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SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
Researchers At ARIES Discovered The Most Distant Gamma-ray Emitting Galaxy
- Scientists from the Aryabhatta Research Institute of observational sciencES (ARIES), Nainital in collaboration with researchers from other institutions, have discovered the most distant gamma-ray emitting Narrow-Line Seyfert 1 (NLS1) galaxy known to date.
- The researchers have been studying around 25,000 Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) and were able to devise a new method to find high-z NLS1 galaxies till now unknown by comparing different emission lines in their spectra.
CIISCO To Measure Solar Eruption In The Lower Corona
- Researchers from ARIES, Nainital - an autonomous institute under DST, Government of India, along with their collaborators from Royal Observatory of Belgium have led to the development of an algorithm, CMEs Identification in Inner Solar Corona (CIISCO) to detect and track the accelerating solar eruption in the lower corona.
Atal Innovation Mission Launches 'AIM-PRIME'
- On 31 March 2021, Atal Innovation Mission (AIM), NITI Aayog launched AIM-PRIME (Program for Researchers on Innovations, Market-Readiness & Entrepreneurship), an initiative to promote and support science-based deep-tech startups & ventures across India.
- In this regard, AIM has joined hands with Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) to launch this nationwide program which will be implemented by Venture Center - a non-profit technology business incubator.
New Indigenous Technology For HEMT
Scientists from Bangalore have developed a highly reliable, High Electron Mobility Transistor (HEMTs) that is a normally OFF device and can switch currents up to 4A and operates at 600V.
- Application: This first-ever indigenous HEMT device made from gallium nitride (GaN) is useful in electric cars, locomotives, power transmission and other areas requiring high voltage and high-frequency switching would reduce the cost of importing such stable and efficient transistors required in power electronics.
- Technology: Power electronic systems demand high blocking voltage in OFF-state and high current in ON-state for efficient switching performance. Specific transistors called HEMTs made of aluminium gallium nitride/ gallium nitride (AlGaN/GaN) provides an edge over silicon-based transistors as they allow the systems to operate at very high voltages, switch ON and OFF faster, and occupy less space. Commercially available AlGaN/GaN HEMTs use techniques to keep the transistor in normally OFF state, which affects the stability, performance and reliability of the device.
- Uniqueness: The developed technology is a first of its kind, which uses a type of chemical called ternary oxide (composed of two different metal ions combined in an oxide matrix or Al, Ti and O), which behaves like material having larger positive charge concentration (p-type material). It does away with intrinsic reliability and performance issues of the in-use industrial techniques for e-mode HEMTs, allowing the development of efficient power switching systems.
ISRO Develops S-Band Synthetic Aperture Radar
- The Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) has developed the S-band Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) and shipped it to Nasa for integration with the L-band payload being developed by the US agency.
- Once the integration of the two radars is done, Nasa will send them to India where other parts of the Nasa-Isro SAR (NISAR) satellite will be built. Isro will then use its GSLV Mk-II rocket to launch NISAR from the Sriharikota launchpad.
- India and the US signed an agreement in 2014 to jointly develop the world’s first earth observation satellite with two different radars that can produce very high-resolution images.
About Nisar Satellite
- The satellite will be the world’s first-of-its-kind that will operate on two radio frequencies with capability to collect data day and night and in all weather, including during cloudy days.
- Its data can help people worldwide better manage natural resources and hazards like earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanoes and landslides, as well as provide information to better understand the effects and pace of climate change. It will also add to our understanding of the planet’s hard outer layer (crust).
- NISAR will be able to “measure changes in the Earth’s surface less than a centimeter across”, will also help measure and study dynamic surfaces, ice masses like Himalayan glaciers, sea level rise and groundwater level.
Flight Test Of Solid Fuel Ducted Ramjet
- The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) successfully carried out a flight demonstration based on Solid Fuel Ducted Ramjet (SFDR) technology from Integrated Test Range Chandipur off the coast of Odisha on March 05, 2021.
- This technology has provided DRDO with a technological advantage which will enable it to develop long range air-to-air missiles.
- At present, such technology is available only with a handful of countries in the world.
- The Solid Fuel Ducted Ramjet is a missile propulsion system includes a thrust modulated ducted rocket with a reduced smoke nozzle-less missile booster. The thrust modulation in the system is achieved using a hot gas flow controller. The system utilises a solid fuelled air-breathing ramjet engine.
Aries-Devasthal Faint Object Spectrograph & Camera Commissioned
An indigenous spectrograph named Aries-Devasthal Faint Object Spectrograph & Camera (ADFOSC) has been successfully commissioned on the 3.6-m Devasthal Optical Telescope (DOT), the largest in the country and in Asia, near Nainital, Uttarakhand.
- ADFOSC is designed and developed by Aryabhatta Research Institute of Observational Sciences (ARIES), Nainital.
- It can locate sources of faint light from distant quasars and galaxies in a very young universe, regions around supermassive black-holes around the galaxies, and cosmic explosions.
- Such spectroscopes were so far imported from abroad involved high costs. It is about 2.5 times less costly compared to the imported ones.
- The spectroscope, the largest of its kind among the existing astronomical spectrographs in the country.
NASA Delays Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) Mission
nasa has delayed the Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) Mission due to issues in two major components of the spacecraft: one involves its main instrument, the Didymos Reconnaissance and Asteroid Camera for Optical-navigation (DRACO), which needs to be reinforced to withstand the launch environment and the other is its solar panels, known as Roll-Out Solar Arrays (ROSA), whose delivery has been delayed by supply chain issues caused in part by the pandemic.
About Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) Mission
- The Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) is a planetary defense-driven test of technologies for preventing an impact of Earth by a hazardous asteroid.
- DART will be the first demonstration of the kinetic impactor technique to change the motion of an asteroid in space.
- The binary near-Earth asteroid (65803) Didymos is the target for the DART demonstration. While the Didymos primary body is approximately 780 meters across, its secondary body (or “moonlet”) is about 160-meters in size, which is more typical of the size of asteroids that could pose the most likely significant threat to Earth. They are separated by just over a kilometer.
- The DART spacecraft will achieve the kinetic impact deflection by deliberately crashing itself into the moonlet at a speed of approximately 6.6 km/s, with the aid of an onboard camera (named DRACO) and sophisticated autonomous navigation software. The collision will change the speed of the moonlet in its orbit around the main body by a fraction of one percent, but this will change the orbital period of the moonlet by several minutes - enough to be observed and measured using telescopes on Earth.
Square Kilometre Array Observatory Launched
- The Square Kilometre Array Observatory (SKAO) Council held its inaugural meeting and approved the establishment of the world’s largest radio telescope.
- The new venture is being deemed as important following the collapse of one of the most prolific radio telescopes in the world, the Arecibo in Puerto Rico, in December last year.
- The Square Kilometre Array (SKA) is an intergovernmental radio telescope project being planned to be built in Australia and South Africa.
- The headquarters of the SKA are located at the University of Manchester's Jodrell Bank Observatory in Cheshire, England.
- The SKAO has been designed to operate for more than five decades, and the construction of the first phase of the SKA is estimated to be completed by 2027.
SKAO & India
- India is participating at a national-coordination level, which is led by the National Centre for Radio Astrophysics of the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research.
- A total of 19 institutions are a part of the Indian coordination team, including IISc Bangalore, IIT Indore, IIT Kharagpur, and IIT Kanpur among others, and these institutions are located across the country.
Mars Ice Mapping Mission
NASA, in collaboration with the Italian Space Agency (ASI), the Canadian Space Agency (CSA), and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), is planning to launch a robotic Mars ice mapping mission, which could help the agency identify potential science objectives for initial human missions to Mars. It could help identify abundant, accessible ice for future candidate landing sites on the Red Planet.
- The international Mars Ice Mapper mission would detect the location, depth, spatial extent, and abundance of near-surface ice deposits, which would enable the science community to interpret a more detailed volatile history of Mars.
- The radar-carrying orbiter would also help identify properties of the dust, loose rocky material—known as regolith—and rock layers that might impact the ability to access ice.
HAL And MIDHANI To Develop & Manufacture Composite Raw Materials
- Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) and Mishra Dhatu Nigam Limited (MIDHANI) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for development and production of composite raw materials during the Aero India 2021 in Bengaluru.
- This is the first time that such a MoU has been signed for composite raw materials.
- Composites raw materials, mainly in the form of prepregs used in platforms like Light Combat Aircraft (LCA), Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH), Light Combat Helicopter (LCH) and Light Utility Helicopter (LUH) are currently imported.
- There is no equivalent proven Indian approved/qualified supplier for various types of prepregs (carbon, aramid, glass types, etc) for the aircraft applications. This creates dependency on foreign Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs).
Indo-Bangladesh Student Satellite
- To celebrate 50 years of Indo-Bangladesh friendship, and the birth centenary of the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, both countries have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to design, make, and launch a satellite administered by students from both the countries.
- Bangladesh side was represented by a global youth organization Global Law Thinkers Society, while the Indian side was represented by the Chennai-based Space Kidz India (SKI).
Indian Astrophysicists Spot UV-bright Stars In NGC 2808
- Scientists from the Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA) have spotted rare hot UV-bright stars in the massive globular cluster NGC 2808 of our Milky Way Galaxy.
- UV-bright stars have been distinguished from the relatively cooler main-sequence stars using images from Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (UVIT) onboard satellite AstroSat- India’s first multi-wavelength space satellite.
- NGC 2808 is said to have at least five generations of stars, which exist in the late stages of evolution of a Sun-like star.
- Old globular clusters, referred to as dinosaurs of the Universe, help to understand how stars evolve through various phases between their birth and death.
South Korea’s ‘Artificial Sun’ Breaks World Record
South Korea’s magnetic fusion device, the Korea Superconducting Tokamak Advanced Research (KSTAR) has set a new world record for fusion.
- It achieved a temperature of over 100 million degrees Celsius for 20 seconds.
- The Sun burns at 15 million degrees Celsius. By comparison, the KSTAR was able to achieve a temperature of over 6.6 times more than that of Sun’s.
- The KSTAR has often been referred to as South Korea’s “artificial sun”.
- It is a part of joint research conducted with Seoul National University and Columbia University of the US.
- In December 2020 China powered up the HL-2M Tokamak reactor, which managed to heat plasma to a temperature of 150 million degrees Celsius but for about 10 seconds.
Why Fusion Devices are Future of Energy Source
- Fusion devices mimic the same reactions that take place inside the Sun and could potentially provide a powerful and limitless source of clean energy by releasing massive amounts of energy that can be converted into electricity.
- Unlike nuclear fission, it creates little radioactive waste and is considerably less dangerous, but is also more expensive.
National Metrology Conclave 2021
The Prime Minister of India delivered inaugural address at the National Metrology Conclave 2021.
- He dedicated National Atomic Timescale and Bhartiya Nirdeshak Dravya Pranali to the Nation and laid the Foundation Stone of National Environmental Standards Laboratory.
- The Conclave was organised by Council of Scientific and Industrial Research-National Physical Laboratory (CSIR-NPL), New Delhi, on its 75th year of inception.
- The theme of the conclave is ‘Metrology for the Inclusive Growth of the Nation’.
National Atomic Timescale
- With the launch of National Atomic Timescale, India has achieved the accuracy level of 2.8 nano second and Indian Standard Time is matching the International Standard Time with the accuracy range of less than 3 nano second.
- This will be a big help for organization like ISRO who are working with cutting edge technology. Modern technology related Banking, railways, defense, health, telecom, weather forecast, disaster management and many similar sectors will be benefited greatly from this achievement.
- CSIR-NPL is India’s timekeeper - it is authorized to realize and maintain the Indian Standard Time (IST) by an Act of Parliament.
Bhartiya Nirdeshak Dravya
- Bharatiya Nirdeshak Dravya (BND) or Indian Reference Materials are developed by CSIR-National Physical Laboratory, India (NPLI) to ensure the quality of products in every manufacturing and consumer sector by providing SI traceable measurements and enhancing quality life of citizens through metrology. Reference materials (RM) play pivotal role in maintaining the quality infrastructure of any economy through testing and calibration with precise measurements traceable to SI units.
National Environmental Standards Laboratory
- The National Environmental Standards Laboratory will aid self-reliance in the certification of ambient air and industrial emission monitoring equipment.
India’s 40th Scientific Expedition To Antarctica
- India has launched the 40th scientific expedition to Antarctica with a 43-member team embarking upon the Russian ice-class vessel MV Vasiliy Golovnin.
- The National Centre for Polar and Ocean Research (NCPOR), which manages the entire Indian Antarctic program.
- The expedition is aimed at supporting the ongoing scientific projects on climate change, geology, ocean observations, electric and magnetic flux measurements, environmental monitoring; resupplying of food, fuel, provisions and spare; and accomplishing the return of the winter crew.
EZIE & EUVST: Two Heliophysics Missions
The US space agency National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has approved two heliophysics missions. Heliophysics is the science of understanding the Sun and its interactions with Earth and the solar system, including space weather.
Of the two missions, NASA will lead the Electrojet Zeeman Imaging Explorer or EZIE mission, while it would contribute to the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA)-led Extreme Ultraviolet High-Throughput Spectroscopic Telescope Epsilon Mission (EUVST) mission.
NASA’s EZIE Mission
- The EZIE mission will study the atmosphere of the Earth and the electric currents in it, which link the aurora to the magnetosphere. The magnetosphere is a complex space weather system that responds to several factors, including solar activity. The levels of geomagnetic activity are commonly measured by the Auroral Electrojet (AE) index, even as scientists do not currently understand the details regarding the currents’ structure.
- NASA has slated the mission for launch in June 2024.
JAXA’s Solar-C EUVST Mission
- A solar telescope, the EUVST would be studying the solar wind released by the solar atmosphere, as well as studying how this atmosphere drives solar material eruption. Studying them is important because they impact the space radiation environment throughout the solar system.
- The mission is aimed to be launched in 2026.
DRDO, Indian Navy Conduct Successful Trial Of SAHAYAK-NG
- Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) along with Indian Navy conducted the successful maiden test trial of SAHAYAK-NG - India’s first indigenously designed and developed Air Dropped Container from IL 38SD aircraft of Indian Navy off the coast of Goa.
- The trial was conducted by Indian Navy to enhance its operational logistics capabilities and provide critical engineering stores to ships which are deployed more than 2000 kilometres from the coast. It reduces the requirement of ships to come close to the coast to collect spares and stores.
- SAHAYAK-NG is an advanced version of SAHAYAK Mk I. The newly developed GPS aided air dropped container is having the capability to carry a payload that weighs upto 50 kg and can be dropped from heavy aircraft.
DRDO Lab Develops QRNG
The DRDO Young Scientist Laboratory for Quantum Technologies (DYSL-QT), a DRDO facility based in Mumbai, has developed a Quantum Random Number Generator (QRNG) which has the ability to detect random quantum events and convert those into a stream of binary digits.
- The facility has developed a fiber-optic branch path based QRNG. Branch path-based QRNG relies on the principle that if a single photon falls on a balanced beam splitter, it will take either of the beam-splitter output paths randomly. As the path chosen by the photon is random, the randomness is translated to a sequence of binary digits, also called bits.
Importance of Random Numbers
- Random numbers have essential roles in various fields ranging from quantum communication, cryptography applications like key generation, key wrapping, and authentication along with scientific simulations, lotteries and fundamental physics experiments.
- The generation of perfect randomness is generally considered impossible with classical methodologies. Quantum mechanics has the inherent potential of providing true random numbers and thus has become the preferred option for scientific applications requiring randomness.
Another Recent DRDO Feat on Quantum Technology
- On December 8, the DRDO also successfully demonstrated Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) technology between two laboratories in Hyderabad, where the quantum technology-based security was validated for a range of 12 km long over a fibre optic channel.
- QKD is primarily a mechanism to undertake secure communication, which utilises a cryptographic protocol involving various components of quantum mechanics.
- The technology enables two communicating sides to come up with random secret keys shared by both of them and known exclusively to them, and only they can use it to encrypt and decrypt messages, thus achieving highly secure communication.
Gene ‘BBX11’ That Greens Plants
- Researchers at the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) have identified a gene ‘BBX11’ that facilitates in the greening of plants by playing a crucial role in regulating the levels of protochlorophyllide — an intermediate in the biosynthesis of the green pigment chlorophyll.
- When a seedling emerges from under the soil it must quickly synthesise chlorophyll to start supporting its own growth. In order to facilitate quick synthesis of chlorophyll, plants make a precursor of chlorophyll called ‘protochlorophyllide’ in the dark. As soon as the plant comes out into the light from under the soil, light-dependent enzymes convert protochlorophyllide to chlorophyll.
- The scientists found a mechanism where two proteins oppositely regulate the ‘BBX11’ gene to maintain optimum levels of ‘BBX11’.
- The amount of protochlorophyllide synthesised needed to be proportional to the number of enzymes available to convert them to chlorophyll. If there is excess of free protochlorophyllide, then exposure to light converts it into molecules that cause ‘photobleaching’.
- Thus, it is very important to regulate the amount of protochlorophyllide synthesized by the plant and here comes the vital plant played by the ‘BBX11’ gene. If it is less, plants are unable to efficiently ‘green’ in order to harvest sunlight. If the amount of protochlorophyllide is more, then plants bleach under the light.
GPS-Based Technology To Make Indian Roads Free Of Toll Booths
- Road Transport and Highways Ministry has finalised GPS-based technology for toll collection with the help of Russia to ensure seamless movement of vehicles across the country which will ensure India becomes 'toll booth free' in the next two years.
- All vehicles will have a GPS device that will be linked directly to the bank account of the vehicle owner. The toll amount will be deducted based on the movement of the vehicle.
- While now all commercial vehicles are coming with vehicle tracking systems, the Government will come up with some plan to install GPS technology in old vehicles.
- Presently the country is gearing up for the mandatory use of FASTags on all vehicles from January 1, 2021. FASTags essentially eliminate the need to stop at toll booths and physically pay, thus helping ease congestion at toll booths across the country.
Quantum Communication Between Two DRDO Labs
The Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) technology developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has undergone trials between two laboratories in Hyderabad where the quantum technology- based security was validated for a range of 12 km over a fibre optic channel.
- The technology has been developed by two DRDO facilities, Centre for Artificial Intelligence and Robotics (CAIR), Bengaluru, and DRDO Young Scientists’ Laboratory – Quantum Technology (DYSL-QT), Mumbai.
What is QKD?
- QKD is primarily a mechanism to undertake secure communication which utilises a cryptographic protocol involving various components of quantum mechanics.
- 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 highly-secure communication.
Application
- The work being done on QKD technology at DRDO will be used to enable start-ups and small and medium enterprises in the domain of quantum information technologies.
- The technology is expected to help define standards and formulate crypto technology related policies that can use the QKD system in a unified Cipher Policy Committee (CPC) framework in the country for more secure ‘key management’ for current and future military cryptographic systems.
Why we need Secure Communication?
- Secure communications are vital for defence and strategic agencies world over and distribution of encryption keys from time to time is an important requirement in this context. 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.
Zebrafish& Heart Regeneration
- Scientists at Pune-based Agharkar Research Institute have used Zebrafishmodel and identified genes that can promote heart regeneration.
- Scientists have identified the cellular communication network factor 2a (ccn2a), a gene that can promote heart regeneration by enhancing cardiomyocyte proliferation.
- Ccn2a promotes the innate regenerative response of the adult zebrafish heart and maybe a promising therapeutic target for humans.
- Zebrafish – a tiny freshwater fish barely 2-3 cm long can efficiently regenerate its damaged heart within a short time period.
- Found in South Asia, it is a popular aquarium fish, frequently sold under the trade name Danio.
- A zebrafish attracts developmental biologists due to its adequate regeneration capacity of almost all its organs, including the brain, heart, eye, spinal cord. This makes it a suitable research model for biomedical scientists.
''IEEE Milestone'' Status For Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope
- The Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope (GMRT), located at Khodad village, near Pune, Maharashtra has received the prestigious ''IEEE Milestone'' status by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), USA.
- IEEE is the world's largest technical professional organization dedicated to advancing technology in all areas related to electrical and electronics engineering that honours significant technical achievements and excellence in unique products, services, seminal papers and patents for the benefit of humanity.
- This is only the third such IEEE Milestone recognition for an Indian contribution. Earlier, J C Bose’s demonstration of generation and reception of radio waves (1895) and the discovery of the Raman Effect by C V Raman (1928) have been the only IEEE milestone winners from India (recognized only in 2012).
- The GMRT is among the largest and most sensitive low- frequency radio observatories in the world. It is operated by the National Centre for Radio Astrophysics (NCRA), a part of the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai.
- Late GovindSwarup,the father of radio astronomy in India, was the brainchild behind the setting up of this Telescope.
Chang’e-5 Mission: China’s First Mission To Return Moon Samples
- China has launched Chang’e-5 probe - its first mission to return moon samples.
- China’s Chang’e-5 probe is named after the Chinese Moon goddess who is traditionally accompanied by a white or jade rabbit.
- The Chinese National Space Administration’s (CNSA) lunar sample return mission is aimed at landing in the Mons Rumker region of the moon, where it will operate for one lunar day, which is two weeks long and return a 2 kg sample of the lunar rock possibly by digging about 2 metres deep into the surface of the Moon.
- The mission comprises a lunar orbiter, a lander, and an ascent probe that will lift the lunar samples back into orbit and return them back to Earth.
- Chang’e-5 comprises a robotic arm, a coring drill, a sample chamber and is also equipped with a camera, penetrating radar and a spectrometer.
Two Indian Supercomputers In TOP500
Two Indian supercomputers have found place in a biennial ranking of supercomputers by TOP 50, released on 16th November 2020.
- Param Siddhi, the high performance computing-artificial intelligence (HPC-AI) supercomputer established under National Supercomputing Mission (NSM) at C-DAC has achieved global ranking of 63.
- Mihir: Another system - Mihir have been ranked 146th in the list.
Top 5 Supercomputers as on 16th November 2020
1. Fugaku (Japan): 415.5 petaflops
2. Summit (USA): 148.8 petaflops
3. Sierra (USA): 94.6 petaflops
4. Sunway TaihuLight (China): 93 petaflops
5. Selene (USA): 63.4 petaflops
World Antimicrobial Awareness Week 2020
The World Health Organization (WHO) is observing World Antimicrobial Awareness Week during 18 – 24 November 2020.
Aim
- World Antimicrobial Awareness Week (WAAW) aims to increase awareness of global antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and to encourage best practices among the general public, health workers and policy makers to avoid the further emergence and spread of drug-resistant infections.
AMR
- Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) occurs when bacteria, viruses, fungi, and parasites resist the effects of medications, making common infections harder to treat and increasing the risk of disease spread, severe illness and death.
- Antimicrobials are agents that are critical tools for fighting diseases in humans, animals and plants and include antibiotic, antiviral, antifungal and antiprotozoal medicines.
- Multiple factors – including overuse of medicines in humans, livestock, and agriculture, as well as poor access to clean water, sanitation and hygiene – have accelerated the threat of antimicrobial resistance worldwide.
WHO Lists First Vaccine For Emergency Use
- The World Health Organization (WHO) has listed Indonesia’s nOPV2 vaccine as the first ever vaccine for emergency use.
- The nOPV2 vaccine will be used to combat outbreaks of circulating vaccine-derived polio viruses (cVDPVs).
- cVDPVs: These are rare and occur if the weakened strain of the poliovirus contained in the oral polio vaccine (OPV) circulates among under-immunised populations for a long time. If not enough children are immunised, the weakened strain can spread between individuals and genetically revert back to a form that can cause paralysis over time. Type 2 cVDPVs are currently the most prevalent form of the vaccine-derived virus.
- Emergency Use Listing (EUL): The EUL procedure assesses the suitability of as yet unlicensed health products to combat health emergencies, such as polio or COVID-19. Numerous COVID-19 diagnostics have also received EUL but nOPV2 is the first vaccine.
EOS-01: ISRO’s Earth Observation Satellite
- Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) will launch its next earth observation satellite EOS-1 on November 07, 2020.
- India’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle in its 51st mission (PSLV-C49) will launch EOS-01 as primary satellite along with nine international customer satellites from Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) SHAR, Sriharikota.
- EOS-01 is an earth observation satellite intended for applications in agriculture, forestry and disaster management support.
- The customer satellites are being launched under commercial agreement with NewSpace India Limited (NSIL), Department of Space.
Mars Opposition
On 13th October, Mars and the Sun lined up with Earth in the middle called Mars Opposition.
What is an Opposition in Astronomy?
- At opposition – Earth is in the middle of a line between an outer planet and the Sun, we see the sun at one end of our sky and the opposition planet in the opposite direction.
- When the Sun sets in the west, the planet is rising in the east. As the planet drops below the horizon, the Sun pops above it again: opposite.
- Opposition for an outer planet happens when the Sun and that planet are exactly 180 degrees apart in the sky.
Planets that can be at Opposition
- Oppositions can only happen for objects that are farther from the Sun than Earth is. We can see oppositions for Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune about every year. They happen as Earth, in its much-faster orbit, passes between these outer worlds and the Sun.
- We see oppositions of the planet Mars, too, but Martian oppositions happen about every 27 months because Earth and Mars are so relatively close together in orbit around the Sun; their orbits, and speeds in orbit, are more similar.
Planets that cannot be at Opposition
- Venus and Mercury can never be at opposition as seen from Earth. Their orbits are closer to the Sun than Earth’s, so they can never appear opposite the Sun in our sky. These inner planets always stay near the Sun, no more than 47 degrees from the Sun for Venus, or 28 degrees for Mercury, in our sky.
Why Mars Opposition Occurs only every Two Years?
- Mars orbits the Sun once every 687 days, so roughly 2 years. We on Earth travel a much higher speed and only require 365 days to orbit.The Earth would lap Mars at some point during its orbit. Given that Mars is also orbiting, one trip around the Sun would not suffice, however. Only after 780 days will the Earth and Mars be aligned once again. An opposition!
DRDO Successfully Flight Tests Anti-Radiation Missile (Rudram)
The Defence Research and Development Organisation conducted a successful flight test of the indigenously developed New Generation Anti-Radiation Missile (NGARM) also called the ‘Rudram’ at the Integrated Test Range (ITR) in Balasore, Odisha.
What are Anti-Radiation Missiles?
- Anti-radiation missiles” are designed to detect, locate, and destroy enemy air defence radars; they are often carried by specialist aircraft that accompany airstrikes to perform the SEAD (Suppression of Enemy Air Defenses) mission.
This capability with other Countries
- Now, India joined the likes of the United States, Russia, Brazil, China, United Kingdom and Iran who all have indigenous ARM missiles in their armoury.
About immediate Foes
- Pakistan has bought MAR-1 Missiles from Brazil in 2008 and China has its own systems.
About NGARM
- It is capable of striking radiation-emitting targets within a range of 250 km.
- It hasa launch speed of up to 2 Mach, twice the speed of sound.
- It has INS-GPS navigation with Passive Homing Head for the final attack.
- The Passive Homing Head can detect, classify and engage targets over a wide band of frequencies as programmed.
Advantages
- The specialised weapon is aimed to provide tactical air superiority in warfare.
- Missile guidance and navigation toward its target while the missile is on course take place through continuous inputs from sensors and passive homing seeker technology.
- Suppression of radar system will enable India's jets to carry out missions without having to worry about facing threats from radar-guided surface-to-air missiles.