven solutions to solve the complex problems in power distribution and to ensure quality and reliable power supply.
• A pilot run will be conducted under POWERTHON-2022 by the selected TSP and scale-up avenues will be pursued under the RDSS scheme thereafter.

About Powerthon-2022:

• The Powerthon-2022 will bring together qualified mentors with Technology Solution Providers (TSPs), startups, innovators, educational and research institutions, equipment manufacturers and state power utilities and other participants from across the nation.
• The participants will be briefed on the current challenges faced across the power distribution sector.
• They are needed to showcase their technology-driven solutions to solve complex problems.
• Those ideas and concepts will be rewarded with licence and the development of prototypes will also be fostered.

Nuclear Fusion Energy: Scientists in the United Kingdom recently stated that they have achieved a new milestone in producing nuclear fusion energy, or imitating the way energy is produced in the sun.

Key Points:

• A team at the Joint European Torus (JET) facility near Oxford in central England generated 59 mega joules of energy from a fusion reaction over five seconds (11 megawatts of power).
• It exceeded the previous mark of just less than 22 megajoules of total energy achieved in 1997.
• With this, the company has smashed its own world record.
• With this, the company has become capable of creating a mini star and holding it there for five seconds.
• The record and scientific data from these crucial experiments are a major boost for the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER), the larger and more advanced version of the JET.

About ITER:

• The ITER is an international nuclear fusion research and engineering megaproject, which will be the world’s largest magnetic confinement plasma physics experiment.
• It is supported by seven members — China, the European Union, India, Japan, South Korea, Russia and the U.S. — and is based in the south of France.
• It seeks to further demonstrate the scientific and technological feasibility of fusion energy.

How was the experiment carried out?

• No material on the earth can withstand 100 million degrees Celsius.
• Therefore, in order to conduct the fusion reaction, the scientists created a solution having super-heated gas or plasma in a machine called a tokamak, a doughnut-shaped apparatus.
• The tokamak is surrounded by giant magnets that confine and circulate the superheated, ionized plasma, away from the metal walls.

Note: A kilogram of fusion fuel contains about 10 million times as much energy as a kilogram of coal, oil or gas. 

About JET Site:

• The JET site is the largest operational one of its kind in the world.
• It is the largest and most successful fusion experiment in the world, achieved the first-ever controlled release of fusion power in 1991.

Fusion reaction:

• Nuclear fusion power works by colliding heavy hydrogen atoms to form helium, releasing vast amounts of energy, mimicking the process that occurs naturally in the centre of stars like our sun.

Significance:

• Energy by nuclear fusion is one of mankind’s long-standing quests of trying to develop fusion energy as a viable power source.
• Unlike the burning of fossil fuels or the fission process of existing nuclear power plants, fusion offers the prospect of abundant energy without pollution, radioactive waste or greenhouse gases.

Artificial Sun:

• In 2021, China's ‘artificial sun’ nuclear fusion reactor in Hefei also set a new world record after running at 126 million°F (70 million°C) for 1,056 seconds — more than 17 minutes.

• The fusion reactor was named EAST, Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokmak.

• South Korea also has its own ‘artificial sun’, the Korea Superconducting Tokamak Advanced Research (KSTAR), which has run at 180million°F (100million°C) for 20 seconds.

International Day of Women and Girls in Science: The International Day of Women and Girls in Science is observed globally on 11 February every year.

Key Points:

• This day recognizes the critical role of women and girls play in science and technology.

Aim:

The day aims to recognize the role of women and girls in science, not only as beneficiaries but also as change agents, particularly in light of accelerating progress toward SDG 6 achievement (Clean Water and Sanitation).

UNESCO and UN-Women organize the Day in conjunction with institutions and civil society partners who want to encourage women and girls to pursue careers in science.

Theme:

The 2022 theme of the Day is “Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion: Water Unites Us”.

History:

• The United Nations issued a resolution in December 2015 designating February 11 as International Day of Women and Girls in Science.
• In 2016 is the first time it was commemorated.
• The goal of this day is to ensure equal participation and involvement of women and girls in the fields of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM).

Impact of Geomagnetic Storm: Elon Musk-owned Starlink lost a dozen of satellites that were caught in a geomagnetic storm a day after the satellites were launched on February 3.

Key points:

• According to Starlink, some 40 out of 49 satellites have been impacted causing them to fall from orbit before they could be commissioned.
• The second stage of the Falcon 9 launcher had deployed the satellites into their intended orbit, with a perigee of around 210 km above Earth.
• Each of the satellites achieved controlled flight.
• They had been due to join its Starlink satellite internet project.
• These satellites were designed to burn up while re-entering the Earth’s atmosphere, in order to avoid the creation of debris in space.

What are Solar storms or flares?

• Solar storms are magnetic plasma ejected at great speed from the solar surface.
• Solar "storms" are caused by powerful explosions on the sun's surface, which spit out plasma and magnetic fields that can hit the Earth.
• This usually occurs during the release of magnetic energy associated with sunspots.
• Sunspots are the dark regions on the surface of the Sun.
• These dark regions are comparatively cooler than the surrounding photosphere.
• These storms usually last for a few minutes or sometimes even hours.

Note: The solar storm that deorbited the satellites occurred on February 1 and 2, and its powerful trails were observed on February 3.

Effect on Earth:

• Most of the Solar flares do not reach the Earth.
• But sometimes, solar flares or storms, solar energetic particles (SEPs), high-speed solar winds, and coronal mass ejections (CMEs) that come close can impact space weather in near-Earth space and the upper atmosphere.

What are services hit by Solar storms?

• Solar storms can hit operations of space-dependent services like global positioning systems (GPS), radio, and satellite communications.
• Geomagnetic storms interfere with high-frequency radio communications and GPS navigation systems.
• Aircraft flights, power grids, and space exploration programmes are also vulnerable.
• CMEs (coronal mass ejections), with ejectiles loaded with matter traveling at millions of miles an hour, can potentially create disturbances in the magnetosphere, the protective shield surrounding the Earth.
• Astronauts on spacewalks could face possible health risks from exposure to solar radiation outside the Earth’s protective atmosphere.

How do scientists predict solar storms?

• Solar physicists, scientists among others use computer models in order to predict solar storms and solar activities.
• The recent phenomenon, February 1-2, that knocked out Starlink’s satellites was already predicted on January 29.
• Current models are capable of predicting a storm’s time of arrival and its speed but the storm’s structure or orientation still cannot be predicted.
• However, with increasing global dependence on satellites for almost every activity, better space weather forecasts and more effective ways for protecting satellites are needed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Square Kilometre Array Observatory (SKAO): India recently inked an interim agreement to confirm its commitment to working on a mega-science project called “Square Kilometre Array Observatory (SKAO)”.

Key Highlights:

• The Cooperation Agreement between India and SKA was signed virtually.
• India was represented by TIFR – National Centre for Radio Astrophysics (NCRA) on behalf of Department of Atomic Energy (DAE), India.
• The agreement is to be valid for one year.

Significance of the Agreement:

This project will facilitate India in making its first monetary contribution towards the construction phase of SKA which got underway in 2021.

About SKAO:

• Square Kilometre Array Observatory (SKAO) is a private organization dedicated to radio astronomy.
• On 12 March 2019, the Square Kilometre Array Observatory (SKAO) consortium was founded in Rome by seven initial member countries.
• It is headquartered in Cheshire, United Kingdom (UK).
• At the moment, organizations from ten countries are a part of the SKAO.
• These include Australia, Canada, China, India, Italy, New Zealand, South Africa, Sweden, the Netherlands and the UK.

Is India a member country of SKA?

• No, at present, India is just a participating country in the setting up of the world’s largest radio telescope.
• It is yet to receive central government’s approval to become a Member Country.

Note: India was a member of the SKA Organisation but it is yet to become a member of the SKA Council.

SKA Council:

• In December 2020, the SKA Organization graduated to become SKA Council.
• The council is an umbrella body to plan, oversee and undertake the construction of SKA Observatory.
• It also manages operations of facilities in decades to come.

SKA Telescope:

• The Square Kilometre Array (SKA) is an intergovernmental radio telescope project. The SKA will be built in the southern hemisphere, with cores in South Africa and Australia, where the view of the Milky Way Galaxy is the best and radio interference at its least.
• It is proposed to be the world’s largest radio telescope.
• In 2011, the SKAO Council approved the establishment of the project mentioned above.
• Its operation, maintenance and construction will be overseen by SKAO.
• It is likely to be operational by the end of this decade.

Note: Four precursor facilities are already operating:-

1. MeerKAT and the Hydrogen Epoch of Reionization Array
2. (HERA) in South Africa,
3. The Australian SKA Pathfinder (ASKAP) 
4. Murchison Widefield Array (MWA) in Western Australia.

Background of SKA:

• SKA was started in the 1990s.
• It was further developed and designed by the late-2010s.
• After completion, it will have a total collecting area of approximately one square kilometre.

Significane of SKA Telescope:

• SKA telescope will operate across a wide range of frequencies.
• Its size will make it 50 times more sensitive as compared to any other radio instrument.
• It will require very high-performance central computing engines as well as long-haul links.
• If it is built as planned, it would be able to survey the sky about ten thousand times faster than before.

Copper-based Nanoparticle-coated Antiviral Face Mask: A team of Indian Scientists in collaboration with an industry partner Resil Chemicals Bengaluru have developed a self-disinfecting ‘Copper-based Nanoparticle-coated Antiviral Face Mask to fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.

Key Highlights:

• It has been developed under the DST-sponsored Nano-Mission project, to fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.
• It has been developed by Scientists at International Advanced Research Centre for Powder Metallurgy and New Materials (ARCI), an autonomous R&D Centre of Department of Science and Technology (DST), Government of India (GoI), in collaboration with the Centre for Cellular & Molecular Biology (CSIR-CCMB) and Resil Chemicals, a Bengaluru based company.

About the Mask:

• The mask exhibits high performance against the COVID 19 virus as well as several other viral and bacterial infections, is biodegradable, highly breathable and washable.
• Public mask-wearing is most effective in reducing the spread of the virus COVID-19 caused by SARS-CoV-2, an enveloped positive-sense single-stranded RNA virus, where the mode of transmission is via respiratory particles that are mainly airborne.

Significance:

• The present-day face masks only retain the viruses by filtering and do not kill them and hence, are prone to transmission if the masks are not properly worn or disposed of.
• In addition, there is a huge concern around the globe regarding the disposal of used masks.
• Most of the conventional masks effective against COVID-19 are for single-use and are not bio-degradable, creating serious environmental concerns and waste-management issues.
• Therefore, in the present scenario, where mutations in coronavirus causing the COVID-19 pandemic are fast emerging, it is an urgent necessity to develop a low-cost antiviral mask.
• The present antiviral mask which is made from cotton fabric that is biodegradable would eliminate that problem too besides making it highly breathable and washable.

ISS to be ceased in 2031: NASA recently announced that the International Space Station (ISS) will cease operations in 2031, after which it will fall out of orbit and plunge into the waters of the South Pacific Ocean.

Key Highlights:

• ISS will continue its operations until 2030.
• According to the space agency`s budget estimates, the ISS, launched in 1998, will be "de-orbited" in January 2031.
• Mission control will first lower its altitude, before the spacecraft begins its descent into the “South Pacific Oceanic Uninhabited Area (SPOUA),” in an area known as Point Nemo.

Point Nemo:

• Point Nemo, also known as the "Oceanic Pole of Inaccessibility" or the "South Pacific Ocean Uninhabited Area", the region around the space cemetery is known for its utter lack of human activity.
• It is about 2,700 km from any land.
• It has become known as the space cemetery where decommissioned space debris, old satellites and other human space debris are often brought to rest.
• It is named after a character in Jules Verne’s novel “Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea.

About ISS:

• The International Space Station (ISS) was the brainchild of former US President Ronald Reagan, who in 1984 proposed building a permanently inhabited spacecraft in cooperation with a few other countries.
• The space station weighs about a million pounds on earth and is approximately the same size as an American football field.
• It can support a crew of six people, along with visitors.
• It also houses laboratory modules from the United States, Russia, Japan and Europe.
• In 1998, the first piece of the space station, a control module, was launched into space onboard a Russian rocket. About two weeks later, a crew onboard the US’ Endeavour space shuttle attached the control module with another part, the Unity node.
• Over the next two years, the space station was built piece by piece until it was ready to carry a crew onboard.
• It was on November 2, 2000, that the first crew arrived.
• Since then, the space lab has carried over 200 astronauts and cosmonauts from about 19 different countries — marking a continuous human presence in space.

Achievements of ISS:

• Several landmark firsts were recorded onboard the ISS in the last two decades.
• For instance, in 2018, NASA’s Cold Atom Lab became the first facility to produce the fifth state of matter, called a Bose-Einstein condensate, in space.
• In 2016, a NASA astronaut was able to sequence DNA in space for the first time.
• Advanced water filtration and purification systems besides successful attempts at crop production onboard the ISS have offered useful lessons for people worldwide who lack access to these crucial resources.

Note: ISS was meant to be operated only for about 15 years but in 2014, NASA extended its tenure in space by another 10 years.

The ISS has been orbiting Earth at a speed of around 8 km/second, for more than two decades.

Chandrayaan-3: Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) will make its third venture to the Moon through the Chandrayaan-3 mission in August this year.

This was stated by Union Minister Dr. Jitendra Singh in a written reply to Lok Sabha.

Key Points Chandrayaan-3:

• Chandrayaan-3 is a planned third lunar exploration mission by the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO).
• Chandrayaan-3 will be a mission repeat of Chandrayaan-2 but will only include a lander and rover similar to that of Chandrayaan-2.
• It will not have an orbiter.
• It will demonstrate India’s capability of soft landing on a celestial body, with the rover.
• It will then communicate with Earth via the existing orbiter from Chandrayaan-2 and take images 100 km from Moon’s orbit.
• The orbiter has an estimated lifespan of seven years.
• Following Chandrayaan-2, where a last-minute glitch in the soft landing guidance software led to the failure of the lander's soft landing attempt after a successful orbital insertion, another lunar mission for demonstrating soft landing was proposed.
• The spacecraft is planned to be launched in August 2022.

This year is expected to be quite busy for ISRO as major projects such as Gaganyaan and Aditya solar mission are also in the pipeline.

ISRO will conduct 19 missions till December 2022.

Objective of Chandrayaan 3:

• The main objective of the unique exploration of Chandrayaan-3 is not only to study just one area of the Moon but all the areas combining the exosphere, the surface as well as the sub-surface in a single mission.
• India further aims to further the study of the lunar surface, focusing on the South Pole or dark side of the Moon that has not seen sunlight in billions of years, which is believed to have ice and vast mineral reserves.

Important Fact:

• With Chandrayaan-1, ISRO achieved immense success as the ‘Moon Impact Probe’ by Chandrayaan-1 lunar remote sensing orbiter detected water in vapor form in trace amounts.

Param Pravega: Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru has installed and commissioned one of the most powerful supercomputers in India.

Key Points

• This supercomputer has been named ‘Param Pravega’.
• It is the largest supercomputer in an Indian academic institution.

About Param Pravega:

• Param Pravega has been designed and developed by the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC).
• This supercomputer has been commissioned in the institution under the National Supercomputing Mission (NSM) which is spearheaded by the Department of Science and Technology and the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) and implemented by C-DAC and IISc.
• It has a total Supercomputing capacity of 3.3 petaflops (1 petaflop equals a quadrillion or 1015 operations per second).
• The majority of components used in the supercomputer have been manufactured and assembled indigenously.
• Its software was also developed in India.

Features of Param Pravega:

• Param Pravega is a supercomputer part of the High-Performance Computing class of systems.
• This system is a mix of heterogeneous nodes, comprising of Intel Xeon Cascade Lake processors for and NVIDIA Tesla V100 cards on the GPU nodes.
• The hardware consists of an ATOS BullSequana XH2000 series system, with a comprehensive peak compute power of 3.3 petaflops.
• It hosts an array of program development tools, utilities and libraries to develop and execute High-Performance Computing (HPC) applications, comprising of the software stack on top of the hardware.
• It also hosts high-memory CPU-only nodes, similar in configuration to CPU-only nodes.
• There is a total of 156 such nodes on this system.
• It can yield a maximum of 7488 cores for high-memory computations.

What is the purpose of commissioning supercomputers?

• Param Pravega supercomputer has been commissioned in the institution under National Supercomputing Mission (NSM) to power diverse research and educational pursuits from entire India.
• Under NSM, 10 other supercomputers have already been deployed across India, seen in institutions such as IITs, IISER Pune, JNCASR and NABI-Mohali, resulting in cumulative computing power of 17 petaflops.

Significance of supercomputers:

• The supercomputer will be used for research and development projects at the institution.
• These systems have greatly helped faculty members and students carry out major R&D activities, including developing platforms for genomics and drug discovery, studying urban environmental issues, establishing flood warning and prediction systems, and optimizing telecom networks.

About National Supercomputing Missions (NSM):

• National Supercomputing Mission (NSM) is a proposed plan by the Government of India (GoI) to create a cluster of seventy supercomputers connecting various academic and research institutions across India.
• It was launched in April 2015 with a total outlay of Rs.4500 crore for a period of 7 years.
• NSM aims to connect national academic and R&D institutions with a grid of more than 70 high-performance computing facilities.
• It supports the government's vision of 'Digital India' and 'Make in India' initiatives.
• The mission is being implemented by the Department of Science and Technology (Ministry of Science and Technology) and Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), through the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC), Pune and Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru.
• It was to enhance the research capacities and capabilities in the country by connecting them to form a Supercomputing grid, with National Knowledge Network (NKN) as the backbone.

What is a Supercomputer?

• The supercomputer is a computer with a high-level computational capacity compared to a general-purpose computer.
• The performance of a supercomputer is measured in floating-point operations per second (FLOPS) instead of million instructions per second (MIPS).
• They are expensive and are employed for specialized applications that require immense amounts of mathematical calculations (number crunching).
• For example, weather forecasting requires a supercomputer.

Other uses of supercomputers:

Other uses of supercomputers are as follows:

• scientific simulations,
• (animated) graphics,
• fluid dynamic calculations,
• nuclear energy research,
• electronic design, and
• analysis of geological data (e.g. in petrochemical prospecting)

World's most powerful supercomputers:

Japanese supercomputers Fugaku (442 petaflops) and IBM’s Summit (148.8 petaflops) are the two most powerful supercomputers in the world.

Supercomputer in India:

Supercomputers developed in India are:

Mihir: Mihir (146th on the list), clubs with Pratyush to generate enough computing power to match PARAM-Siddhi.

PARAM-Siddhi:  It is the high-performance computing-artificial intelligence (HPC-AI) supercomputer, and has achieved a global ranking of 62 in the TOP 500 most powerful supercomputer systems in the world.

Pratyush: It is a supercomputer used for weather forecasting at the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, ranked 78th on the November edition of the list.

PARAM Shivay: It is the first supercomputer assembled indigenously, was installed in IIT (BHU), followed by PARAM Shakti, PARAM Brahma, PARAM Yukti, PARAM Sanganak at IIT-Kharagpur IISER, Pune, JNCASR, Bengaluru and IIT Kanpur respectively.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Detection of Oral Cancer: Scientists from IIT Kharagpur have developed a portable, user-friendly, and non-invasive device for detecting oral cancer in resource-constrained clinical settings.

Key Highlights:

The researchers from the Guru Nanak Institute of Dental Sciences in West Bengal supervised the clinical trials, and have established the efficacy of the new method in differentiating cancerous and precancerous stages of suspected oral abnormalities, as verified by high-standard biopsy reports.

The research has been published recently in the prestigious Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), USA.

About the new technology:

• This is a low-cost, handheld imaging device.
• The device screens the cancerous stage by measuring the blood flow rate in the tissues.
• The blood perfusion imager, which combines a miniature far-infrared camera and a humidity sensor, are electronically controlled and interfaced with a combined physics-based and data-driven software engine.
• The device has sensors and controllers. The biological data collected by these elements are fed into a computer-simulated software engine.
• The engine classifies pre-cancer and cancer cases.

Need for the technology:

• Cancer of the oral cavity remains one of the major causes of morbidity and mortality in socially-challenged and underserved communities.
• Around a fifth of the women population suffers from cancer.
• Also, oral cancer is high in India which is mainly because of tobacco.
• In the last decade, the incidence of oral cancer has increased among young adults and women.
• There is an 80% chance on average of a five-year survival rate if diagnosed early.
• The survival rate drops to 65% or less in more advanced stages of the disease.

Efforts by the Indian Government:

• The Government of India (GoI) has set up National Cancer Control Programme.
• The programme has launched regional cancer centres.

About NPCDCS:

• NPCDCS is the National Programme for Prevention and Control of Cancer, Diabetes, Cardiovascular disease and Stroke.
• NPCDCS was launched in 2010.
• The main objective of this programme is strengthening infrastructure, human resource development, health promotion, early diagnosis, management and referral.

Ultra-Long Period Magneta: Scientists have detected what appears to be an incredibly dense star behaving unlike anything else ever seen.

Key Points:

• They suspect it might be a type of exotic astrophysical object whose existence has until now been only hypothesized.
• The object was spotted using the Murchison Widefield Array telescope in outback Western Australia.
• It unleashed huge bursts of energy roughly three times per hour when viewed from Earth during two months in 2018.
• It may be the first known example of what is called an”ultra-long period magnetar.”
• This is a variety of neutron stars - the compact collapsed core of a massive star that exploded as a supernova - that is highly magnetized and rotates relatively slowly, as opposed to fast-spinning neutron star objects called pulsars that appear from Earth to be blinking on and off within milliseconds or seconds.
• It is located relatively close to Earth in cosmic terms, roughly 4,200 light-years away, where a light-year is the distance light travels in a year, 9.5 trillion km.
• Neutron stars including pulsars are among the universe's densest objects.
• They are roughly 12 km in diameter - akin to the size of a city - but with more mass than our Sun.
• The researchers said that a neutron star with an extreme magnetic field, a magnetar, could potentially power the radio pulsations.

Vikas Engine: The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has successfully test-fired the Vikas engine that would power India’s first human-carry rocket (Gaganyaan human space mission).

Key Highlights:

• This qualification test of the Vikas Engine for the Gaganyaan human space mission was conducted by ISRO at Mahendragiri, Tamil Nadu.
• The test was carried out to verify the robustness of the engine by operating beyond its nominal operating conditions (fuel-oxidizer ratio and chamber pressure).
• The performance of the engine met the test objectives and the engine parameters were closely matching with the predictions during the entire duration of the test.

Objective of Gaganyaan Programme:

The objective of the Gaganyaan programme is to demonstrate the capability to send humans to low earth orbit onboard an Indian launch vehicle and bring them back to earth.

Note: Gaganyaan is India's first manned mission to space.

About ISRO:

• ISRO is an abbreviation for the Indian Space Research Organization. 
• ISRO is the space agency of the Government of India (GoI) and was formed on 15 August 1969.
• It superseded the erstwhile “Indian National Committee For Space Research” (INCOSPAR) which was established in 1962 by the efforts of Independent India's first prime minister‚ Jawaharlal Nehru‚ and his close aide and scientist Vikram Sarabhai.
• In 1972, the Government of India had set up a Space Commission and the Department of Space (DOS), bringing ISRO under the DOS. ISRO then embarked on its mission to provide the Nation space-based services and to develop the technologies to achieve the same independently.
• Its vision is to “harness space technology for natural development while pursuing space science research & planetary exploration”.
• ISRO built India’s first satellite Aryabhata.
• It is headquartered in Bangalore, India. The current Chairman of ISRO is Eminent rocket scientist Dr S Somanath.

Data Privacy Day 2022: Data Privacy Day is celebrated on January 28, every year across the world.

Key Points:

The purpose of Data Privacy Day is to raise awareness and promote privacy and data protection best practices.

It is currently observed in the United States, Canada, Israel, Nigeria and 47 European countries.

Theme of 2022:

• The theme for 2022 is ‘Privacy Matters’.
• It instills a sense of accountability that Privacy is integral to every individual’s life.

Key Facts: 

• Observance of the day is “an international effort of creating awareness on the importance of respecting privacy, enabling trust and safeguarding data”.
• Data privacy has been one of the hot topics of discussion in a digitally connected world.
• The issue has become an important topic of discussion in the digitally connected world, especially at the time of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) pandemic when more and more people are forced to spend time in the online world.
• Now, people are more concerned about protecting their data, with the proliferation of instant messaging mobile applications like WhatsApp and Telegram.
• Failure in safeguarding one’s privacy could result in exploitation as well as criminal offences against internet users.

Objective:

• The main objective of the day is to sensitize individuals and disseminate privacy practices and principles.
• It encourages everyone to own their privacy responsibilities to create a culture of privacy.

History:

• The Council in Europe first initiated Data Privacy Day in 2007.
• Their mission grew to a global platform. In 2009, the United States House of Representatives recognized National Data Privacy Day.
• The United States Senate later recognized Data Privacy Day in 2010 and 2011.
• Since then, various groups and organizations continue supporting the observance annually.

Why is it necessary to ensure data privacy?

It is necessary to ensure data privacy for the following reasons:-

• Personal data has been collected, manipulated, and shared or sold for decades, then manipulated further for profit by banking institutions, product manufacturers, political parties, nonprofit organizations, ad agencies, polling groups, airlines, grocery stores, credit agencies, and many others.
• Personal data is collected through a variety of media.
• Digital technologies have made the collection of personal data easier, both legally and illegally.

What is being done to ensure data privacy?

• To ensure data privacy, some companies have rolled out many security features on mobile applications, such as “end-to-end encryption”. For instance, WhatsApp and Telegram are providing this feature.
• This feature ensures that the exchange of information is not visible to anyone and it remains restricted to two people involved in a particular conversation.

Note: In India, at present, sensitive data is regulated by the Information Technology Act 2000.

Difference between Data Privacy and Data security:

• Data privacy is not the same thing as data security, although the two are closely connected and interdependent.
• Data security is like putting steel bars on windows to make it difficult for others to burglarize your home; whereas data privacy is more like pulling down the window shades so no one can look inside to see any of your activities.

Science & Technology Affairs Current Affairs - January 2022

China's Artificial Moon: China has built an artificial low-gravity artificial moon research facility that is capable of controlling gravity with the use of powerful magnets by scientists.

Key Points:

The gravity can be controlled to such low levels that it can successfully simulate the moon’s gravity.

Note:

• China has successfully created an “artificial sun” too which is a nuclear fusion reactor.
• This artificial Sun reached temperatures five times hotter than the Sun and for over 17 minutes.
• This artificial sun seeks to eventually help create the source of near-unlimited clean energy to power cities.

 About Artificial moon research facility:

• The artificial moon research facility is scheduled to be officially launched later this year.
• The research facility is the first of its kind in the world.
• The research facility will be filled with dust and rocks to simulate the lunar surface.

Objective:

• As per Li Ruilin of the China University of Mining and Technology, the main objective of this project is to use powerful magnetic fields inside a vacuum chamber of 2-foot-diameter, for making the gravitational pull of the Earth disappear.

• However, it cannot be used to train astronauts because of the small size of the low-gravity research facility.
• NASA trains its astronauts for microgravity situations in high-altitude parabolic flights.

What is the use of this facility?

• The facility has been established to augment China's ongoing lunar exploration programme.
• It will be used to extensively test the technology in prolonged low-gravity environments, before sending it to the moon, where gravity is one-sixth of Earth’s gravity. 
• It will also help the scientists work out the technical vulnerabilities in the expensive equipment and also test the durability of instruments.
• In addition, it will also help in the assessment of the viability of human settlement on the moon.

About China's Lunar Exploration Programme:

In 2019, Chang’e 4 landed the rover on the far side of the moon.

In 2020 Chang’e 5 gathered rock samples from the moon’s surface as part of this initiative.

Chang’e is named after the Chinese Goddess of the moon.

How was the low-gravity research facility created by China?

• According to the Chinese scientists, they were inspired by a 1997 experiment that used magnets to completely levitate the frog.
• The experiment was carried out by “Andre Geim”, who is a physicist at the University of Manchester in the U.K.
• He won “satirical Ig Nobel Prize in 2000” for conducting an experiment in which a frog was made to float with a magnet.
• The levitation trick used in his experiment comes from an effect dubbed as “diamagnetic levitation”.
• So they used the same trick is being used in the “Artificial Moon research facility”.

What is diamagnetic levitation?

• Diamagnetic Levitation occurs by bringing a diamagnetic material in close proximity to material that produces a magnetic field.
• The diamagnetic material will repel the material producing the magnetic field.

For instance -

• Atoms consist of atomic nuclei and electrons orbiting around them in loops of current.
• These moving currents induce tiny magnetic fields.
• Usually, randomly oriented magnetic fields of all the atoms of an object cancel out, and no material-wide magnetism is evident.
• With the application of an external magnetic field to these atoms, electrons modify their motion and produce their own magnetic field to oppose the external magnetic field.
• If the applied external field is strong enough, the magnetic force of repulsion between it and the field of the atoms will grow powerful enough to overcome gravity and levitate the object into the air.

 

Made In Africa Satellites: South Africa recently launched its first satellite constellation developed entirely in the continent of Africa.

Key Points:

• Three locally nanosatellite constellation — consisting of three satellites is called MDASat (Marine Domain Awareness).
• It was launched from Cape Canaveral in the United States, as part of American aerospace company SpaceX’s Transporter-3 mission.
• Transporter-3, SpaceX’s third dedicated rideshare mission, carried a total of 105 spacecraft for various organizations and governments, including CubeSats, microsats, PocketQubes and orbital transfer vehicles.

Significance:

• The MDASat nanosatellite constellation is designed to collect data that will enhance the security and protection of South African marine resources.
• The constellation will detect, monitor and identify foreign vessels within the country’s exclusive economic zone.
• This could help track illegal dumping and fishing.

 

Threat to Airline Safety: The chief executives of major US passenger and cargo airlines have warned of a “catastrophic” aviation crisis this week as AT&T and Verizon deploy new 5G services.

Key Points:

• They said the new C band 5G service set to begin could render a significant number of widebody aircraft unusable, causing chaos for US flights and potentially stranding tens of thousands of Americans overseas.
• The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has warned that the new 5G technology could interfere with instruments such as altimeters, which measure how far above the ground an airplane is traveling.

What are altimeters?

• An altimeter or an altitude meter is an instrument used to measure the altitude of an object above a fixed level.
• Altimeters operate in the 4.2-4.4 GHz range and the concern is that the auctioned frequencies sit too close to this range.
• In addition to altitude, altimeter readouts are also used to facilitate automated landings and to help detect dangerous currents called wind shear.

Altimetry & Bathymetry:

• The measurement of altitude is called altimetry.
• The measurement of depth under-water is called bathymetry.

Pig Heart Transplantation: for the first time in medical history, doctors in Maryland hospital in the USA recently transplanted a pig heart into a patient in the last effort to save his life.

Key Points:

• The surgery went miraculously well and the patient was doing well three days after surgery.
• However, the next few weeks will be critical as the patient recovers from the surgery and doctors carefully monitor how his heart is faring.
• The doctors transplanted a pig heart into a 57-year-old man named David Bennett from Maryland in the last effort to save his life.
• It marks the first effort to use animal organs for life-saving transplants.
• As per Doctors at the University of Maryland Medical Center, transplant highlighted that heart from a genetically modified animal can function in the human body, without immediate rejection.

Significance:

• This will be a great breakthrough in medical history if the pig heart transplant works then there will be an endless supply of these organs for patients who are suffering.
• It will fill up the huge shortage of human organs for transplant cases.
• Scientists over the years have researched using animal organs instead.

How was this latest surgery different?

• In the recent transplant, Maryland surgeons used a heart from a pig after it underwent gene-editing in a bid to remove sugar in its cells which is responsible for hyper-fast organ rejection.

Note: The US Food and Drug Administration had allowed the surgery under a compassionate use emergency authorization when a patient with a life-threatening condition has no other options.

Prior attempts:

• All prior attempts at animal organ transplants have failed because patients’ bodies rapidly rejected the animal organ.
• For instance, in 1984, Baby Fae, who was a dying infant, lived for 21 days with a baboon heart.

What is Xenotransplantation?

• The procedure that involves the transplantation of living cells, organs, or tissues from one species to another is called Xenotransplantation or heterologous transplant.
• Such cells, organs, or tissues are called xenografts or xenotransplants.
• The technique of Xenotransplantation of human tumor cells into immunocompromised mice is often used in pre-clinical oncology research.

Vinisha Umashankar:  Vinisha Umashankar is a student innovator who inspired the world with her solar ironing cart is now India’s Batonbearer for the ongoing 16th official Queen’s Baton Relay.

Key Details:

• Ms. Vinisha Umashankar, a student innovator turned environmentalist from Tiruvannamalai district of Tamil Nadu, has been selected as a "changemaker" and Batonbearer for the ongoing 16th official Queen’s Baton Relay (12-15 January 2022) in India.
• The 16th official Queen’s Baton Relay started at the Buckingham Palace in London on 7th October 2021.
• It is scheduled to conclude on 28th July 2022 at the Opening Ceremony of the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games after traveling 72 nations and territories of the Commonwealth for 294 days.
• With the arrival of the baton in India, the 27th nation in the route, the Queen's Baton Relay will continue in India from 12th to 15th January 2022.

About Mobile ironing cart:

• Vinisha Umashankar received the Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam IGNITE Awards instituted by National Innovation Foundation (NIF) – India, an autonomous body of the Department of Science and Technology (DST) for her mobile ironing cart.
• The cart uses solar panels to power a steam iron box.
• It turned out to be an inspiration for the world after her speech at the 26th Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change in 2021 at Glasgow, Scotland.
• A key benefit of Vinisha’s solar ironing cart is that it eliminates the need for coal for ironing bringing about a welcome shift towards clean energy. End-users can move around and offer services at the doorstep for increasing their daily earning.
• The ironing cart can also be fitted with a coin-operated GSM PCO, USB charging points, and mobile recharging, which can fetch extra income.
• India is committed to solving the global climate change problem through Science, Technology, and Innovation based solutions.
• It’s the next generation of innovators like Vinisha who provide the nation a strong hope that “Tomorrow can be better than today” by virtue of their scientific thinking, societal focus, and institutional support mechanism like the one offered by NIF in India, which could be replicated in other parts of the world.

• Today’s success of Ms. Vinisha reflects the significance of Institutional support mechanisms and a conducive eco-system for innovators.
• Following the conferring of the award, NIF had been very instrumental in driving prototype development and Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) protection for Vinisha's innovation.
• NIF is also committed to improving the Technology Readiness Level (TRL) of her innovation in partnership with the Indian National Academy of Engineering (INAE).

S Somanath: Eminent rocket scientist Dr. S Somanath has recently been appointed as the new Chairman and Space Secretary of the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO).

Key Highlights:

• His appointment was approved by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC).
• He will be the tenth chairman of the premier space organization.
• His appointment as the Space Secretary and the Space Commission Chairman is for a combined tenure of three years from the date of joining the post.
• The post of the ISRO chairman, the Space Secretary and the Space Commission chief is usually held by one person only.
• Dr Somanath is currently the Director of Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) in Kerala's Thiruvananthapuram.
• He will succeed Kailasavadivoo Sivan who completes his extended tenure.

• Sivan was appointed as the ISRO chief in January 2018 and was given a one-year extension till January 14, 2022.

About Dr. S Somanath:

• Mr. Somanath is an expert in a host of disciplines including launch vehicle design.
• He has specialized in launch vehicle systems engineering, structural design, structural dynamics, integration designs and procedures, mechanism design, and pyrotechnics.
• He was a team leader for the Integration of the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) during the early phases of his career.
• He is the recipient of the Space Gold Medal from the Astronautical Society of India (ASI), Performance Excellence Award-2014 and Team Excellence Award-2014 for GSLV Mk-III realization, from ISRO.

About ISRO:

• ISRO is an abbreviation for the Indian Space Research Organization. 
• ISRO is the space agency of the Government of India (GoI) and was formed on 15 August 1969.
• It superseded the erstwhile “Indian National Committee For Space Research” (INCOSPAR) which was established in 1962 by the efforts of Independent India's first prime minister‚ Jawaharlal Nehru‚ and his close aide and scientist Vikram Sarabhai.
• In 1972, the GoI had set up a Space Commission and the Department of Space (DOS), bringing ISRO under the DOS.
• ISRO then embarked on its mission to provide the Nation space-based services and to develop the technologies to achieve the same independently.
• Its vision is to “harness space technology for natural development while pursuing space science research & planetary exploration”.
• ISRO built India’s first satellite Aryabhata.
• It is headquartered in Bangalore, India.

ATL Space Challenge 2021 Results: The results of the ‘ATL Space Challenge 2021’, was recently declared by NITI Aayog's Atal Innovation Mission (AIM) after successful completion and overwhelming participation from young innovators.

The event coincides with the birth anniversary of Swami Vivekananda, also celebrated as National Youth Day.

Key Points:

• The Challenge was launched in collaboration with the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE).
• The challenge was designed for all the school students, mentors and teachers across the country who not only are associated with schools having Atal Tinkering Labs (ATL) but for all the non-ATL schools as well.
• This Challenge also had the heartening participation of over 35% of girl students.
• The ATL Space Challenge witnessed over 2500 submissions from both ATL and Non-ATL students across the country from which 75 top innovators were selected.
• It was for the first time that an ATL challenge was open to both ATL and non-ATL students.

Objective of the Challenge:

• The ATL Space Challenge 2021 was launched on 6th September 2021 with an objective to enable innovation among young school students to create something in the space sector that will not only help them learn about the space but create something that space programmes can use. 

The Challenge also aligned with the World Space Week 2021, which is observed from 4 to 10 October each year at the global level in order to celebrate the contributions of space science and technology.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Covid-19 new variant ‘IHU’: A new coronavirus variant called 'IHU' has recently emerged in France amid the rapid surge of Omicron cases across the world.

Key Points:

• The discovery of the variant, dubbed B.1.640.2 was announced in a paper posted on medRxiv.
• The B.1.640.2 variant was discovered at the institute IHU Mediterranean Infection.
• Researchers believe that it contains 46 mutations.
• This has more mutations than the Omicron variant of COVID-19.
• The new variant has been associated with the African country Cameroon.
• France has reported at least 12 cases of this variant.
• This new variant can be a major threat.
• However, the cases have not been reported so far in countries other than France and are not labeled as ‘variant under investigation’ by the World Health Organization (WHO).

Identification of this new variant:

• The variant can be identified using careful PCR analysis of signals that are different from Delta and Omicron.

Currently, Omicron is the dominant coronavirus variant in France and other European countries like the United Kingdom and Portugal with surging case numbers over the past few days.

Note:

Scores of new variants are discovered all the time, but it does not necessarily mean they will be more dangerous.

What makes a variant more well-known and dangerous is its ability to multiply because of the number of mutations it has in relation to the original virus.''

 

ISM: Information Technology Minister, Ashwini Vaishnaw recently launched India Semiconductor Mission (ISM).

Key Points:

• ISM has been launched to attract large investments for setting up semiconductor wafer fabrication facilities in India.
• Under the scheme, the interested companies are invited by the Centre for the development of the semiconductors and display manufacturing ecosystem in India.
• These companies will get an advantage of Rs 76,000-crore incentives set aside by the central government for developing semiconductors and demonstrating India's manufacturing ecosystem.
• To avail of this advantage the companies will have to apply for the scheme beginning January 1, 2022.
• In order to receive applications for the scheme, a portal has been created.

About India Semiconductor Mission (ISM):

• ISM is a specialized and independent business division within the Digital India Corporation.
• It is a government-led initiative to develop semiconductors in India (ISM).
• The mission goal is to build a vibrant semiconductor besides displaying ecosystem in order for India to emergence as a global hub in electronics manufacturing and design.
• It has the authority to negotiate with applicants under the semiconductor fab scheme and display fab scheme.
• It also has the autonomy to choose the appropriate technology mix, node generation, applications, and capacity, among other things.

Background:

• The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology had announced this scheme on December 21, 2021.
• The Union Cabinet had approved all these four schemes on December 15, 2021.
• The centre has committed to providing financial support of Rs 2.30 trillion to position India as a global hub for electronics manufacturing.
• The program was created in order to attract large investments in the production of AMOLED-based display panels or TFT LCDs.

Fiscal Support:

• The financial support of up to 50% of the project cost (ceiling of Rs 12,000 crore per fab) in order to set up certain variants of silicon-based semiconductor fab across India will be provided for the scheme for setting up display fabs.
• Fiscal support will be provided on ‘pari-passu’ basis for a period of six years from the date of approval both for semiconductor fabs and display fabs.

What is a semiconductor?

• A semiconductor is a material product that is usually made up of silicon.
• It conducts electricity more than an insulator, such as glass, but less than a pure conductor, such as metallic copper or aluminum.
• The electrical conductivity of the semiconductor can be altered with the introduction of impurities to meet the specific needs of the electronic component in which it resides.

What is a fab?

• A fab is short for a fabrication plant where raw silicon wafers are processed and transformed into integrated circuits.

 

Open Rock Museum: Union Minister of Science & Technology Jitendra Singh inaugurated India’s first unique “Rock” Museum in Hyderabad.

The Museum was inaugurated at the CSIR-National Geophysical Research Institute (NGRI).

About Open Rock Museum:

• There are 35 different varieties of rocks from different parts of India like Jharkhand, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, Uttarakhand, Jammu & Kashmir, etc. displayed in the museum.
• The age of these rocks ranges from 3.3 billion years to around 55 million years.
• These rocks also represent the deepest part of the earth up to 175 km of distance from the surface of the earth.
• “Big Earth Data” occupies the strategic high ground in the era of knowledge economies and India has been fully exploiting this new frontier contributing to the advancement of Earth science.
• Geosciences have been contributing significantly towards self-reliance in new India.

About Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR):

• CSIR was established on 26 September 1942.
• Dr. Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar was the Founder Director (and later first Director-General) of CSIR.
• It is the largest research and development (R&D) organization in India.
• It is funded by the Ministry of Science and Technology and it operates as an autonomous body through the Societies Registration Act, 1860.
• The main objective of CSIR was to bring science and technology to the country and develop research capabilities that would support the industry.

About National Geophysical Research Institute (NGRI):

• NGRI is a constituent research laboratory of CSIR.
• It was established in 1961.
• The main objective of NGRI is carrying research in multidisciplinary areas of highly complex structures and processes of the Earth system.
• It has the mandate to conduct research for public-good science in a bid to enable government agencies, public & private sector stakeholders for making informed decisions on the use of geo-resources sustainably.

 

IMSc is 60: The Institute of Mathematical Sciences (IMSc), Chennai came into the 60th year of its existence on January 3rd, 2022.

Key Facts:

• The Institute of Mathematical Sciences (IMSc) (sometimes also referred to as Matscience) was founded in Chennai by Alladi Krishnaswamy.
• It is a research centre located in Chennai.
• Nobel Laureate Subrahmanyam Chandrasekhar gave the inaugural lecture at IMSc.
• It is funded mainly by the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE).
• In 1984, DAE took charge of the institute.
• IMSc is a national institute for fundamental research in frontier disciplines of the mathematical and physical sciences: theoretical computer science, mathematics, theoretical physics, and computational biology.
• The institute operates the Kabru supercomputer.

 

GitHub: The open-source software repository service GitHub was in the news recently.

Key Highlights:

• It was used to create and share an offensively named app that sexually harassed Muslim women in India.
• IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has announced that GitHub has taken remedial measures by blocking the user that used pictures of the women stolen from their social media handles and invited “users” to bid for them.
• The Indian Computer Emergency Response System (Cert-In), the nodal agency for monitoring cyber security incidents, has been asked to form “a high-level committee” to investigate.
• Delhi and Mumbai Police have registered FIRs on complaints by some of the women who were targeted.

What is GitHub?

• GitHub is the world’s largest open-source developer community platform where users upload their projects and code for others to view, edit, and tweak.
• It is headquartered in California and it has been a subsidiary of Microsoft since 2018.
• Under this platform, any developer can upload whatever software code or app code, or software idea they have on the platform and have others collaborate with them to help improve it, find errors, and fix problems.
• It offers the distributed version control and source code management (SCM) functionality of Git, plus its own features.
• The platform uses the software Git, which was created in 2005 by Linus Trovalds, the developer of the open-source operating system Linux, to track changes in a set of files and for coordination in software development.

 

KCCRSST: Raksha Mantri Rajnath Singh recently inaugurated Kalpana Chawla Centre for Research in Space Science & Technology (KCCRSST) at Chandigarh University.

He also launched a Scholarship Scheme, worth Rs 10 crore, for the wards of Defence Personnel of the three Services.

Key points:

• KCCRSST was inaugurated on January 03, 2022.
• It is established with the objective of training students in space science, satellite development and to meet future challenges in space research.
• KCCRSST would be the Ground Control Station (GCS) for Chandigarh University's Student Satellite (CUSat), an in-house developed nano-satellite being designed by the students of the university and a Geo-Spatial Centre for research, besides other projects.
• The CUSat will be among the 75 student-built satellites to be launched into space on the eve of the 75th Independence Day in 2022.
• Chandigarh University has joined the list of 13 institutes like the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kanpur, IIT Bombay and became the first university in North India to design and develop its own satellite.
• With the launch of CUSat, Punjab will become the first border state in India to have its own satellite in space.
• The launch of the university's nanosatellite - CUSat will prove to be an important step for the country, as it will collect data related to border intrusion detection, agriculture, weather forecasting, natural disaster forecasting, which will be helpful in the research and study of various problems in these areas.
• In addition, the GCS will help develop satellite research facilities and launch satellites in countries that do not have developed satellite technology.
• The GCS under the KCCRSST will monitor the majority of Low Earth Orbit (LEO) Satellites including CUSAT and being a member of the SatNOGS project, will be monitoring more than 380 satellites with over 810 transmitters in more than 50 Countries.

 

Aquamation: On January 8, 2022, the body of Nobel Peace Prize-winning Anglican archbishop Desmond Tutu underwent aquamation in Cape Town.

What is aquamation?

• Aquamation is also called alkaline hydrolysis.
• It is a process for the disposal of human and pet remains using lye and heat.
• The process is being marketed as an alternative to the traditional options of burial or cremation.

What is the process of aquamation?

• The dead body is immersed in a mixture of water and a strong alkali in a pressurized metal cylinder, for a few hours.
• The dead body is then heated to about 150 degrees centigrade.
• The combination of gentle water flow, alkalinity and temperature accentuate the breakdown of organic materials.
• The process of water cremation leaves behind bone fragments and a neutral liquid called effluent.
• Decomposition through this process is similar to what happens during burial, just sped up dramatically by using chemicals.
• The effluent is sterile, and it comprises amino acids, salts, sugars, and peptides.
• No tissue and DNA are left after this process.
• The neutral liquid is discharged with all other wastewater and it can be added to the water systems.

Note:

• As per the Cremation Association of North America (CANA), alkaline hydrolysis is a “flameless cremation”.
• This process is considered an environment-friendly way of disposing of a body.
• It is also dubbed as bio cremation, resomation, flameless cremation, water cremation, green cremation, or chemical cremation.

History:

The process was originally developed as a method to process animal carcasses into plant food, patented by Amos Herbert Hobson in 1888.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Science & Technology Affairs Current Affairs - December 2021

India – ITU Joint Cyber Drill 2021: The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) and International Telecommunication Union (ITU) operating under the Ministry of Communications recently commenced India-ITU Joint Cyber Drill 2021.

Key Highlights:

• This Cyber Drill is a four days virtual event starting from 30 November to 3 December 2021.
• It is intended for Indian entities especially Critical Network Infrastructure operators.

Note: The Critical Network Infrastructure are the systems, assets and networks that are essential to ensure the security of a country.

• The inaugural session witnessed the participation of several experts from ITU, United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), INTERPOL, National Security Council Secretariat (NSCS), Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) and other eminent organizations.
• Ms Atsuko Okuda, Director of ITU Regional Office, Asia and Pacific Region highlighted significant achievement of India in securing 10th rank in the ITU Global Cybersecurity Index (GCI).
• More than 400 participants participated from critical sectors, namely, power, finance, insurance, CERT-In and CSIRT, industry, academia, telecom service providers and field units of DoT.
• The art and Culture arena at this Utsav drew the attendees through enchanting skits such as Sand Artist performance, Flash Mob, and varied stalls by banks & fintech.

Aim of CyberDrill:

• It aims to improve the cyber security readiness of India. Also, it aims to improve the protection and incident response capability of the country.
• During the cyber drill, the cyber attacks and information security incidents were simulated and the participants were trained to defend and respond against such incidents.
• Thus, the drill helped to test the cyber capabilities of an organization.

Benefits of India – ITU Joint Cyber Drill:

• The drill emphasized the role of Computer Security Incident Response Team and Computer Incident and Response Team (CIRT).
• The CIRT is responsible for handling security breaches
• It also strengthened India’s capability in protecting critical information infrastructure and building cyber resilience.

About the Terms related to the drill:

CIRT: Computer Incident Response Team (CIRT) is responsible for handling the security breaches.

CERT: Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT) is an expert group that handles the cyber threats and cyber-attacks.

• It includes the computer emergency readiness team and the CSIRT.

CSIRT: Computer Security Incident Response Team's (CSIRT) main responsibility is to expose the cyber-attacks targeting an organization.

SOC: Security Operation Centre (SOC) is a centralized function that employs people, technologies and processes to continuously monitor and improve the security of the organization.

• It prevents, detects, analyses and responds to the cybersecurity incidents.

What steps have been taken by India to improve Cyber Security?

The steps taken by India to improve Cyber Security are as follows:

• Section 66F of ITA Act
• National Cyber Policy, 2013.
• Cyber Swachhta Kendra.
• Cyber Surakshit Bharat Initiative.
• Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C)
• Online cybercrime reporting portal.
• National Critical Information Infrastructure Protection Centre (NCIIPC)

Azadi Ka Digital Mahotsav: The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) recently hosted a unique event dubbed as ‘Digital Payment Utsav’.

Key Highlights:

• Digital Payment Utsav was hosted as part of the week-long ‘Azadi Ka Digital Mahotsav’.
• The event was held at the India Habitat Centre.
• Under this event, the day celebrated the journey and rise of digital payments in India.
• This event brought together leaders from the Government, banking sector, fintech companies and startups.

About Digital Payment Utsav:

The event witnessed the following:

• Unveiling of the DIGIDHAN logo,
• The launch of an awareness campaign called Digital Payments Sandesh Yatra with digital payments anthem titled ‘Chutki Baja ke’ (cashless, touchless, paperless).
• An award ceremony for banks and fintechs namely ‘Digidhan Awards” for their achievements and promotion of digital payments in FY 2019-20 and FY2020-21.
• During the event, MeitY also awarded and recognized the contribution of four payment system aggregators for onboarding street vendors under the PM SVANidhi Scheme.
• The event saw the launch of innovative solutions like:

Payments On the Go:

Wearables are re-defining the true paperless contactless payments, catalysing them further, Bank of Baroda and City Union Bank launched Rupay-on-the-Go.

Inclusive Credit for All:

Credit cards represent the next big in fintech and contactless is truly the way forward. To drive it to the next level, India Post Payments Bank-Punjab National Bank, Kotak Bank, YES Bank, Indian Overseas Bank, ICICI Bank, Indian Bank, Bank of Maharashtra, and City Union Bank launched Contactless Credit cards on the RuPay network.

SOFTPOS- Empowering Small Merchants:

India has close to 1.5 crore retail stores/ Kiryana stores. Union Bank announced an android-based SOFTPOS mobile app for point of sales, which will further the cause of digital payment adoption.

Skyroot Aerospace: Hyderabad-basedSkyroot Aerospace became the country’s first privately developed, fully cryogenic rocket engine running on two high-performance rocket propellants — liquid natural gas (LNG) and liquid oxygen (LoX) after it successfully test-fired Dhawan-1 in November 2021.

About Dhawan-1:

• The engine is completely 'Made-in-India" crygenic engine which was developed using 3D printing with a superalloy.
• The engine is fuelled by liquefied natural gas and lilquid Oxygen- a high=performance, low-cost and clean rocket fuel.
• It has been named after Satish Dhawan, who was the third chairman of ISRO. He pioneered the development of advanced launch capabilities of India.

Key Points:

• That has set the firm on a higher trajectory with an ambitious plan to launch the first private space launch vehicle using cryogenic engine Vikram-2 into orbit in two years.
• Before that, the two co-founders — Naga Bharath D. (IIT-Madras, 2012 batch) and C. Pawan Kumar (IIT-Kharagpur, 2012 batch) have plans to put their first launch vehicle, 20-metre Vikram-1, based on solid propulsion engine, in space.

Note: Vikram Rocket has been named after pioneering Vikram Sarabhai, who kickstarted the ambitious space program in India. He also conducted advanced nuclear research.

• This was after successfully designing and developing the solid propulsion rocket engine, the first private firm in the country to do so.
• The firm has already won a national award for start-ups in space research and had an online interaction with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Plant-Based Chewing Gum: Scientists from the University of Pennsylvania have recently developed a chewing gum that they say can potentially reduce transmission of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus.

Key Points:

• The chewing gum is laced with a plant-grown protein, which serves as a “trap” for the  SARS-CoV-2 virus.
• This in turn can potentially decrease the viral load of the SARS-CoV-2 infection in saliva, and reduce its transmission.
• The study has been published in the 'Molecular Therapy Journal'.
• When a person infected with SARS-CoV-2 sneezes, coughs or speaks, some of the virus can be expelled and reach others.
• The chewing gum targets the virus in the saliva, and does so by trapping it with the angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) proteins.
• The ACE2 protein in humans is where the coronavirus latches on to, in order to enter the cell.
• The study was carried out in collaboration with researchers from The Wistar Institute and Fraunhofer, USA.

LCRD: On December 7 around 3:50 pm IST, NASA launched its new Laser Communications Relay Demonstration (LCRD) from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.

Key Points:

• LCRD payload is hosted onboard the Space Test Programme Satellite 6 (STPSat-6) of the US Department of Defense Space.
• It will be in a geosynchronous orbit, about 35,000 km above Earth.
• LCRD is the first-ever laser communications system of NASA.
• The LCRD will help the agency test optical communication in space.
• Currently, most NASA spacecraft use radio frequency communications to send data.
• But, Optical communications will help increase the bandwidth 10 to 100 times more than radio frequency systems.
• LCRD will also show all of the advantages of using laser systems.
• With this capability, laser communications can be implemented on more missions in a bid to standardise way to send and receive data.

Features of LCRD:

• LCRD has two optical terminals – one to receive data from a user spacecraft, and the other to transmit data to ground stations.
• The modems will translate the digital data into laser signals.
• This will then be transmitted via encoded beams of light.
• These capabilities make LCRD NASA’s first two-way, end-to-end optical relay, the agency said in a release.

What are the advantages of laser over radio?

• Laser communications and radio waves use different wavelengths of light.
• Laser uses infrared light and has a shorter wavelength than radio waves. This will help the transmission of more data in a short time.
• As per NASA’s estimate, it would take around 9 weeks to transmit a completed map of Mars back to Earth using the current radio frequency systems, while, with laser systems, it can be accelerated to around 9 days.
• LCRD will transmit data to Earth at 1.2 gigabits-per-second (Gbps) operating infrared lasers.
• As Optical communications systems have smaller sizes & weights so they require less power than radio instruments.

Anil Menon: Anil Menon is an Indian-origin physician who has been selected by National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) along with nine others to be astronauts for future missions.

Highlights:

• The announcement was made by the American space agency NASA.
• In a statement, Nasa announced that it has chosen 10 new astronaut candidates from a field of more than 12,000 applicants to represent the US and work for humanity's benefit in space.

About Anil Menon:

• 45 years old Anil Menon, a lieutenant colonel at the US Air Force, was SpaceX's first flight surgeon.
• He helped to launch the company's first humans to space during Nasa's SpaceX Demo-2 mission.
• Menon previously served Nasa as the crew flight surgeon for various expeditions taking astronauts to the International Space Station.
• He is an actively practicing emergency medicine physician with fellowship training in wilderness and aerospace medicine.
• As a physician, he was a first responder during the 2010 earthquake in Haiti, the 2011 Reno Air Show accident and 2015 earthquake in Nepal,.

Note: Earlier, aeronautical engineer Sirisha Bandla in July became the third Indian-origin woman to fly into space after Kalpana Chawla and Sunita Williams.

Till now, Wing Commander Rakesh Sharma is the only Indian citizen to travel in space. The former Indian Air Force pilot flew aboard Soyuz T-11 on April 3, 1984, part of the Soviet Interkosmos programme.

Exoplanet with Earth-Like Magnetosphere: Recently, a team of astronomers used data from the Hubble Space Telescope for discovering the signature of a magnetic field on an Exoplanet.

Highlights:

• The findings were described in the journal called Nature Astronomy.
• It is for the first time, that such a feature has been seen on an exoplanet.

Key Points:

• The magnetic fields are essentially regions of charged carbon particles that surround the planet, whilst streaming away from it in a long tail.
• They're helpful in protecting the planetary atmosphere.
• Researchers used the Hubble for observing the exoplanet HAT-P-11b.
• HAT-P-11b is a Neptune-sized planet, located at a distance of 123 light-years from Earth.
• Observations were made in ultraviolet light spectrum.
• Hubble managed to detect carbon ions surrounding the planet, also commonly known as the magnetosphere.

What is an Exoplanet?

• An Exoplanet or extrasolar planet is a planet outside our Solar System.
• In 1917, the first possible evidence of an exoplanet was found but was not recognized as such.
• The first confirmed exoplanet was detected in 1992.
• As of December 2021, there are 4,878 confirmed exoplanets, located across 3,604 planetary systems.
• Out of all the systems, 807 systems are having more than one planet.

How are exoplanets detected?

Most exoplanets are found through indirect methods. Such as -

• Measuring the dimming of a star that happens to have a planet pass in front of it, called the transit method.
• Monitoring the spectrum of a star for the tell-tale signs of a planet pulling on its star and causing its light to subtly Doppler shift.
• Other detection methods include gravitational lensing, the so-called “wobble method.”

However, Transit photometry and Doppler spectroscopy have found the most.

JWST: The American space agency NASA successfully launched its largest and most powerful space telescope, James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) on 25th December 2021.

Key Highlights:

• The most powerful and complex space observatory ever built, blasted off into space, beginning a one-million-mile journey to see 13.5 billion years into the past.
• The $10 billion observatory was launched aboard Ariane 5 rocket from the Guiana Space Center in Kourou, French Guiana.
• The telescope will take about a month to reach its destination in the solar orbit, which would be roughly 1 million miles from the Earth, four times away from the moon.
• Webb will not be in orbit around Earth, like the Hubble Space Telescope, but will actually orbit the Sun.
• JWST is an international collaboration between NASA, the European Space Agency (ESA), and the Canadian Space Agency.

Goal of JWST:

• The primary goal of JWST will be to study galaxy, star, and planet formation in the universe.
• The new telescope will help scientists to probe the structures and origins of our universe and our place in it.
• It will aim to find the first galaxies that formed in the early universe and look through dusty clouds to see stars forming planetary systems.
• It will examine every phase of cosmic history, starting from the first luminous glows after the Big Bang to the formation of galaxies, stars and planets and the evolution of our solar system.
• It will also be able to tell more about the atmospheres of extrasolar planets.
• It could even find the building blocks of life elsewhere in the universe.

About James Webb Space Telescope:

• Webb is a large, space-based, infrared observatory, and a successor to the Hubble Space Telescope.
• Development of the $10 billion telescope began in 1996.
• The infrared telescope is the largest space observatory ever built, and the first of its kind.
• The James Webb Telescope is named after James Edwin Webb, who was an American government official who served as Undersecretary of State from 1949–1952. He oversaw NASA during most of its formative decade of the 1960s. 
• It is 100 times more powerful than Hubble, and has been folded origami-style to fit in the rocket atop which it was launched.
• Webb will unfold like a “Transformer” in space.
• Webb is also set to unfold the Universe and will usher in a new era of astronomy.

Science & Technology Affairs Current Affairs - November 2021

China launches three new remote sensing satellites: China has successfully launched three new remote sensing satellites on November 6, 2021 from the Xichang Satellite Launch Centre. The centre is located in country’s southwestern Sichuan province.

Key Points
• The satellites belong to the Yaogan-35 family.
• They were launched by a Long March-2D carrier rocket and entered the planned orbit successfully.
• The launch of these satellites marks the 396th mission for Long March series carrier rockets of China.

Background
Regarded as the main stay of China’s space programme since 1970, the country’s Long March-3B rocket had completed its 300th launch in March 2019 successfully. The rocket had put a new communication satellite into orbit. This rocket is regarded as the main stay of Chinese space programme since 1970.

About Long March carrier launches

The Long March carrier rocket series has been developed by the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC). This rocket series is responsible for about 96.4 per cent of all the launch missions in China.

While it took 37 years for the Long March rockets to complete the first 100 launches, the second 100 launches were completed in 7.5 years. What’s more the final launches 100 were accomplished in only about four years. The average number of launches per year increased from 2.7 to 13.3 and then to 23.5.

China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC)
Beijing headquartered CASC is the main contractor of Chinese space program. It manufactures aerospace equipment. The corporation has a number of subordinate entities which are involved in designing, developing and manufacturing a range of spacecraft, strategic & tactical missile systems, space launch vehicles, ground equipment and other aerospace products. This state-owned corporation was officially established in July 1999.

WISER Program: Women’s Involvement in Science & Engineering Research (WISER) program was launched by Indo-German Science & Technology Centre (IGSTC) on November 26, 2021.

Key Points
• WISER is a first-of-its-kind programme to promote women in the field of research and development through lateral entry.
• The programme encourages women researchers in joint R&D projects between India and Germany.
• WISER will improve gender equality and women’s participation in Science and Technology through IGSTC’s program.
• The programme will be in addition to the ongoing flagship 2+2 program of IGSTC.

WISER program: An initiate between India and Germany
WISER program of IGSTC is a joint initiative of Department of Science & Technology (DST), India and Federal Ministry of Education & Research (BMBF) of Germany.

Characteristic features of the programme
This programme will support women scientists who are holding regular or long-term research positions in academia or research institutes or industry. Women can involvement in this program through lateral entry. There is no requirement of break-in-career or any age limit. This programme will enable easy participation.

Awards by the programme
IGSTC will support the awardees with a maximum amount of Rs. 39 Lakh from the Indian side and € 48000 from German side. WISER program will offer 20 awards per year.

Data Centre in Kanchipuram: Indian multinational conglomerate Larsen & Toubro has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Tamil Nadu state government to establish a data centre in the state.

L&T will establish 90 MW capacity Data Centers and associated units in a phased manner in Kanchipuram over the next 5 years. The company envisages to employ around 1100 people (600 direct and 500 indirect) in the project. The Government of Tamil Nadu will provide uninterrupted power supply and other infrastructure support on a best-effort basis that will bring tangible economic and social benefits to the people of Tamil Nadu.

L&T CEO and MD S N Subrahmanyan , said, “Tamil Nadu is on a growth trajectory, and we are delighted to partner with the Government of Tamil Nadu to propel this growth by building a data center that will further trigger development by attracting investments and generating jobs for the people of Kanchipuram.”

L&T will be establishing hyperscale Data Centers at Kanchipuram to provide comprehensive solutions and end to end data center services, with multi-cloud managed and cyber security services, digital transformation integration services and application integration services.

41st Scientific Expedition to Antarctica: India has launched the 41st scientific expedition to Antarctica with the arrival of the first batch of its contingent at the southern white continent.

Key Highlights:
• The first batch comprising of 23 scientists and support staff reached the Indian Antarctica station Maitri last week for scientific expedition.
• Four more batches will land in Antarctica by air using DROMLAN facility. They will land by mid-January 2021, onboard chartered ice-class vessel MV Vasiliy Golovnin.
• The Indian Antarctic programme began in 1981 and has completed 40 scientific expeditions.

Major Programmes of 41st expedition
The 41st expedition has two major programmes.

1. The first program is “geological exploration of Amery ice shelf” at Bharati station. This programme will help in exploring the link between India and Antarctica in past.
2. The second program is “reconnaissance surveys and preparatory work” to drill 500 meters of ice core near Maitri. This programme will help in improving the understanding of Antarctic climate, sea-ice, greenhouse gases from a single climate, and westerly winds.

Apart from accomplishing scientific programs, 41st expedition will replenish annual supplies of fuel, food as well as provisions & spares for operation & maintenance of life support systems set up at Maitri & Bharti.

How ice core drilling will be done?
The ice core drilling will be done in association with British Antarctic Survey and Norwegian Polar Institute.

The Indian Antarctic programs
Indian Antarctic program started in 1981. It has completed 40 scientific expeditions. The programs helped in building three permanent research base stations in Antarctica:

1. Dakshin Gangotri in 1983,
2. Maitri in 1988 and
3. Bharati in 2012.

Presently, base stations Maitri and Bharati are fully operational, as of now.

Who manages the Indian Antarctic program?
The entire Indian Antarctic program is managed by “National Centre for Polar and Ocean Research (NCPOR), Goa”. NCPOR is an autonomous institute working under Ministry of Earth Sciences.

S-400 Triumf Air Defence System: Russia recently started delivering S-400 Triumf air defence system to India, giving a major boost to Indian defence capabilities.

Key Points
• The S-400 Triumf surface-to-air missile system will boost India’s capabilities to take out cruise missiles and enemy fighter aircraft at long range.
• The announcement that Russia has started delivering S-400 systems to India was made ahead of Dubai Air Show.
• The Indian Air Force (IAF) will induct the first unit of S-400 systems at a time when India is locked in a standoff with China in the Ladakh sector.
• First squadron of this system will be deployed near Western border of India. It will help in tackling threats from both Northern as well as Western borders with China and Pakistan.

Missile requirement of India
India will require five squadrons to tackle air threats from up to 400-km. First squadron of the S-400 system is likely to be complete by end of 2021.

India-Russia S-400 system agreement
India inked an Inter-Governmental Agreement (IGA) with Russia in October 2016, during BRICS Summit. A formal agreement was signed in October 2018 for procuring the defence system. The deal is worth Rs 35,000 crores to contract S-400 air defence system from Russia. After several negotiations, India brought down the price of this deal by a billion dollars.

Training of IAF personnel for operating S-400 system
The Indian Air Force officers and personnel were trained in Russia to operate the system.

Significance of S-400 missiles for India
• The S-400 Triumf air defence system will give a major boost to Indian capabilities of taking out enemy cruise missiles and fighter aircraft at long range.
• It will provide India with an edge in South Asian skies.
• India would now be able to take out enemy missiles and aircrafts from a distance of 400-kms.

Components of the system
S-400 missile defence system comprises of four different missiles:

1. 48N6DM: It is capable of destroying airborne targets up to 250 km
2. 40N6: It can reach a distance of 400 km. It makes use of active radar homing for intercepting air targets at great distances.
3. 9M96E: This component can strike moving targets like fighter aircraft with great accuracy.
4. 9M96E2: This component is descended for direct impact. It can reach up to 102 km.

Subsidiary in India: World’s richest person Elon Musk-owned SpaceX has incorporated its wholly-owned subsidiary in India to start local broadband operations,

Key Points:

• SpaceX’s satellite broadband arm Starlink aims to start broadband services in India from December 2022, with two lakh active terminals subject to permission from the government.

• SpaceX now has a 100 percent owned subsidiary in India. The subsidiary has been named SSCPL – Starlink Satellite Communications Private Limited. The company was incorporated on November 1, 2021.

• Starlink has already received more than 5,000 pre-orders from India.

Data Charges:

SpaceX’s subsidiary is charging a deposit of USD 99 or Rs 7,350 per customer and claims to deliver data speeds in the range of 50 to 150 megabit per second in beta stage.

The services of Starlink will compete with the services provided by Bharti Airtel, Reliance Jio, Vodafone Idea in broadband. It will also be a direct competitor of Bharti Group-backed OneWeb.

Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX)

Founded in 2002 by entrepreneur Elon Musk , SpaceX is an American aerospace manufacturer, communications corporation and space transportation services.

Headquartered in Hawthorne, California, SpaceX was founded with a view to reducing space transportation costs to provide for colonization of Mars.

It manufactures the Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy launch vehicles, Dragon cargo, crew spacecraft, several rocket engines and Starlink communications satellites.

About Starlink:

Starlink is a satellite internet constellation operated by SpaceX. It provides satellite Internet access to most part of the Earth. As of now, it comprises of more than 1600 satellites.

Science & Technology Affairs Current Affairs - October 2021

DLX1 Protein:

 Researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kanpur, have recently discovered that a particular gene (DLX1) has an important role to play in the growth and development of prostate cancer.

Key Points:

• DLX1 plays an important role in the development of jaws, skeleton, and interneurons in the brain
• The DLX1 protein is found at elevated levels in prostate cancer patients, the reason why the DLX1 protein has been used as a urine-based biomarker.
• The team of researchers at the institute has now found that the DLX1 protein which is expressed at higher levels in the prostate cancer cells, has a huge role in the growth and development of the tumour and the spread of the cancer to other organs in the body (metastasis).
• Using small molecules as inhibitors, the researchers have shown in mice a new therapeutic strategy to treat people with DLX1-positive prostate cancer.

What is Prostate cancer?

• Prostate cancer is cancer of the prostate gland.
• It is a cancer in a man's prostate which is a small walnut-sized gland that produces seminal fluid.
• Most prostate cancers are slow growing.
• Factors that increase the risk of prostate cancer include older age, family history and race.

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World Thrombosis Day 2021: World thrombosis day is celebrated on 13th October across the world every year.

Key Points:

• The main objective of this day is to raise awareness and educate citizens about the misunderstood disease of thrombosis.
• On this day, various events, campaigns, and awareness camps are conducted by the authorities in the world to spreading awareness about the misunderstood disease of thrombosis.

Theme for World Thrombosis Day 2021:

• The theme for World Thrombosis day 2021  is ‘eyes open to thrombosis’.
• This theme focuses on the need to be alert and recognise the early warning signs of thrombosis before they become worse.

History:

• In 2014, the International Society on Thrombosis and Haemostasis designated 13 October as the world Thrombosis day to mark the awareness of thrombosis.
• This day also highlights the birthday of Rudolf Virchow. Rudolf Virchow was a biologist, physician and pathologist who discovered ‘thrombosis’.

About Thrombosis:

• Thrombosis occurs when blood clots block veins or arteries.

Categories of Thrombosis:

• There are three categories of causes of thrombosis: damage to the blood vessel (catheter or surgery), slowed blood flow (immobility), and/or thrombophilia (if the blood itself is more likely to clot).

Symptoms:

• Symptoms include pain and swelling in one leg, chest pain, or numbness on one side of the body.
• Complications of thrombosis can be life-threatening, such as a stroke or heart attack.

Treatment:

• Treatment includes medicines that thin the blood or prevent clots, and using stents or catheters to open blocked vessels.

Prevention:

• Prevention includes being active, quitting smoking, losing weight, and managing other health conditions.

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World Osteoporosis Day 2021: Every year, World Osteoporosis day is celebrated on 20 October in the world.

Key Points:

• The main objective of this day is to raise global awareness about the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of the disease.
• It also reminds the governments, organizations, and public authorities to take actions related to osteoporosis and fracture-related issues.

Theme for 2021:

• The theme World Osteoporosis Day 2021 is ‘Serve Up Bone Strength’.
• This theme highlights the overall bone health and the harmful effects it can have on your well-being if it is ignored.

History:

• In 1996, the United Kingdom’s National Osteoporosis Society celebrated the first World Osteoporosis day.
• The European Commission also gave its support to the campaign.
• In 1988, two major organizations took responsibility to raise global awareness and International Osteoporosis Foundation (IOF) was established.

About Osteoporosis:

• The word 'osteoporosis' means 'porous bone.
• The body constantly absorbs and replaces bone tissue.
• With osteoporosis, new bone creation doesn't keep up with old bone removal.
• It causes bones to become weak and fragile so that they break easily – even as a result of a minor fall, a bump, a sneeze, or a sudden movement.
• Fractures caused by osteoporosis can be life-threatening and a major cause of pain and long-term disability.
• Osteoporosis is a growing global problem worldwide.

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Banni buffalo IVF calf: India’s first IVF (in-vitro fertilisation) calf of Banni breed of buffaloes was recently born at a farmer’s house in Gir Somnath district of Gujarat.

Key Points:

• With the birth of first IVF calf of a Buffalo breed namely Banni in the country, India’s OPU - IVF work has reached to next level.
• Banni breed of buffalo is found primarily in the Kutch region of Gujarat.This first IVF Banni calf is born out of 6 Banni IVF pregnancies established at the doorsteps of a farmer, Vinay . L. Wala of Sushila Agro farms, located at Dhanej in Somnath district of Gujarat.
• This process was carried out by JKBovagenix of NGO JK Trust which is a social initiative of Raymond Group in a bid to enhance the number of genetically superior buffaloes for increasing the milk production.

Background:

• Prime MinisterNarendra Modi had talked about the Banni buffalo breed during his visit to Kutch region of Gujarat on December 15, 2020.
• The very next day, i.e. December 16, 2020, Ovum Pick-Up (OPU) and aspiration processes for the in vitro fertilization (IVF) of Banni Buffaloes were planned.

About Banni buffalo:

• Banni buffalo also known as “Kutchi” or “Kundi” is found primarily in Kutch district of Gujarat.
• The word 'Banni' is specific to not only the buffaloes but as well as the pasture grass species which are native to this region
• This breed of buffaloes is preserved by a local community of Kutch called the ‘Maldharis’.
• An average Banni buffalo yields around 12 to 18 litres of milk each day.
• It has also become the main source of livelihood for Maldharis, and they are also slowly gaining popularity in other regions such as Mumbai.

Characteristics of Banni Buffalo:

• The Banni buffalo has a different genetic makeup as compared to more common breeds.
• This genetic makeup allows for longer lactation periods, higher milk production potentials and also makes it disease resistant.
• The Banni buffalo is well-adapted to survive the extreme weather conditions such as water scarcity, frequent droughts, low humidity and high temperatures, unlike other commonly found buffaloes such as the ‘Jaffarabadi’ and  ‘Murrah’.
• It sustains itself in these harsh climatic conditions by consuming the naturally available grasses growing in this belt.

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Lucy Mission: American Space Agency, NASA, launched the first-of-its kind mission called ‘Lucy Mission‘to study Jupiter’s Trojan asteroids.

Key Highlights:

• The Lucy probe was launched on a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida on October 16, 2021.
• It is sent on a 12 year journey to the Planet Jupiter  to study the Trojan Asteroid for initial life traces on Earth.

About the Lucy mission:

• Lucy mission is a 12-year expedition which will study a record number of asteroids.
• The Lucy mission will study the Trojan Asteroids which are rocky objects orbiting the sun in two swarms that is, ahead of the path of Jupiter and one behind it.
• The spacecraft will fly by a total of eight ancient asteroids to study about solar system’s evolution.
• These include one main-belt asteroid and seven Jupiter Trojan asteroids.

Background:

• Lucy Mission was chosen, along with the Psyche mission, on January 4, 2017 as Discovery Program missions 13 and 14 respectively by NASA.
• Lucy Mission has been named after Lucy hominin skeleton, because study of Trojans will reveal the “fossils of planet formation”.

About Trojan asteroid:

• Jupiter Trojans or Trojan asteroids or simply Trojans are a large group of celestial bodies that orbit the Sun in two swarms, one ahead of Jupiter and the other trailing behind it.
• These asteroids are named after characters in Greek mythology.
• They reside in dynamically stable zones 60° ahead and behind Jupiter.
• They are located at the Lagrangian points, L4 and L5, located 60o in front of and behind Jupiter respectively.
• These asteroids were formed in the aftermaths of the leftovers of the primordial material from which Jupiter and the other outer planets were formed.
• As of now, about 7000 trojans are known.

 

 

CRISP M Tool:

 The Union Minister of Rural Development & Panchayati Raj Shri Giriraj Singh jointly launched a Climate Resilience Information System and Planning (CRISP M) through a virtual event recently.

 Key Points:

• CRISP M Tool was launched for integration of climate information in Geographic Information System (GIS) under the MGNREGS.
• It is based watershed planning under Mahatma Gandhi NREGA.
• This tool has been developed with the help and support of British Government and all the stakeholders.
• The pilot project has been initiated in seven states including:

• Bihar
• Jharkhand
• Uttar Pradesh
• Madhya Pradesh
• Chhattisgarh
• Odisha
• Rajasthan

Aim:

• The main aim of the mission is to reach across India and the remotest parts of the country.
• This tool will open up new possibilities for our rural communities to deal with the issues of climate change.
• It will also help people get the information about climate change in order to protect them from weather related disasters.
• In addition, the impact of the tool is stretched to various other domains including enhanced groundwater recharge, increased forest coverage and increased land productivity in many impact studies of Mahatma Gandhi NREGA across India.

GIS based plans for Panchayats:

• In order to fulfill rural aspirations to sustain their growth, well planned strategies have been charted out considering socio economic patterns and demographic areas.

Note: Geospatial Technology has a major role to play in rural development such as  water, the provision of electricity, health facilities, education, to resources to store, ship and sell the agricultural produce, everything goes into rural development and therefore requires spatial science and technique.

• Ministry of Rural Development has already prepared GIS based plans for 1.82 lacs Gram Panchayats out of a total of 2.69 Lacs Gram Panchayats of India, which is around 68%, with the help of Remote Sensing Technology, based on Ridge to Valley approach.

                                  

Indian Space Association (ISpA): Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently launched the Indian Space Association (ISpA) via video conferencing.

Key Points about ISpA:

ISpA is the premier industry association of space and satellite companies in India.

In line with the Prime Minister’s vision of Atma Nirbhar Bharat, ISpA will make India self reliant, technologically advanced and a leading player in the Global Space arena. 

It will undertake policy advocacy and engage with all stakeholders in the Indian space domain, including the government and its agencies such as NewSpace India Ltd (NSIL) and Indian National Space Promotion and Authorization Centre (IN SPACe), among others.

The reforms in the space sector are based on four pillars:

1. Freedom of innovation to the private sector.

2. The government’s role as an enabler.

3. Preparing the youth for the future.

4. Seeing the space sector as a tool for the development of the common man.

ISpA has appointed Jayant Patil, senior executive vice president defence, L&T NxT as its first chairman and Rahul Vatts, chief regulatory officer, Bharti Airtel as vice chairman. Lt Gen AK Bhatt (Retd) has been named as the body’s director general.

The founding members of ISpA include Nelco (Tata group), Larsen & Toubro, Bharti Airtel, OneWeb, Mapmyindia, Walchandnagar Industries and Ananth Technology Limited while the core members includes BEL, Godrej, Azista BST Aerospace Private Limited, Hughes India, Centum Electronics and Maxar India.

                                                                       

First Automated & Driverless Train: The German rail operator, Deutsche Bahn and industrial group, Siemens recently launched the first automated & driverless train of the world.

Highlights:

• The self driving train was launched in the city of Hamburg.
• Dubbed as the world first self driving train is being developed by ‘Siemens and Deutsche Bahn’.
• The project is part of a 60 million euro modernization of the rapid urban rail system of Hamburg.
• This train is more punctual and energy efficient as compared to traditional trains.
• Germany has planned to add four such trains to the S Bahn rapid urban rail network of northern city.
• These trains will start carrying passengers from December on the existing rail infrastructure.
• On the other hand, other cities in Europe such as Paris are already running driverless metros and airports often have automated monorail trains plying terminals. However, these trains run on exclusive single tracks while the Hamburg train will share tracks with other regular trains.

How will the automated train run?

• Though the train is controlled by digital technology and is fully automated, but still a driver will sit on the train to supervise journeys of the passengers on board.

Benefits:

• These automated trains will offer a reliable service without laying a single kilometre of new track.
• These trains can transport “up to 30 percent more passengers”.
• Besides improving the punctuality, these trains will save more than 30 percent of energy.

About Deutsche Bahn:

• It is a German railway company headquartered in Berlin.
• It is a private joint stock company and is the second largest transport company in the world.
• The Federal Republic of Germany is the only shareholder in the company.  
• In the year 2015, Deutsche Bahn was the largest railway company of the world by revenue.

Additional Info:

• In September 2018, Germany had launched the world’s first autonomous tram in Potsdam, west of Berlin.
• A team of 50 mathematicians, physicists, computer scientists and engineers at the German engineering company Siemens had developed the tram.

                                     

Scientific Advisory Group for the Origins (SAGO): World Health Organization (WHO) has recently announced the establishment of a scientific advisory group to identify the origin of COVID 19 and other future outbreaks.

Key Points:

• The WHO’s Scientific Advisory Group for the Origins on Novel Pathogens, or SAGO, will include 26 scientists from the US, China and about two dozen other countries to find out the answer the question of how the novel coronavirus first infected humans.
• The SAGO will also be responsible for establishing a framework to combat future pandemics.

Additional Info:

• The leading Indian epidemiologist, Dr Raman Gangakhedkar, has been named to an expert group launched by the WHO that will examine origins of emerging and re emerging pathogens of epidemic and pandemic potential, including SARS CoV 2, the coronavirus that causes COVID 19.

 

• He is the former head of epidemiology and communicable diseases at the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), is the Dr C.G. Pandit National Chair at the ICMR.

                                

OneWeb: Bharti Group backed OneWeb has entered an arrangement with the commercial arm of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), NewSpace India Limited (NSIL), to launch its satellite in India from 2022.

Key Points:

OneWeb already has 322 satellites in orbit.

Under this arrangement, OneWeb through a letter of intent (LOI) with NSIL, will use Indian built PSLV (Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle) and the heavier GSLV MkIII (Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle) as potential platforms to launch its satellites to beam high speed broadband on earth from 2022.

 About OneWeb:

• OneWeb (legally Network Access Associates Ltd) is a low Earth orbit satellite communications company.
• It will work with stakeholders across for the development of India’s space ecosystem.
• The company is also amongst the founding members of ISpA.
• It is headquartered in London.
• The company was founded by Greg Wyler in 2012 and launched its first satellites in February 2019.
• This company had entered bankruptcy in March 2020.
• But it emerged from the bankruptcy proceedings and reorganization in November 2020 with a new ownership group, led by the Government of the United Kingdom and Indian multinational company Bharti Global, each holding 42% of the company equity and board.

 

MUDRA Toolbox: 

The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) recently launched the Multilingual Dementia Research and Assessment (MUDRA) Toolbox.

Key Highlights:

• MUDRA Toolbox has been launched in order to expand the care and outreach to people suffering from dementia.
• It has been launched in languages including Hindi, Bengali, Telugu, Kannada, and Malayalam.
• MUDRA Toolbox is an initiative undertaken by ICMR Neuro Cognitive Tool Box (ICMR  NCTB) consortium.
• The main aim of this initiative is to transform India's dementia and mild cognitive impairment research and clinical practices.
• It is a collective effort by seven leading centres in India NIMHANS (Bengaluru), AIIMS (New Delhi), SCTIMST (Thiruvananthapuram), NIMS (Hyderabad), Apollo Hospital (Kolkata), Manipal Hospital (Bengaluru) and Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College.
• Research paper describing the study design ‘Standardizing Dementia Diagnosis Across Linguistic and Educational Diversity: Study Design of the Indian Council of Medical Research Neurocognitive Tool Box (ICMR NCTB)’ has been published in February 2020 in Journal of International Neuropsychological Society.

Key Points about Mudra Toolbox:

• MUDRA Toolbox is a comprehensive tool specifically to diagnose dementia in the Indian population.
• The toolbox includes various cognitive tests to assess different domains of cognition such as attention and executive function, memory, language, and visuospatial functions.
• It is sensitive to the elements affective cognitive test performance like language, culture and education.
• The toolbox is designed to provide detailed neuropsychological profile of a patient and is a standardized measure of diagnosis for mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and dementia.”

What is Dementia?

• Dementia is a neurological disorder which affects the ability of person to perform activities of daily living.
• It creates a loss in memory.

Dementia in India:

• As per Alzheimer's and Related Disorders Society of India (ARDSI)'s Dementia India Report 2010, there are approximately 5.29 million people with dementia in India and the number is expected to go up to 7.61 million by 2030.

About ICMR:

• The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) is the apex body in India for the formulation, coordination and promotion of biomedical research, is one of the oldest and largest medical research bodies in the world.
• The ICMR was founded in 1911.
• It is funded by the Government of India (GoI) through the Department of Health Research, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
• It is headquartered in New Delhi, India.
• The current DG is Balram Bhargava.

                                                                                         

BCAM 2021: The Breast Cancer Awareness Month (BCAM) is observed in the month of October, from 01 to 31 every year.

Key Facts:

• This annual international health campaign aims to increase awareness of the disease and to raise funds for research into its cause, prevention, diagnosis, treatment and cure.
• The pink ribbon is an international symbol of breast cancer awareness.
• Breast cancer is the most common type of cancer among women, affecting 2.1 million women each year.
• It is also responsible for the greatest number of cancer related deaths among women.

About Breast Cancer:

• Breast Cancer is a type of cancer that arises in the epithelium (lining cells) of the ducts or lobules in the glandular tissues of the breast.
• In 2020 more than 2.3 million women across the globe were diagnosed with breast cancer.
• Around 50% of breast cancers develop in women, who do not have identifiable breast cancer risk factors other than gender and age (above 40 years).

                                       

RTS,S/AS01: The Geneva based World Health Organization (WHO) recently endorsed the world's first Malaria Vaccine called “RTS,S/AS01.

Key Points:

• RTS,S/AS01 is the world’s first vaccine against the mosquito borne disease.
• This vaccine was first made in 1987 by pharmaceutical company GSK.
• WHO has recommended the widespread use of RTS, S/AS01 (RTS,S) among children, especially in sub Saharan Africa and in other regions with moderate and high malaria transmission.
• Malaria kills around 400,000 people each year, and most of them are African children.
• The RTS,S vaccine has been found to significantly reduces malaria and life threatening severe cases.
• The global health body said that WHO's recommendation is based on the outcomes of a pilot programme that has touched over 800,000 children in Ghana, Kenya, and Malawi.
• The RTS,S malaria vaccine was introduced as a pilot programme two years ago in 2019.

About the vaccine:

• R21/Matric M has been found to be the most effective malaria vaccine discovered so far.
• It has the efficacy of 77%.
• This is the first vaccine which meets WHO’s goal of a malaria vaccine with at least 75% efficacy.
• This vaccine acts against plasmodium falciparum, which is one of five malaria parasite and the deadliest among all.
• RTS,S vaccine is known by the brand name Mosquirix.
• The vaccine is cost effective in areas of moderate to high malaria transmission.

About Malaria:

• Malaria is a serious and sometimes a fatal disease.
• Malaria is caused by the Plasmodium parasite.
• The parasite can be spread to humans through the bites of infected mosquitoes.
• There are many different types of plasmodium parasite, but only 5 types cause malaria in humans.

They are: 

• Plasmodium falciparum,
• P. vivax,
• P. ovale,  
• P. malariae.
• P. knowlesi, a type of malaria that naturally infects macaques in Southeast Asia, also infects humans, causing malaria that is transmitted from animal to human (“zoonotic” malaria).

• The main symptoms of malaria include fever, muscle pain, headaches and cycles of chills, fever and sweating.

Note: Although malaria can be a deadly disease, illness and death from malaria can usually be prevented.

                               

Heli Borne Survey Technology: Union minister of state Jitendra Singh recently launched Heli borne survey technology for groundwater management.

Key Points:

• The Heli borne survey technology has been developed by the Centre for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) and the National Geophysical Research Institute (NGRI) Hyderabad, in Jodhpur.
• This state of art technology will be used to map the ground water sources in arid regions.
• The survey will also help in utilizing groundwater for drinking purposes.
• The mega project worth Rs. 150 crores will be implemented in two phases.
• In the first phase, survey has already started from Jodhpur in Rajasthan on October 5, 2021 and will soon be followed in the States of Punjab, Gujarat and Haryana.

Implementation of the project:

• To implement the project, CSIR has collaborated with the Ministry of Jal Shakti under the “National Aquifer Mapping Project”.  
• This project will bring high visibility to CSIR to implement the Jal Jeevan Mission project.

About Heli Survey Technology:

• The Heli Borne Geophysical mapping technique includes studies such as identification of Sites for artificial recharge,, Geophysical Thematic maps, 3D Geophysical model, Aquifer system with relatively fresh and saline zones.
• It will also provide a high resolution 3D image of the sub surface up to a depth of 500 meters below the ground.

Aim of the project:

The main aim of the project is to map potential groundwater sources and its management in providing safe drinking water to people in the water scarce arid regions of India.

Significance of the technology:

• Arid areas in North Western India spread over parts of the States of Rajasthan, Gujarat, Haryana and Punjab.
• This region covers nearly 12% of the total geographical area of India.
• It is a home to more than 8 crore people.
• The annual rainfall is in the range of less than 100 to 400 mm, so, this area faces an acute shortage of water throughout the year.
• Therefore, this project will benefit millions of people across the region and positively contribute to “Har Ghar Nal Se Jal” as well as “doubling farmers income” goals.

 

Science & Technology Affairs Current Affairs - September 2021

LowC bricks: 

Researchers have developed a technology to produce energyefficient walling materials using construction and demolition waste (CDW) and alkaliactivated binders.

Key Points:

• Scientists of the Indian Institute of Science developed a technology for producing alkaliactivated bricks/blocks by utilizing fly ash and furnace slag.
• These are called low carbon bricks.
• These bricks do not require hightemperature firing and avoid the use of highenergy material such as Portland cement.
• The technology will also solve the disposal problems associated with construction and demolition waste mitigation.
• The researchers developed low embodied carbon bricks from construction and demolition waste through an alkali activation process using fly ash and ground slag and characterizing the thermal, structural, and durability characteristics of LowC bricks and their masonry.

Conventionally, building envelopes consist of masonry walls built with burnt clay bricks, concrete blocks, hollow clay blocks, fly ash bricks and lightweight blocks.

What is fly ash?

• Fly ash is a fine powder that is a byproduct of burning pulverized coal in electric generation power plants.
• Fly ash or flue ash, coal ash is also known as pulverized fuel ash in the United Kingdom, or coal combustion residuals (CCRs).
• When mixed with lime and water, fly ash forms a compound similar to Portland cement.
• It is used in concrete and cement products, road base, metal recovery, and mineral filler among others.
• However, these particles are toxic air pollutants as they can trigger heart disease, cancer, respiratory diseases and stroke.

 

Solar DC Cooking System: Central Mechanical Engineering Research Institute (CSIRCMER), recently handed over the CSIRCMERI developed Solar DC Cooking System to the Asansol Braille Academy, West Bengal.

Highlights:

• The Solar DC Cooking System has been developed by CSIRCMERI.
• This Solar DC Cooking System is a Solar Energy based Cooking System which consists of solar PV panel, charge controller, battery bank and cooking oven.

Benefits:

• The technology provides a Clean Cooking Environment, InvertorLess Direct Operation, Fast and Uniform Heating.
• The system can also substantially curb carbon dioxide emissions, as even LPG usage emits Carbon Dioxide (CO2). It has a potential to save 1 ton CO2 emissions year/household.
• Widespread usage of this system will also play a critical role in achieving the target of 200 GW of Solar energy.
• It has 2025% better efficiency and more Economical in comparison with Conventional Solar based Cooking Systems which loses efficiency owing to ACDC conversion.
• In addition, its simple design also ensures EaseofManufacturing and ultimately provides substantial Economic Opportunity for the MicroIndustries.

Is Solar Power AC or DC?

· Solar photovoltaic technology works on DC power. Solar panels generate direct current when the sun shines on panels, causing electrons to move and create current, thus, the current is direct as all of the electrons flow in the same direction.

What are AC and DC?

AC:

• AC stands for Alternating Current.
• AC means that form of voltage or current that changes polarity or direction, respectively, over time.
• It is the form in which electric power is delivered to businesses and residences.
• This form of electrical energy is typically used by the consumers when they plug kitchen appliances, televisions, fans and electric lamps into a wall socket.

DC:

• DC Stands for Direct current.
• It flows consistently in one direction.
• It is used in any electronic device with a battery for a power source.
• It is also used to charge batteries, so rechargeable devices like laptops and cell phones come with an AC adapter that converts alternating current to direct current.

What are the advantages of using Solar Energy?

• Household air pollution from cooking fires in the home is a leading cause of respiratory disease.It kills many precious lives each year.
• Harnessing free solar energy for cooking will make

• Drinking water safe.
• Improve health,
• Build resilient families,
• Break the cycle of poverty,
• Empower women and children and
• Boost local economies as solar cookers do not produce any smoke.

About CSIRCMER:

• The Central Mechanical Engineering Research Institute (also known as CSIRCMERI Durgapur or CMERI Durgapur) is a public engineering research and development institution in Durgapur, West Bengal.
• It was founded in February 1958, to develop national mechanical engineering technology, in a bid to help Indian industries.
• It is a constituent laboratory of the Indian Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR).

 

Hansen Crater: The International Astronomical Union (IAU) has recently named a crater on the South Pole of the Moon after Arctic explorer Dr Matthew Alexander Henson.

Key Points:

• The crater has been named the Hansen crater.
• Matthew Henson was a Black man who became one of the first people to stand on top of the world, in 1909.
• The proposal to name the crater after Henson was put forward by Jordan Bretzfelder, a visiting graduate researcher from the Lunar and Planetary Institute's Exploration Science program.

About Matthew Henson:

• Henson (1866–1955) was an experienced explorer and skilled carpenter & craftsman.
• He was an experienced explorer and spent 18 years with Peary exploring the Arctic.
• He was hired in 1887 by explorer Robert Peary, and he eventually became a key member of Peary’s expeditions, including the one that ultimately reached the North Pole.
• The final push of that expedition was made by Henson, Peary, and four Inuit companions named Ooqueah, Ootah, Eningwah and Seegloo, all traveling by dog sledge.
• Henson was in the lead of the group as they searched for the pole.
• However, Henson did receive accolades at the time for his historic achievement because of the racist attitudes and Peary was honored for the accomplishment instead.

Artemis Programme:

• The Artemis program studies planetary processes and seeks to create the infrastructure to advance human exploration at the moon and, eventually, Mars.
• This programme was launched by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

 

Note: Henson Crater is located in the Moon's south pole, between Sverdrup and de Gerlache craters, in the region the Artemis program.

• The Henson Crater is in the same region where the Artemis program by NASA aims to land the next generation of lunar explorers.

About International Astronomical Union (IAU):

• International Astronomical Union (IAU) is a nongovernmental organization set up with the objective of advancing astronomy in all aspects such as promoting astronomical research, outreach, education, and development through global cooperation.
• It was founded in 1919.
• It is headquartered in Paris, France.

 

Fire Detection and Protection system: The Ministry of Road Transport & Highways (MoRTH) has issued a Draft Notification on 21st September 2021 for introducing the Fire Alarm System and Fire Protection System in the Passenger (or Occupant) Compartment in buses, through an amendment in AIS (Automotive Industry Standard)135.

Key Points:

• Currently, fire detection, alarm and suppression systems are notified for fires originating from the engine compartment only.
• The draft notification is intended for fire detection and protection in the passenger compartment for Type III buses.

 Note: ‘Type III’ buses are those designed and constructed for long distance seated passenger transport) and School Buses.

• A water mist based active fire protection system has been designed and developed by MoRTH in consultation with various stakeholders, including DRDO alongwith a fire alarm system.
• Simulation studies have demonstrated that the designed system is able to manage the temperature in the passenger compartment within 50 degree C centigrade in less than 30 seconds of mist operation.

What is the AIS and TAC certification for India?

About AIS Certification:

• The Automotive Industry Standards (India AIS) are issued by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH), which is the ministry regulating the automotive sector in India.
• AIS certification was introduced in 1989 with the adoption of the India Central Motor Vehicles Rules (CMVR).
• AIS certification is required for automotive components.
• These products all have in common that they are subject to safety or electromagnetic compatibility requirements.

Products Covered by AIS Certification:

Currently it concerns for example the following products:

• Automotive Electronics
• Tyres
• Seat belts
• Door locks
• Brake Hoses
• Lights
• Fuel tanks

About TAC:

• TAC is the abbreviation for Type Approval Certificate.
• TAC is issued for products that need to meet special technical and safety requirements.
• TAC approval must be obtained before the product is introduced to the market.
• Morth (Ministry of Road Transport and Highways) is responsible for issuing the certification.

About MoRTH:

• MoRTH refers to the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways.
• The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways is a ministry of the Government of India (GoI).
• Morth is the apex body for formulation and administration of the rules, regulations and laws relating to road transport, transport research.
• Its task is also to increase the mobility and efficiency of the road transport system in India.
• It was founded in July 1942.
• The current Union Minister of Morth is Nitin Gadkari .

 

Chang’e5 probe: China recently presented the earlystage findings of Chang’e5 probe, which use geological mapping to link ‘exotic’ fragments in the collected samples to features near the landing site.

Background:

• On December 16, 2020, China’s Chang’e5 lunar mission delivered to Earth nearly 2 kg of rocky fragments and dust from the Moon.
• The Chang’e5 landed on the western edge of the nearside of the Moon in the Northern Oceanus Procellarum also known as the Ocean of Storms, on the near side of the moon on December 1.

• This is one of the youngest geological areas of the Moon with an age of roughly two billion years.

• The materials scraped from the surface comprise a loose soil that results from the fragmentation and powdering of lunar rocks over billions of years due to impacts of various sizes.
• Scientists carried out the storage, analysis and research of the country’s first samples collected from the extraterrestrial object.

The Findings:

According to the Europlanet Society, the studies presented by Qian are as follows:

• 90% of the materials collected by Chang’e5 likely derive from the landing site and its immediate surroundings, which are of a type termed ‘mare basalts’.
• These volcanic rocks are visible to us as the darker grey areas that spilled over much of the nearside of the Moon as ancient eruptions of lava.
• Yet 10% percent of the fragments have distinctly different, ‘exotic’ chemical compositions.
• The distinct 10% fragments may preserve records of other parts of the lunar surface as well as hints of the types of space rocks that have impacted the Moon’s surface.

About Chang’e5 probe:

• It is an unmanned spacecraft by China.
• The probe is named after the mythical Chinese moon goddess.
• The rocket comprises of the four following parts:

• An orbiter,
• A returner,
• An ascender
• A lander

The Chang’e5 mission is expected to realize four “firsts” in China’s space history. They are as follow:

• The first time for a probe to take off from the surface of the Moon.
• The first time to automatically sample the lunar surface.
• The first time to conduct unmanned rendezvous and docking in lunar orbit.
• The first time to return to Earth with lunar soil samples in escape velocity.

The objective of the mission was to bring back lunar rocks, the first attempt by any nation to retrieve samples from the moon in four decades.

 

Vishnuonyx: Researchers from the Universities of Tübingen and Zaragoza have recently discovered the fossil of a previously unknown species, which they have named Vishnuonyx neptuni, meaning ‘Neptune’s Vishnu’.

Key Highlights:

• The species was discovered from a 11.4millionyearold strata in the area of Hammerschmiede, which is a fossil site in Bavaria, Germany that has been studied for about 50 years
• This is the first discovery of any member of the Vishnuonyx genus in Europe; it is also it’s most northern and western record till date.
• Fossils of these now extinct otters were first discovered in sediments found in the foothills of the Himalayas.
• This newly found fossil indicates that it had travelled as far as Germany.
• The discovery has been described in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology.

Key Facts:

• Vishnuonyx were midsized predators that weighed, on average, 1015 kg.
• Between 12.5 million and 14 million years ago, Vishnuonyx, members of a genus of otters, lived in the major rivers of southern Asia.
• Before this, the genus was known only in Asia and Africa (recent findings show that Vishnuonyx reached East Africa about 12 million years ago).

pgSIT: 

Using Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats (CRISPR)based genetic engineering, the scientists at the University of California San Diego have recently created a new technology for controlling mosquitoes.

Highlights:

• pgSIT stands for precisionguided Sterile Insect Technique”.
• Sterile Insect Technique (SIT) is an environmentally safe and proven technology to suppress wild populations.
• Details of the pgSIT have been described in Nature Communications.

Note: Mosquitoes infect millions each year with debilitating diseases such as malaria and dengue.

Key Details:

• To advance its utility, a novel CRISPRbased technology is termed as precisionguided sterile insect technique (pgSIT).
• The pgSIT is a new scalable genetic control system that uses a CRISPRbased approach to engineer deployable mosquitoes that can suppress populations.
• Males don't transmit diseases so the idea is to release more and more sterile males.
• Therefore, the population can be suppressed without relying on harmful chemicals and insecticides.
• It alters genes linked to male fertility—creating sterile offspring—and female flight in Aedes aegypti, the mosquito species responsible for spreading diseases including dengue fever, chikungunya and Zika.
• The pgSIT uses CRISPR to sterilize male mosquitoes and render female mosquitoes (which spread disease) flightless.
• According to the release, the system is selflimiting and is not predicted to persist or spread in the environment, two safety features that should enable acceptance for this technology.
• The scientists have stated that the pgSIT eggs can be shipped to a location threatened by mosquitoborne disease or developed at an onsite facility that could produce the eggs for nearby deployment.
• Once the pgSIT eggs are released in the wild, sterile pgSIT males will emerge and eventually mate with females, driving down the wild population as needed.

About CRISPR:

• Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats (CRISPR) is a gene editing technology.
• It replicates natural defence mechanisms in bacteria to fight virus attacks, using a special protein called Cas9.
• CRISPRCas9 technology behaves like a cutandpaste mechanism on DNA strands that contain genetic information.
• The specific location of the genetic codes that need to be changed, or edited, is identified on the DNA strand, and then, using the Cas9 protein, which acts like a pair of scissors, that location is cut off from the strand.
• A DNA strand, when broken, has a natural tendency to repair itself.
• Scientists intervene during this autorepair process, supplying the desired sequence of genetic codes that binds itself with the broken DNA strand.
• CRISPRCas9 is a simple, effective, and incredibly precise technology with potential to revolutionize human existence in future.

Imp Info: Emmanuelle Charpentier of France and Jennifer A Doudna of the USA were awarded the 2020 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for developing CRISPR/Cas9 genetic scissors.

Source: IE & SD

 

Transparent Ceramics: Indian researchers, for the first time in India, have recently developed transparent ceramics, reaching theoretical transparency through a technique called colloidal processing followed by simultaneous application of temperature and pressure.

Key Details:

• The material can be used for thermal imaging applications, especially in harsh service conditions and personal protection systems such as face shields, goggles and helmets.
• These transparent ceramics is a new class of advanced materials with unique transparency and excellent mechanical properties.
• The materials can be designed not only for transparent to visible light but also for ultraviolet (UV), Infrared (IR), and Radiofrequency (RF), giving opportunity for diverse applications.
• Though produced by different countries globally, transparent ceramics are restricted in supply as they can be used for strategic applications.
• This research has been published in the journal ‘Materials Chemistry and Physics’ recently.
• With potential applications in infantry personal protection systems involving thermal imaging such as helmets, face shields, and goggles, these transparent ceramics developed in India is a step towards Atmanirbhar Bharat.

 

Strophodus jaisalmerensis: In a rare discovery, teeth of new species of hybodontshark of Jurassic age have been reported for the first time from Jaisalmer in Rajasthan.

Highlights:

• As per a statement released on September 15, 2021 by the mines ministry of India, the "rare" and newly discovered crushing teeth represent a new species named by the research team as Strophodusjaisalmerensis.
• The discovery was made by a team of officers from the Geological Survey of India (GSI), Western Region, Jaipur.
• This finding has been published in Historical Biology, Journal of Palaeontology of International repute
• Hybodont sharks have been reported for the first time from the Jurassic rocks (approximately, between 160 and 168 millionyearsold) of the Jaisalmer region of Rajasthan.

Key Points about Hybodonts:

• Hybodonts, an extinct group of sharks, was a dominant group of fishes in both marine and fluvial environments during the Triassic and early Jurassic time.
• However, hybodont sharks started to decline in marine environments from the Middle Jurassic onwards until they formed a relatively minor component of openmarine shark assemblages.
• Hybodonts finally became extinct at the end of the Cretaceous time 65 million years ago.
• Significantly, the newly discovered crushing teeth from Jaisalmer represent a new species named by the research team as Strophodus jaisalmerensis.
• The genus Strophodus has been identified for the first time from the Indian subcontinent and is only the third such record from Asia, the other two being from Japan and Thailand.
• The new species has recently been included in the Shark references.com, an international platform operating in association with International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), Species Survival Commission (SSC), and Germany.

Significance:

• This discovery marks an important milestone in the study of Jurassic vertebrate fossils in the Jaisalmer region of Rajasthan, and it opens a new window for further research in the domain of vertebrate fossils.

About Geological Survey of India (GSI):

• The Geological Survey of India (GSI) is a scientific agency of India.
• The GSI was set up on 4 March 1851 primarily to find coal deposits for the Railways.
• Over the years, GSI has not only grown into a repository of geoscience information required in various fields in the country but has also attained the status of a geoscientific organisation of international repute.
• Its main functions relate to creating and updating of national geoscientific information and mineral resource assessment.

 

BRICS Young Scientists Forum: The 6th BRICS Young Scientist Forum was conducted on September 17, 2021 in India by Science and Technology (DST), in collaboration with National institute of Advanced Studies, Bengaluru (NIAS).

Highlights:

• The Secretary Department of Science and Technology Dr Renu Swarup, highlighted the importance of cooperation, collaboration and connections for science to move forward, at the BRICS Young Scientists Forum.

Background:

• India at the 6th BRICS Summit in Fortaleza Brazil (July 2014) had came up with the idea of creation of BRICS Young Scientists Forum.
• The proposal was put forward to develop an engaging and innovative mechanism to network and connect the BRICS youth.

About BRICSYSF:

• The BRICSYSF summits were first hosted by India in Bengaluru in 2016, followed by China in 2017, South Africa in 2018, Brazil in 2019, and Russia in 2020.
• This year the fourday conclave started on 13 September 2021 would end on 16 September.
• The best young scientist with an idea on innovation would be awarded at the BRICSYSF 2021.
• Young innovator prize has been one of the focuses of the BRICSYSF and the award is supported by the DST, Government of India (GoI).
• The next conclave would be organized by China in 2022.

BRICSYoung Innovator Prize:

• India's first BRICSYoung Innovator Prize was started in 2016.
• It was aimed at recognizing and rewarding the best innovation projects representing technological innovation and a potential contribution to the science and technology sector for the benefit of the BRICS countries.
• In this the winner gets award money of USD 25000. China hosted the 2nd BRICS YSF in 2017.

 

Private EarthCircling Trip: SpaceX recently launched four amateurs on its first ever private flight.

Key Highlights:

• It was for the first time that a spacecraft circled Earth with an allamateur crew and no professional astronauts.
• Earthcircling trip was started onboarding two contest winners, a health care worker as well as their rich sponsor.
• The four amateur astronauts are travelling to an altitude of 357 miles (575 kilometres) above the surface of the Earth.
• They will be encircling the Earth in the private flight which is much further and deeper into space than the International Space Station (ISS), for three days.
• Their flight will splash down off the Florida coast by September 19th.

Who is leading the flight?

• The trip is being sponsored by Jared Isaacman, a 38yearold billionaire and philanthropist with pilot training. He is the founder and chief executive officer (CEO) of payment processor Shift4 Payments Inc, and also the mission commander of the spaceflight, having chosen the rest of the crew himself through a competition.
• Isaacman is the third billionaire to launch so far, following the brief spaceskimming flights of Virgin Galactic’s Richard Branson and Blue Origin’s Jeff Bezos in July 2021.
• Apart from this, Arceneaux is flying who is set to become the youngest American in space as well as the first person with prosthesis, a titanium rod in her left leg, to travel space.
• Chris Sembroski, a US Air Force veteran who now works as an aerospace data engineer for Lockheed Martin in Seattle is also part of the crew.
• The other member is Sian Proctor, a 51yearold geoscientist in Phoenix who was almost selected to become an astronaut for NASA in 2009.

Space Tourism:

• This flight is the first entry in the competition for space tourism dollars by SpaceX founder Elon Musk.

About Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX):

• Space Exploration Technologies Corp., trading as SpaceX, is an American aerospace manufacturer and space transportation services company.
• It was founded on 6 May 2002 by Elon Musk with the goal of reducing space transportation costs to enable the colonization of Mars.
• This privately held company is headquartered in Hawthorne, California, United States.
• SpaceX manufactures Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy launch vehicles, rocket engines, crew spacecraft, Dragon cargo, and Starlink communications satellites.

 

 

INSPIRESat1 CubeSa: 

The Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology (IIST) recently stated that INSPIRESat1 CubeSat, which was developed under the International Satellite Program in Research and Education (INSPIRE), is set for launch.

Key points:

• This small satellite weighs less than 10 kg.
• The satellite equipped with a Compact Ionosphere Probe for studying the earth’s ionosphere will be placed in a low earth orbit.  
• It will be launched aboard an upcoming Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) mission of the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO).
• The onboard computer and electrical power supply of INSPIRESat1 were designed and developed by students of IIST.
• INSPIRESat1 is a collaborative effort by the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP) at the University of Colorado Boulder in the U.S., the National Central University, Taiwan, and the Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, apart from the IIST.

Aim:

• The INSPIRE programme aims to provide a constellation of Earth and space Weather.

About Ionosphere:

• The ionosphere is where Earth's atmosphere meets space.
• It is a very active part of the atmosphere, and it grows and shrinks depending on the energy it absorbs from the Sun.
• The name ionosphere comes from the fact that gases in these layers are excited by solar radiation to form ions, which have an electrical charge.
• The ionosphere stretches roughly 50 to 400 miles above Earth's surface, right at the edge of space.
• Along with the neutral upper atmosphere, the ionosphere forms the boundary between Earth's lower atmosphere where we live and breathe and the vacuum of space.

Importance of Ionosphere:

• The ionosphere is the part of the atmosphere that is ionized by solar radiation.
• It plays an important role in atmospheric electricity and forms the inner edge of the magnetosphere.
• It has practical importance because, among other functions, it influences radio propagation to distant places on the Earth.
• GPS and Radio signals travel through this layer of the atmosphere or rely on bouncing off the ionosphere to reach their destinations.
• However, in both cases, changes in the ionosphere's density and composition can disrupt these signals.

Note:

• This boundary to space is right where many of our Earthorbiting satellites hang out, including the International Space Station.
• That means these satellites can be affected by the constantly changing conditions in the ionosphere — including sudden swells of charged particles that increase drag on satellites and shorten their orbital lifetimes, or how long they can continue orbiting Earth.

 

Dinosaurs in India: In a major discovery, footprints of three species of dinosaurs have been found in the Thar Desert in Rajasthan’s Jaisalmer district.

They were found near Jaisalmer’s Thaiat village.

Key Points:

• The discovery of these footprints is proving the presence of the giant reptiles in the western part of the State, which formed the seashore to the Tethys Ocean during the Mesozoic era.
• The footprints, made in the sediment or silt of the seashore, later become permanently stonelike.
• They belong to three species of dinosaurs Eubrontes cf. giganteys, Eubrontes glenrosensis and Grallator tenuis.
• The Giganteus and Glenrosensis species have 35 cm footprints while the footprint of the third species was found to be 5.5 cm.
• The footprints were 200 million years old.
• The dinosaur species are considered to be of the theropod type, with the distinguishing features of hollow bones and feet with three digits.
• Eubrontes could have been 12 to 15 m long and weighed between 500 kg and 700 kg, while the height of the Grallator is estimated to have been 2 m, as much as a human, with a length of up to three meters.

GSITI's 24x7 Website: The Geological Survey of India Training Institute (GSITI), Hyderaba, has recently launched its 24×7 website (https://training.gsiti.gsi.gov.in/) for round-the-clock accessibility of various online training courses on Earth Sciences to its stakeholders.

Note: GSITI is the training and capacity building wing of the Geological Survey of India (GSI)under the Ministry of Mines.

• This is in tune with the Digital India Campaign of the Government of India.

About Geological Survey of India Training Institute (GSITI):

• The GSITI is the third oldest survey organization in the World.

• It promotes capacity building by turning out thorough-bred professionals, specialists and fundamental researchers in all fields of Geosciences and allied areas both within the department and outside.

• It was established in 1976.

• GSITI has expanded its operation across different geological terrains of the country by diversifying its activities over last three decades by establishing Field Training Centers (FTC), and in the process has shifted its Headquarters (HQ) to Hyderabad.

• Hyderabad Centre, with a full-fledged campus of its own, is designated as headquarters for all other eight centres.

• Over the last 45 years, GSITI has expanded to nine (09) training sites of GSITI located at Hyderabad, Nagpur, Lucknow, Kolkata, Shillong, Raipur, Zawar (Rajasthan), Chitradurga (Karnataka), and Kuju (Jharkhand).

Gaganyaan Service Module Propulsion System: The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) recently conducted a hot test on its Gaganyaan Service Module (SM) Propulsion System.

Key Points:

• The test was conducted in the ISRO Propulsion Complex (IPRC), Mahendragiri, Tamil Nadu.

• This was the first hot test of the System Demonstration Model (SDM) of the Gaganyaan SM Propulsion System which differs from the hot test the agency conducted on the Vikas engine.

• The test was conducted for duration of 450 seconds.

• The system performance was successful in meeting the test objectives and matched the pre-test predictions.

• ISRO has Further plans to a series of hot tests are planned to simulate various mission conditions as well as off-nominal conditions.

About Service Module (SM):

• The Service Module (SM) is part of the Gaganyaan Orbital module.

• It is located below the crew module and remains connected to it until re-entry.

• The SM Propulsion System consists of a unified bipropellant system consisting of five numbers of 440 N thrust engines and 16 numbers of 100 N Reaction Control systems (RCS) thrusters with MON-3 and MMH as Oxidizer and Fuel respectively.

• The SDM, consisting of five numbers of 440 N engines and eight numbers of 100 N thrusters, was realised to qualify the propulsion system performance in ground.

A new test facility is established at IPRC, Mahendragiri for testing the SDM

About Gaganyaan Mission:

• The Gaganyaan Mission is an ambitious space programme by the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO).

• This mission was announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on August 15, 2018 during his Independence Day speech.

• The mission aims to send India’s first human spaceflight mission.

• As a part of the programme, four Indian astronaut-candidates have undergone generic space flight training in Russia.

• Human Space Flight Centre which functions under ISRO is responsible for the implementation of this mission.

• With the success of the Gaganyaan mission, India will become the 4th nation to launch a crewed mission into space after USSR/Russia, the US, and China.

Tests conducted by ISRO:

• ISRO on July 14, 2021, successfully conducted the third long-duration hot test of the liquid propellant Vikas Engine for the GSLV MkIII launch vehicle for the Gaganyaan Mission.

• Before sending humans on the spacecraft under the mission, ISRO will send two uncrewed GSLV-Mk III rockets into space.

GSLV-Mk III Rockets:

• The Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV-Mk III) will be used as the launch vehicle.

• It consists of a service module and a crew module.

• The service module is known as the Orbital Module which will be powered by two liquid-propellant engines.

About ISRO:

• Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) is the space agency of the Government of India (GoI) and was formed in 15 august 1969.

• It superseded the erstwhile “Indian National Committee For Space Research” (INCOSPAR) which was established in 1962 by the efforts of Independent India's first prime minister‚ Jawaharlal Nehru‚ and his close aide and scientist Vikram Sarabhai.

• In 1972, the GoI had set up a Space Commission and the Department of Space (DOS), bringing ISRO under the DOS.

• ISRO then embarked on its mission to provide the Nation space based services and to develop the technologies to achieve the same independently.

• Its vision is to “harness space technology for natural development while pursuing space science research & planetary exploration”.

• ISRO built India’s first Satellite Aryabhata.

• It is headquartered in Bangalore, India.

• The current Chairman of ISRO is K sivan.

Scrub Typhus: A mystery fever was recently reported from parts of Uttar Pradesh which claimed about 40 lives, mostly children in one week.

Key highlights:

• This viral fever was identified as Scrub typhus.

• Scrub typhus was reported mainly from Firozabad, Agra, Mainpuri, Etah and Kasganj districts of Uttar Pradesh.

About Scrub typhus:

• Scrub typhus, also known as bush typhus, is a disease caused by a bacteria called Orientia tsutsugamushi (formerly Rickettsia tsutsugamushi).

Note: The name of the bacterium is of Japanese origin. The word “tsutsuga” means illness and “mushi” means insect.

• Scrub typhus is spread to people through bites of infected chiggers (larval mites).

• Bite marks are found on the armpit, genitalia or neck.

• It is a rare zoonotic disease (which can be transmitted from animals to humans) with symptoms similar to any viral fever.

• Doxycycline, an antibiotic, is the most common drug used for its treatment.

Symptoms of scrub typhus:

• Symptoms of scrub typhus usually begin within 10 days of being bitten.

• Signs and symptoms may include:

1. Fever and chills

2. Headache

3. Body aches and muscle pain

4. A dark, scab-like region at the site of the chigger bite (also known as eschar)

5. Mental changes, ranging from confusion to coma

6. Enlarged lymph nodes

7. Rash

In complicated cases, it could lead to pneumonia, meningo-encephalitis, gastro-intestinal bleeding, acute renal failure, and acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) which can be fatal if left untreated.

Is scrub typhus curable?

• According to the doctors, this disease is curable using antibiotics, but it can get out of hand when diagnosis is delayed.

History:

• This disease has been named “scrub” after the type of vegetation that harbours the vector.

Note: Typhus is a Greek word meaning “fever with stupor” or smoke.

• This disease took the form of an epidemic during World War II in some countries while during the Second World War; it emerged as the most dreaded disease among soldiers of the Far East.

• In India, this fever broke out in an epidemic form during Second World War in West Bengal and Assam.

Different types of Typhus:

Typhus is a group of bacterial infectious diseases that include Scrub typhus, Epidemic typhus, and Murine typhus.

1. Scrub typhus is due to Orientia tsutsugamushi spread by chiggers.

2. Epidemic typhus is due to Rickettsia prowazekii spread by body lice.

3. Murine typhus is due to Rickettsia typhi spread by fleas.

Ubreathe Life: Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT), Ropar and Kanpur and Faculty of Management Studies of Delhi University have jointly launched a living-plant based air purifier named “Ubreathe Life”.

Key Highlights:

• Ubreathe Life is a living plant-based smart air-purifier that amplifies the air purification process in indoor spaces like hospitals, schools, offices or homes.

• This product which has been developed by Urban Air Laboratory, a start-up company of IIT Ropar is being claimed as world’s first, state-of-the-art ‘Smart Bio-Filter’, which can make breathing fresh.

Note: IIT Ropar is a designated iHub – AWaDH (Agriculture and Water Technology Development Hub) by the Department of Science and Technology (DST) of Government of India (GoI).

How does Ubreathe Life work?

• The technology works through the air-purifying natural leafy plant.

• The room air interacts with leaves and goes to the soil-root zone where maximum pollutants are purified.

• The technology used in this product is the ‘Urban Munnar Effect’ along with patent-pending “Breathing Roots” to exponentially amplify the phytoremediation process of the plants.

What is Phytoremediation Process?

• Phytoremediation is a process by which plants effectively remove pollutants from the air.

Features and Significance:

• The air purifier ‘Ubreathe Life’ effectively improves indoor air quality by removing particulate, gaseous, and biological contaminants while increasing the oxygen levels in the indoor space through specific plants, UV disinfection and a stack of Pre-filter, Charcoal filter.

• It also comprises HEPA (high-efficiency particulate air) filter which is fitted in a specially designed wooden box.

• It creates a suction pressure inside the purifier and releases purified air.

• The company has claimed that the specific plants tested for air-purification include Peace Lily, Snake Plant, Spider plant etc. and all have given good results in purifying indoor-air.

China's Prototype Miniature Helicopter: China has recently developed a prototype miniature helicopter for surveillance work on future Mars missions, following the historic landing of a robotic rover on the red planet a few months ago.

Key Details:

• The prototype helicopter is similar to the robotic helicopter Ingenuity in appearance, which was developed by NASA for its Perseverance mission.

• Chinese prototype helicopter also comprise of two rotor blades, a sensor & camera base and four thin legs. However, it does not comprise of solar panel at the top like in Ingenuity.

• China has planned its first crewed mission to the Mars in 2033.

Background:

• China landed a Mars rover in May in its first-ever mission to the planet, becoming the second country after the United States to do so.

• NASA's most advanced rover, Perseverance, landed on the planet in February.

Perseverance Mission:

• NASA's rover, Ingenuity made its inaugural flight in April, rising about 3 metres above the surface.

• This was humankind’s first successful deployment of a powered aircraft in a world other than Earth.

• The challenge for the 1.8 kg (4 pounds) Ingenuity was the planet's thin atmosphere, which is just 1% as dense as Earth's.

• To compensate for the lack of aerodynamic lift, Ingenuity was equipped with rotor blades that are larger (1.2 metres tip to tip) and spin more rapidly than for an aircraft of its size on Earth.

Fossil-Free Steel:

The first fossil free steel in the world had been manufactured in Sweden.

Key Points:

• The first delivery of 'green steel' was done in Sweden by Hybrit to truck-manufacturer Volvo AB as a trial run.

• SSAB, which accounts for 10% of Sweden's and 7% of Finland's carbon dioxide emissions, said the trial delivery was an "important step towards a completely fossil-free value chain".

• The full-scale production of the material will begin from 2026 as Volvo plans to start production of prototype vehicles using green steel by the end of this year.

Note: The steel industry is one of the major contributors to greenhouse emissions, accounting for up to 8% of global greenhouse gas emissions.

About Fossil Free Steel:

• The steel was made using Hydrogen Breakthrough Iron making Technology, which uses 100% fossil-free hydrogen instead of coal and coke.

• The development for the Hybrit project, which was set up in 2016 is owned by SSAB, energy firm Vattenfall and LKAB, a mining and minerals group.

• Both Vattenfall and LKAB are owned by the Swedish state.

• The idea underpinning Hybrit is to use “100% fossil-free hydrogen” rather than coal and coke in steel production.

• HYBRIT started test operations at its pilot plant for fossil-free steel in Lulea, northern Sweden, a year ago.

• The company aims to replace coking coal, traditionally needed for ore-based steel making, with fossil-free electricity and hydrogen.

• Hydrogen is a key part of the EU's plan to reach net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.

NeoBolt:

Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras has developed India’s first indigenous motorised wheelchair vehicle called NeoBolt.

Key Details:

• The researchers collaborated extensively with organizations and hospitals working for people with locomotor disabilities and built the products after factoring in their experiences and making constant design adjustments.

• It has been developed to empower wheelchair users with a convenient, safe and low-cost mode of outdoor mobility as compared to cars, auto rickshaws and modified scooters.

• According to IIT Madras, the wheelchair will be available to users at an approximate price of ₹55,000.

About NeoBolt:

• NeoBolt can be used not only on roads but even on uneven terrains.

• It has a maximum speed of 25 kmph.

• It is powered by a Lithium-Ion Battery.

• It can travel up to 25 km per charge.

• It is a motor-powered attachment that converts the wheelchair into a safe, road-worthy vehicle that can navigate any kind of terrain that we may normally encounter — drive through unpaved streets or climb a steep gradient. And do this comfortably as it has suspensions to absorb the shocks.

Who developed the wheelchair?

• NeoBolt was developed by a team led by Prof. Sujatha Srinivasan, Department of Mechanical Engineering, IIT Madras.

Note: Prof. Sujatha Srinivasan also led the team that developed India’s first indigenously-designed Standing Wheelchair called ‘Arise,’ which enables a wheelchair user to shift from sitting to standing position.

• It has been commercialized through a startup called 'NeoMotion'.

• The Startup has been co-founded by Prof. Sujatha Srinivasan and an IIT Madras Alumnus Swostik Sourav Dash, who is the CEO of NeoMotion.

Significance:

• It is estimated that around three lakh wheelchairs are sold annually in India, of which 2.5 lakh are imported.

• Nearly 95% of all wheelchairs sold in India are ‘one-size-fits-all,’ which restricts mobility, damages health, and lowers self-confidence.

• Products with features comparable to NeoBolt are also available in the global market but are at least three to five times more expensive.

• NeoFly and NeoBolt developed by the IIT Madras Team are intended at addressing these issues.

Yuktdhara:

The Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for the Ministry of Science and Technology, Jitendra Singh recently launched a new Geospatial Planning Portal under Bhuvan named “Yuktdhara” under Bhuvan.

Yuktdhara has been launched to enable the planning of new MGNREGA (Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act) assets using Remote Sensing and GIS-based information.

Key points about Yuktdhara:

• The Yuktdhara portal has been jointly developed by ISRO and the Ministry of Rural Development.

• The portal will serve as a repository of assets (Geotags) created under various national rural development programmes such as MGNREGA, Integrated Watershed Management Programme, Per Drop More Crop and Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana etc., along with field photographs.

• It would ensure the quality of the plan, enable a long term monitoring of the assets created over the years for relevance, and facilitate identification of new works for resource allocation.

Additional Info:

• Shri Jitendra Singh also holds the portfolio of the Ministry of Earth Sciences and Union Minister of State for Prime Minister’s Office; Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions; Department of Atomic Energy and Department of Space.

About Ministry of Rural Development:

• Ministry of Rural Development: The Ministry of Rural Development is a branch of the Government of India (GoI).

• It was founded in June 2011.

• It is entrusted with the task of accelerating the socio-economic development of rural India.

• Its focus is on health, education, drinking water, housing and roads.

• The ministry has two departments which are

1. Department of Rural Development and

2. Department of Land Resources.

Note: On July 7, 2021, during the first cabinet reshuffle of the second Modi Ministry, Narendra Singh was replaced by Giriraj singh as the Union Minister of Rural Development.

Havana Syndrome:

Recently, US Vice-President Kamala Harris's flight to Vietnam was delayed by several hours due to an "anomalous health incident" with similarities to so-called Havana syndrome.

About Havana Syndrome:

• The mysterious syndrome first affected people at the US and Canadian embassies in Havana in 2016 and 2017.

• This mysterious illness came to be called the “Havana Syndrome”.

• Some officials called it anomalous health incidents while some called attacks.

• In 2018, U.S. diplomats in China reported problems similar to those reported in Cuba, as did undercover CIA agents working in other countries with partner agencies to counter Russian covert operations.

• Most recent cases were reported in Asia in 2018 and in central Europe in 2021.

Causes:

• The cause of Havana syndrome has sparked several theories — from a 'microwave attack' to weapons that focused on ultrasound, poison, and even a reaction to crickets.

• However, in December 2020, a report by the National Academies of Sciences (NAS) found “directed energy beams” as a “plausible” cause of the Havana Syndrome.

Symptoms:

• The patients said they heard strange sounds and experienced odd physical sensations in their hotel rooms or homes.

• They said they had symptoms of nausea, severe headaches, fatigue, dizziness, sleep problems and hearing loss.

What action has been taken by the US Government?

• In 2017, Donald Trump accused Cuba of perpetrating unspecified attacks causing these symptoms.

• However, Havana denied this accusation.

• The U.S. reduced staff at their embassy to a minimum in response.

• Now, State Department and the Central Intelligence Agency have established an internal task force to investigate the matter. Helping American Victims Afflicted by Neurological Attacks (HAVANA) Act was also passed unanimously in Congress.

• It will authorize additional medical and financial support to the intelligence officers and diplomats affected by the bill. Bill has also been introduced in the House.

Science & Technology Affairs Current Affairs - August 2021

MoU between India and USA:

The Union Cabinet chaired by Shri Narendra Modi, on 18th august 2021, approved a pact between India and the United States on cooperation in the field of geology.

The approval was given for the signing the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Geological Survey of India (GSI), Ministry of Mines, the Government of the Republic of India, and the Florida International University (FIU) board of trustees on behalf of its Department of Earth and Environment, College of Arts, Sciences and Education, United States of America on cooperation in field of Geology.

Key Details:

• The identified area of cooperation between the two Participants will be as follows:

1. Development of the geological knowledge, research regarding geologic and tectonic environment of post collisions magmatism in India-Asia collisional margin, geologic history and tectonics of the Eastern Himalayan Syntaxis.

2. Developing cooperative projects in the fields of regional geological, geochemical, petrological and multi-isotopic studies related to the evolution of post collisional magmatic belts (Ladakh Plutons).

3. Exchange of information on technology and geoscientific data.

4. The cooperation will also be for the exchange of information on technology and geoscientific data and other areas of mutual interest to be decided upon by the parties.

Benefits:

• The MoU will provide an institutional mechanism between GSI and the FIU on cooperation in the field of Geology.

About GSI:

• The Geological Survey of India (GSI) is a scientific agency of India.

• It was founded in 1851.

• It is a Government of India (GoI) Ministry of Mines organization.

• It is one of the oldest of such organizations in the world and the second oldest survey in India after Survey of India (founded in 1767), for conducting geological surveys and studies of India.

• It is also the prime provider of basic earth science information to government, industry and general public, as well as the official participant in steel, coal, metals, cement, power industries and international geoscientific forums.

Tomato leaf curl New Delhi virus (ToLCNDV):

Scientists of the National Institute of Plant Genomics Research (NIPGR) have unraveled an effective defense strategy deployed by a resistant tomato cultivar against Tomato leaf curl New Delhi virus.

Key Points:

• Tomato leaf curl New Delhi virus (ToLCNDV) infection causes severe losses in tomato yield worldwide.

• Lack of information on resistance (R) genes against ToLCNDV has considerably retarded the pace of crop improvement against this rapidly spreading pathogen.

• Several attempts have been made to identify antiviral genes against ToLCNDV and related viruses.

• Scientists from DBT Autonomous Institution, National Institute of Plant Genomics Research (NIPGR) report an effective defense strategy deployed by a resistant tomato cultivar against ToLCNDV.

• It employs Sw5a (R gene) that recognizes AC4 protein (viral effector) of ToLCNDV to restrict virus spread.

• These findings could be translated into development of resistance in susceptible cultivars of tomato through modern breeding or molecular approaches.

About Tomato leaf curl New Delhi virus (ToLCNDV):

• Tomato leaf curl New Delhi virus (ToLCNDV) is a bipartite, single-stranded DNA virus transmitted by the whitefly, Bemisia tabaci.

• It was first described on tomatoes in India in 1995 (initially as ToLCV-India).

• ToLCNDV was initially found on Solanum lycopersicum (tomato), and then on other Solanaceae such as Solanum melongena (aubergine), chili pepper (Capsicum spp.) and Solanum tuberosum (potato).

• Following its discovery in India, other Asian countries also reported the occurrence of ToLCNDV on a rather wide range of crops.

• ToLCNDV was first detected in Europe in 2012, affecting zucchini squash crops in Spain, with subsequent detections in Tunisia, Italy and Morocco.

ToLCNDV a Threat:

• ToLCNDV is responsible for severe outbreaks of disease in cucurbit crops in the Mediterranean basin and represents a serious threat to economically important solanaceous crops in the region.

About NIPGR:

• The National Institute of Plant Genome Research (NIPGR) (formerly known as National Centre for Plant Genome

• Research) is an autonomous institution aided by the Department of Biotechnology, Government of India (GoI).

• The Institute’s establishment coincides with the 50th anniversary of India’s independence as well as the birth anniversary of Prof. (Dr.) J. C. Bose.

• The formal announcement was made on November 30th 1997.

• The Institute started to function in the year 1998 with the mandate to undertake, promote and co-ordinate research, train workers and to serve as information resource in identified aspects of plant genomics to build a frontline institution.

Visceral Leishmaniasis:

Indian researchers have developed a non-invasive, easy to administer, cost-effective, and patient compliant potential therapeutic strategy against Visceral Leishmaniasis.

Key Highlights:

• A team led by Dr. Shyam Lal from the Institute of Nano Science and Technology (INST), an autonomous institute of the Department of Science and Technology (DST), Government of India (GoI) has developed a smart and intelligent nanocarrier.

• This nanocarrier has been developed utilizing the natural intrinsic Vitamin B12 pathway present in human body that can mitigate stability challenges and drug-associated toxicity.

• The research was supported under the DST-SERB Early Career Research Award and published in Materials Science & Engineering C’.

• Their strategy based on nano carrier-based oral drugs coated with Vitamin B12 enhanced oral bioavailability and efficacy of the therapy by more than 90%.

About Visceral Leishmaniasis:

Visceral Leishmaniasis (VL) is a complex infectious disease transmitted by the bite of female Phlebotomine sandflies.

It is a neglected tropical disease that affects millions annually, making it the second most common parasitic killer after malaria.

World Mosquito Day:

The World Mosquito Day is observed on 20 August annually across the globe.

Why is World Mosquito Day observed?

The day is observed for the following reasons:

• To raise awareness about the causes of malaria and how it can be prevented.

• To highlight the efforts of healthcare officials, NGOs, and others in fighting diseases caused by malaria.

• This day is a global commemoration of Sir Ronald Ross’ discovery in 1897 that female Anopheles mosquitoes transmit malaria between humans.

• On this day, every year, awareness is created around diseases caused by mosquitoes.

Note:

• The method of transmission begins with introducing the parasite into the human's blood through the bite of a mosquito.

• There are several different mosquitoes that act as vectors for different diseases.

• Aedes mosquitoes cause chikungunya, dengue fever, yellow fever, lymphatic filariasis, rift valley fever, and zika.

• Anopheles causes malaria, lymphatic filariasis (in Africa).

• This transmission of diseases from animals to humans is a process called Zoonosis.

Theme of 2021:

• This year amid the coronavirus pandemic, the theme of World Mosquito Day 2021 is “Reaching the zero-malaria target”.

History:

• On 20th August 1897, Sir Ronald Ross discovered that Anopheles mosquitoes were responsible for the transmission of the malaria parasite.

• This discovery by the British doctor brought a significant impact on the health industry, ensuring humans are safeguarded or prevented by all means.

• To mark this breakthrough discovery in the fight against malaria, 20 August was established and observed to celebrate the discovery of the link between mosquitoes, humans, and malaria.

About Malaria:

• Malaria is a preventable and treatable infectious disease transmitted by mosquitoes.

• However, it is a life-threatening disease if left untreated.

• It’s typically transmitted through the bite of an infected Anopheles mosquito.

• Infected mosquitoes carry the Plasmodium parasite.

• When this mosquito bites a human, the parasite is released into their bloodstream.

What causes malaria?

There are four kinds of malaria parasites that can infect humans:

1. Plasmodium vivax

2. P. ovale

3. P. malariae

4. P. falciparum

P. falciparum causes a more severe form of the disease and those who contract this form of malaria have a higher risk of death. An infected mother can also pass the disease to her baby at birth. This is known as congenital malaria.

Malaria is transmitted by blood, so it can also be transmitted through:

1. An organ transplant

2. A transfusion

3. Use of shared needles or syringes

Symptoms of Malaria:

The symptoms of malaria typically develop within 10 days to 4 weeks following the infection. In some cases, symptoms may not develop for several months. Some malarial parasites can enter the body but will be dormant for long periods of time.

Common symptoms of malaria include:

• Shaking chills that can range from moderate to severe

• High fever

• Profuse sweating

• Headache

• Nausea

• Vomiting

• Abdominal pain

• Diarrhea

• Anemia

• Muscle pain

• Convulsions

• Coma

• Bloody stools

Diagnoses of Malaria:

• A malaria blood test is done using a microscope to examine the blood for signs of the malaria parasite* or via malaria Rapid Diagnostic Tests that permit reliable detection of malaria infections particularly in remote areas with limited access to good quality microscopy services.

Treatment:

• Medication is used for malaria treatment, with Artemisinin Combination Therapy being the recommended first-line treatment.

Significance:

• Malaria is typically found in tropical and subtropical climates where the parasites can live.

• Malaria kills more than one million people each year.

• Most of the affected are in sub-Saharan Africa, where malaria is the leading cause of death for children under five.

• Among the many nations, India too has become a favourable breeding place for many mosquito species making it the hotspot for diseases like dengue, yellow fever, malaria, and others.

• Malaria is a global emergency that affects mostly poor women and children, malaria perpetuates a vicious cycle of poverty in the developing world.

IIGF - 2021: Shri Anil Kumar Jain, the CEO, National Internet Exchange of India (NIXI), Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology (MeitY) and the Chairman of Coordination Committee, India Internet Governance Forum 2021 (IGF), announced the launch of India Internet Governance Forum (IIGF) - 2021.

Highlights:

• The Ministry of Electronics and Information and Technology (MeitY) informed that India’s first IIGF will be held for three days starting from October 20, 2021.

• The launch of IIGF - 2021 was announced on 9th August 2021 in a Press Conference, organized at Electronics Niketan, New Delhi.

• The theme of this year's meeting is “Inclusive Internet for Digital India”.

• With this announcement, the Indian chapter of the United Nations based forum namely Internet Governance Forum has begun.

• Pre-IIGF engagement events will also start from August 2021 across colleges and universities.

• Pre-events will be organized with the aim of engaging students and youth to participate in main event in October.

About IIGF:

• Full form of IIGF is 'India Internet Governance Forum.'

• IIGF is an Indian version of Internet Governance Forum under the United Nations.

• It is an Internet Governance policy discussion platform to bring representatives together from various groups, considering all at par to discuss public policy issues related to the Internet.

• This mode of engagement is referred to as the multi-stakeholder model of Internet Governance, which has been the key feature for the Internet's success.

• The multi-stakeholder concept is well adopted by IGF (Internet Governance Forum) under United Nations and by Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN).

IIG Coordination Committee:

• Among the key members of the India Internet Governance coordination committee include Anil Kumar Jain who is named chairman, TV Ramchandran as Vice-Chairman, Jaijeet Bhattacharya as Vice Chairman, Rajat Moona as Vice-Chairman.

• There are also about 12 members representing the government, civil society, industries, trusts as members.

About Internet Governance Forum (IGF):

• The IGF is a multistakeholder governance group for policy dialogue on issues of Internet governance.

• It brings together all stakeholders in the Internet governance debate, whether they represent governments, the private sector or civil society, including the technical and academic community, on an equal basis and through an open and inclusive process.

• The establishment of the IGF was formally announced by the United Nations Secretary-General in July 2006.

• It was first convened in October–November 2006 and has held an annual meeting since then.

Marburg Disease: The World Health Organization (WHO) recently said that Guinea has confirmd West Africa’s first case of Marburg disease.

Key Points:

• Marburg disease is a lethal virus that’s related to Ebola and, like Covid-19, passed from animal hosts to humans.

• This virus, which is carried by bats has a fatality rate of up to 88 %.

• The virus was found in samples taken from a patient who died on August 2 in southern Gueckedou prefecture.

• The discovery comes just two months after the WHO declared an end to Guinea's second outbreak of Ebola, which started last year and claimed 12 lives.

• Dr Matshidiso Moeti, WHO Regional Director for Africa said that the potential for the Marburg virus to spread far and wide needed to stop it in its tracks.

• WHO considers the threat “high” at the national and regional level, but “low” globally.

• Previous outbreaks and sporadic cases have been reported in South Africa, Angola, Kenya, Uganda, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

• But this is the first time the virus has been detected in West Africa.

About Marburg Virus:

• Marburg virus is a hemorrhagic fever virus of the Filoviridae family of viruses.

• It is a member of the species Marburg marburgvirus, genus Marburgvirus.

• Marburg virus causes Marburg virus disease in humans and other primates, a form of viral hemorrhagic fever.

• The Marburg virus is usually associated with exposure to caves or mines housing colonies of Rousettus bats.

• The virus is considered to be extremely dangerous.

• Once caught by a human, it is spread through contact with bodily fluids of infected people, or with contaminated surfaces and materials.

• The disease begins suddenly, with a high fever, severe headache and discomfort.

• Although there are no approved vaccines or antiviral treatments, oral or intravenous rehydration and treatment of specific symptoms improve survival rates.

World Biofuel Day: World Biofuel Day is observed on August 10 every year.

Key Points:

• The day is celebrated to raise awareness about the importance of non-fossil fuels as an alternative to conventional fossil fuels and highlight the various efforts made by Government in the biofuel sector.

• The development of biofuels is in sync with schemes such as Swach Bharat Abhiyan and Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan.

• World Biofuel Day was first observed by the Ministry of Petroleum and Gas in August 2015.

Theme of 2021:

• The theme of 2021 has been announced to be "promotion of biofuels for a better environment".

• The focus will be squarely on using biofuels in an optimum manner while ensuring that their adverse effects on the environment are kept at a minimum.

• Raising awareness of the availability of biofuels as effective replacements for traditional fuels will also be another important objective.

Background:

• In June 2021, PM Modi joined the World Environment Day event via video conferencing and declared “biofuels for a better environment” as the theme for this year’s World Environment Day.

History:

• In India, it is being observed by the Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas since 2015.

• The day honours the research experiments by Sir Rudolf Diesel (inventor of the diesel engine).

• It was just one day before, on August 9 in 1893, he ran an engine with peanut oil.

• His experiments predicted that vegetable oil would replace fossil fuels in the subsequent century to fuel various mechanical engines.

• To commemorate this achievement, the date was chosen to observe World Biofuel Day.

What is Biofuel?

• Biofuels are environmentally friendly fuels whose use would go a long way in reducing carbon emissions.

• They are created through renewable biomass resources (plant, or algae material, or animal waste) and therefore make a strong case for sustainable development.

• They are renewable, biodegradable, and sustainable sources of energy.

• As such biofuels will help meet the energy requirements of the 21st-century world without damaging the environment in the process.

• Broadly Biofuels are of two types-

1. Primary Biofuels: The organic materials which are used in an unprocessed form such as fuelwood, wood chips and pellets, primarily for heating, cooking, electricity production.

2. Secondary Biofuels: The materials which result from the processing of biomass such as liquid fuels such as ethanol and biodiesel.

• Biofuels are generally classified into three categories. They are

1. First-generation biofuels – First-generation biofuels are made from sugar, starch, vegetable oil, or animal fats using conventional technology. Common first-generation biofuels include Bioalcohols, Biodiesel, Vegetable oil, Bioethers, Biogas.

2. Second-generation biofuels – These are produced from non-food crops, such as cellulosic biofuels and waste biomass (stalks of wheat and corn, and wood). Examples include advanced biofuels like biohydrogen, bioethanol.

3. Third-generation biofuels – These are produced from microorganisms like algae.

Benefits of Biofuel:

1. Cleaner environment

2. Employment generation

3. Reduction of import dependence

4. Additional income to farmers

Indo-Bhutan Space odyssey: Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) is set to launch a Bhutanese satellite in December 2021.

Key Details:

• The development of the INS-2B satellite of Bhutan is being underway by four Bhutanese engineers who are being trained by ISRO.

• The space engineers from Bhutan’s department of information technology and telecom were trained from December 28 to February 25, 2021 at ISRO’s UR Rao Satellite Centre in Bengaluru.

About the Training:

• The training covered theoretical and technical aspects and included visits to laboratories and test facilities.

• With the first phase of the satellite development already done, the second phase of training will focus on finishing touches of the satellite.

About Indo-Bhutan Space odyssey:

• Space odyssey is an event showcasing India’s achievements in space technology.

• The event was organized by the Indian embassy in Bhutan as part of India’s 75th year of Independence – ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav’.

• ISRO’s Scientific Secretary R Umamaheswaran, who was the keynote speaker at the event, said that ISRO plans to fly the satellite by end of this 2021 in the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) mission.

Background:

Indo-Bhutan Space Cooperation:

• India and Bhutan have been engaged in space cooperation with a ground Earth station for South Asia Satellite (SAS) that was inaugurated in Thimphu, Bhutan during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit in August 2019.

• The SAS was launched by India in 2017 as a gift to the countries in the South Asia region, including Bhutan.

• Under the project, New Delhi has offered increased bandwidth on an additional transponder on the satellite for Bhutan as a gift as per the country’s requirement.

About ISRO:

• ISRO is an abbreviation for the Indian Space Research Organization.

• It is the space agency of the Government of India (GoI) and was formed in 15 august 1969.

• It superseded the erstwhile “Indian National Committe For Space Research” (INCOSPAR) which was established in 1962 by the efforts of Independent India's first prime minister‚ Jawaharlal Nehru‚ and his close aide and scientist Vikram Sarabhai. In 1972, the Government of India had set up a Space Commission and the Department of Space (DOS), bringing ISRO under the DOS.

• ISRO then embarked on its mission to provide the Nation space based services and to develop the technologies to achieve the same independently. Its vision is to “harness space technology for natural development while pursuing space science research & planetary exploration”.

• ISRO built India’s first Satellite Aryabhata.

• It is headquartered in Bangalore, India.

• The current Chairman of ISRO is K Sivan.

ISRO’s Odyssey:

• Over 342 satellites of foreign countries sent to space by ISRO.

• India scripted history, as the total number of customer satellites from foreign countries placed in orbit by PSLV reached 342 from more than 34 countries.

• On 28th February 2021, India’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle PSLV-C51 successfully launched Amazonia-1 along with 18 co-passenger satellites from Satish Dhawan Space Centre SHAR, Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh.

• After a flight of about 17 minutes, the vehicle injected the Amazonia-1 into its intended orbit, and in the succeeding 1 hour 38 minutes other 18 co-passenger satellites were injected in a predetermined sequence.

Note: The Aryabhata spacecraft, named after the famous Indian astronomer, was India's first satellite. It was completely designed and fabricated in India and launched by a Soviet Kosmos-3M rocket from Kapustin Yar on April 19, 1975.

Starliner Orbital Flight Test-2 (OFT-2): The launch of Boeing’s uncrewed Starliner Orbital Flight Test-2 (OFT-2) has been postponed once again.

• It was supposed to lift off from the Space Launch Complex-41 on Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida on Tuesday.

About CST-100 Starliner:

• The spacecraft is called the Crew Space Transportation-100 (CST-100).

• It is part of an uncrewed test flight to the International Space Station (ISS).

• The mission is part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program.

Objective:

• Its objective is to make access to space easier in terms of its cost, so that cargo and crew can be easily transported to and from the ISS, enabling greater scientific research.

Features of the Starliner:

• The Starliner is supposed to carry more than 400 pounds of NASA cargo and crew supplies.

• It will take roughly 24 hours to reach the ISS, after which it will dock there.

• The spacecraft has been designed to accommodate seven passengers or a mix of crew and cargo for missions to low-Earth orbit.

• The Starliner has an innovative, weldless structure.

• It is reusable up to 10 times with a six-month turnaround time.

• It also features wireless internet and tablet technology for crew interfaces.

AICTE Translation Automation Artificial Intelligence Tool: The Vice President of India Shri Venkaiah Naidu recently witnessed a demonstration by the AICTE officials on a unique tool that translates English language content into 11 different Indian languages.

Key Points:

• The presentation on the ‘AICTE Translation Automation Artificial Intelligence Tool’ was made by AICTE Chairman, Prof. Anil D. Sahasrabudhe and AICTE Chief Coordinating Officer, Dr. Buddha Chandrasekhar at Upa-Rashtrapati Nivas

• The ‘AICTE Translation Automation Artificial Intelligence Tool' translates English language online courses into eleven different languages. They are as follows:

1. Bengali

2. Marathi

3. Telugu

4. Tamil

5. Gujarati

6. Kannada

7. Malayalam

8. Punjabi

9. Assamese

10. Odia

11. Hindi

The tool is also capable of translating complex formulae, English books, research journals, Government documents and English videos.

Plastic-mixed Handmade Paper: Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) recently secured Patent registration for its innovative Plastic-mixed Handmade Paper developed to reduce plastic menace from nature.

Highlights:

• The Controller of Patent, Intellectual Property of India, on on 2nd August 2021, issued the patent certificate to KVIC’s Kumarappa National Handmade Paper Institute (KNHPI), Jaipur .

• The plastic-mixed handmade paper was developed under Project REPLAN (REducing PLAstic from Nature).

Key Points:

• This is the first of its kind project in India, where plastic waste is de-structured, degraded, diluted and used with paper pulp while making handmade paper and thus reduces plastic waste from nature.

• The invention is aligned with the Prime Minister’s call for fighting the menace of single-use plastic.

• The technology has been developed by KVIC.

• This technology uses both high & low density waste polythene.

• It not only adds extra strength to the paper but also reduces the cost by up to 34%.

• The product is recyclable and eco-friendly.

Eutelsat Quantum: European Space Agency (ESA) has launched the world’s 1st commercial reprogrammable satellite into space aboard Ariane 5 rocket named ‘Eutelsat Quantum’.

Key Details:

• Eutelsat Quantum satellite was launched from French Guiana and is a fully flexible software-defined satellite.

• The satellite was developed under a ESA partnership project with satellite operator Eutelsat, Airbus & Surrey Satellite Technology.

• It is a sophisticated telecommunications satellite that can be completely repurposed while in space.

• It will allow the user to repurpose and the satellite could be reprogrammed in real-time to suit the changing purposes of the user.

• It is also capable of responding to changing demands for data transmission and secure communication during its lifespan of 15 years and will cover the areas from West Africa to Asia.

• The satellite will remain in geostationary orbit for its 15-year lifespan, after which it will be safely placed in a graveyard orbit away from Earth to avoid becoming a risk to other satellites.

About Eutelsat Quantum:

• Eutelsat Quantum is a UK flagship project with most of the satellite developed and manufactured by British industry.

• Airbus is the prime contractor and was responsible for building the satellite’s innovative payload.

• Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd manufactured the new platform.

• The innovative phase array antenna was developed by Airbus in Spain.

About ESA:

• The European Space Agency (ESA) is an intergovernmental organization of 22 member states dedicated to the exploration of space.

• ESA was founded on 30 May 1975 from the merger of the European Launcher Development Organization (ELDO) and the European Space Research Organization (ESRO), both established in 1964.

• It is headquartered in Paris, France.

• Its mission is to shape the development of Europe's space capability and ensure that investment in space continues to deliver benefits to the citizens of Europe and the world.

• The current CEO of ESA is Johann-Dietrich Worner.

Chicken Waste Bio Diesel: John Abraham, a veterinary-doctor-turned-inventor, on July 7, 2021, finally received the patents for inventing biodiesel from slaughtered chicken waste.

Highlights:

• The Indian Patent Office finally granted him the patent for inventing "biodiesel produced from rendered chicken oil" after seven-and-a-half years.

• Mr Abraham works as an associate professor at the Wayanad veterinary college under the Kerala Veterinary and Animal Sciences University.

• The patent was delayed as permission from the National Biodiversity Authority was needed because the key raw material going into the patented invention was a biological material locally sourced.

• At present, Mr Abraham and three of his students are working on developing biodiesel from pig waste.

Background:

• During 2009-12, Mr. Abraham pioneered research on producing biodiesel from the slaughter waste of broiler chicken and dead poultry birds.

• He completed the research under the guidance of the late Prof Ramesh Saravanakumar (passed away awaiting the patent in November 2020), who had filed for the patents in 2014 on behalf of the Tamil Nadu Veterinary & Animal Sciences University.

• After his research, Mr Abraham joined the Pookode Veterinary College, near Kalpetta in Wayanad, and in 2014 he set a ₹ 18-lakh pilot plant at the college campus with funding from the Indian Council for Agricultural Research.

• In 2015, the Kochi Refinery of Bharat Petroleum’s had issued a quality certificate for the biodiesel that was invented by him and since then the vehicle of the college was running on this biodiesel.

Why chicken waste was used to invent this biodiesel?

• The chicken waste was used to invent this biodiesel as because birds and pigs have single stomach which offers higher fat saturation and this is easy to render oil under room temperature.

Benefits of Chicken waste biodiesel:

• 1 liter of biodiesel can be produced from 100 kg of chicken waste.

• It offers over 38 kmpl and can be sold at 40 percent of the diesel price.

• The higher mileage and lower pollution is due to the fact that chicken waste contains 62 per cent fat, offering the key energy content of Cetane at 72, while in normal diesel it is only 64.

• It also increases engine efficiency by 11 per cent due to the presence of more oxygen, and reduces smoke levels by over 47 per cent.

• The high Cetane value of 72 in animal fat bio-diesel leads to shorter ignition delays, providing more time for fuel combustion, leading to more efficiency and less exhaust emission

• On blending side, he said, for old diesel engines his biodiesel can be blended at a ratio of 80:20, while for new CDREi engines, it the reverse--20:80.

Ganymede: The first evidence of water vapor has been discovered by the scientists in the atmosphere of Jupiter’s icy moon Ganymede with the help of the Hubble Space Telescope.

Highlights:

• Thermal water vapors were discovered from the icy surface, which further pointed to a sublimated water atmosphere.

• Scientists used new and archival datasets from NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope to make the discovery.

• The results were published in the Nature Astronomy journal.

About Ganymede:

• Jupiter’s moon Ganymede is the largest moon and the ninth-largest celestial body in our Solar System.

• Ganymede is located half a billion miles (over 600 million km) away.

• Previous research has offered circumstantial evidence that Ganymede, the largest moon in the solar system, contains more water than all of Earth's oceans.

• However, temperatures there are so cold that water on the surface is frozen solid.

• Ganymede's ocean would reside roughly 100 miles below the crust; therefore, the water vapor would not represent the evaporation of this ocean.

How did they find this?

• In 1998, the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS) of Hubble took the first ultraviolet pictures of Ganymede.

• The images revealed a pattern in the observed emissions from the moon’s atmosphere. Ganymede displayed auroral bands similar to the auroral ovals observed on the Earth and other planets with magnetic fields.

• The images revealed a pattern in the observed emissions from the moon’s atmosphere. Ganymede displayed auroral bands similar to the auroral ovals observed on the Earth and other planets with magnetic fields.

• These images served as evidence that the icy moon has a permanent magnetic field.

• The researchers deemed the similarities between the two ultraviolet observations to be due to the presence of molecular oxygen, O2.

• The differences between the two ultraviolet observations were explained by the presence of atomic oxygen- O, which produces a signal that affects one UV colour more than the other.

• In 2018, Lorenz Roth, a researcher at the KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, Sweden, led a team of researchers who set out to capture UV spectra of Ganymede using Hubble’s Cosmic Origins Spectrograph (COS) instrument to measure atomic oxygen presence.

• The research was a part of a large observing programme to support NASA’s Juno mission.

• The study team combined data from 1998, 2010 and 2018 and to their surprise noted some contrast to the original findings.

• The scientists discovered that there was hardly any atomic oxygen in Ganymede’s atmosphere, in contrast to the original interpretations of the data from 1998.

• This meant that there must be a whole new explanation for the difference between the UV aurora images.

• Roth along with his team uncovered the explanation in the relative distribution of the aurorae in the two images.

• The researchers discovered that the surface temperature of the icy moon varies strongly throughout the day and becomes sufficiently warm around noon, which leads the icy surface to release small amounts of water molecules.

• The differences between the UV images were directly correlated with where the water molecules would be expected in Ganymede’s atmosphere.

• The researchers discovered that the water vapour originates from ice sublimation caused by the thermal escape of H2O vapour from warm icy regions.

About the JUICE Mission:

• This discovery has enhanced the significance of ESA’s upcoming JUpiter ICy moons Explorer (JUICE) mission, which is the first large-class mission in ESA's Cosmic Vision 2015–2025 programme.

• JUICE mission is expected to be launched in 2022 and will arrive at Jupiter in 2029. The three-year long mission aims to make detailed observations of Jupiter and three of its largest moons including Ganymede

• Jupiter's moon Ganymede was selected for more detailed investigation, as it provides a natural laboratory for the analysis of evolution, nature and potential habitability of icy worlds.

• Ganymede is also significant given its unique magnetic and plasma interactions with Jupiter and its environment and may give an insight into the role it plays within the system of Galilean satellites.

Chandrayaan-3: Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) is likely to launch India’s third lunar mission ‘Chandrayaan-3’ in the third quarter of 2022.

Highlights:

• The Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Science & Technology; Minister of State (Independent Charge) Earth Sciences; MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh, in a written reply in Lok Sabha said that Chandrayaan-3 is likely to be launched during the third quarter of next year on the assumption that work will proceed apace and normally henceforth.

• The work on Chandrayaa-2's successor was affected due to the coronavirus pandemic and the impending lockdown.

Decoding Chandrayaan-3:

• Chandrayaan-3 is a lander-and rover-specific mission.

• It will demonstrate India’s capability of soft landing on a celestial body, with the rover then communicating with Earth via the existing orbiter from Chandrayaan-2 and taking images 100 km from Moon’s orbit.

• The orbiter has an estimated lifespan of seven years.

Aim:

• The unique exploration of Chandrayaan-3 aims at studying not just one area of the Moon but all the areas combining the exosphere, the surface as well as the sub-surface in a single mission.

Why exploring the Moon is imperative?

• The Moon is the closest cosmic body at which space discovery can be attempted and documented.

• Furthermore, the Moon is a promising testbed to showcase technologies required for deep-space missions.

• Exploring the Moon will enhance the understanding of the celestial body clearly, stimulating the advancement of technology, promoting global alliances and inspiring future generations of explorers and scientists.

Why Lunar South Pole of the Moon is targeted for exploration?

• The Lunar South pole is especially interesting because the lunar surface area that remains in shadow is much larger than that at the North Pole.

• Further, there could be a possibility of the presence of water in permanently shadowed areas around it.

• In addition, the South Pole region has craters that are cold traps and contain a fossil record of the early Solar System.

EOS-03: Union Minister of Science & Technology informed Rajya Sabha that Geo-imaging satellite “EOS-03” is scheduled for launch in third quarter of 2021.

About EOS-03:

• The technology is developed by the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO).

• EOS-03 is a geo-imaging satellite for earth observation.

• The satellite is capable of imaging the whole country four-five times daily.

• The satellite would enable near real-time monitoring of natural disasters like floods and cyclones.

• In addition to natural disasters, the satellite would also enable monitoring of water bodies, crops, vegetation conditions, and forest cover changes.

Additional Info:

Moreover, in the fourth quarter, the development of Small Satellite Launch Vehicle (SSLV) is also scheduled to launch and it has proved to be ideal for on-demand, quick turn-around launch of small satellites.

About Small Satellite Launch Vehicle(SSLV):

• SSLV is a small-lift launch vehicle being developed by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).

• Features: They are cost-effective, three-stage, all-solid launch vehicles with a payload capability of 500 kg to 500 km planar orbit or 300 kg to Sun-Synchronous Polar Orbit.

Benefits:

• SSLV is ideal for the on-demand, quick turn-around launch of small satellites.

• Launch Date: The first developmental flight of SSLV is scheduled for the fourth quarter of 2021 from Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota.