(TARGET: Prelims Exam - 2019)
NOVEMBER-2018 CURRENTS
Science & Technology
Dr. Ravi P. Agrahari
Scientist in IIT Delhi with the association of DST (GoI)
Author of McGraw Hill Publication of Science & Technology
More than 17 years teaching experiences
Director of Purvanchal IAS, Gorakhpur (UP) – 9911809808
FOLLOW THESE CHAPTERS for CURRENTS
UNIT-1: SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY IN INDIA
UNIT–2: ENERGY
UNIT-3: SPACE TECHNOLOGY
UNIT-4: Communication and Information Technology
UNIT-5: DEFENCE TECHNOLOGY
UNIT-6: SUPERCONDUCTIVITY, LASER, ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE, ROBOTICS,
NANOTECHNOLGOY
UNIT-7: INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS (IPR) & RELATED RIGHTS
UNIT-8: ASTRONOMY & PARTICLE PHYSICS
UNIT-9: BIOTECHNOLOGY
Unit-10: DIFFERENT TYPES OF DISEASES AND ITS RECENT ISSUES, HEALTH &
FAMILY WELFARE AND VARIOUS IMMUNISATION PROGRAMME
Unit-11: MISCELLANEOUS TOPICS
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UNIT-1: SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY IN INDIA
INSPIRE 2018
The second edition of International Symposium to Promote Innovation
& Research in Energy Efficiency (INSPIRE) is being held in New Delhi.
The symposium will focus on enhancing grid management, e-Mobility,
financial instruments and technologies for energy efficiency in India.
About INSPIRE 2018:
INSPIRE 2018 has been organized in collaboration with the Bureau of
Energy Efficiency (BEE), The Energy & Resources Institute (TERI), Asian
Development Bank (ADB), the United Nations Environment Program
(UNEP), and the Administrative Staff College of India (ASCI).
The event is bringing together policy-makers, influencers, innovators,
thought leaders, researchers, leading energy-efficient companies,
government agencies, business leaders and other stakeholders to
deliberate on key energy policies, market transformation strategies, and
sustainable business models that will help leverage the full potential of
energy efficiency and bring its multiple co-benefits to the fore.
UNIT–2: ENERGY
Energy Efficiency Revolving Fund (EERF)
Alongside, to support investments in new, innovative and scalable
business models, Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL) and
Asian Development Bank (ADB) have signed an agreement for a
Global Environment Facility (GEF) grant of USD 13 million to
establish an Energy Efficiency Revolving Fund (EERF).
EERF aims to expand and sustain investments in the energy
efficiency market in India, build market diversification, and scale
up existing technologies.
About EESL:
Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL), under the administration
of Ministry of Power, Government of India, is working towards
mainstreaming energy efficiency and is implementing the world’s
largest energy efficiency portfolio in the country.
By 2020, EESL seeks to be a US$ 1.5 billion (INR 10,000 crore)
company.
EESL has pioneered innovative business approaches to successfully
roll-out large-scale programs that allow for incentive alignment
across the value chain and rapidly drive transformative impact.
EESL aims to leverage this implementation experience and explore
new overseas market opportunities for diversification of its
portfolio.
As on date, EESL has begun its operations in UK, South Asia and
South-East Asia.
.
CITY GAS DISTRIBUTION (CGD) PROJECTS
The Prime Minister would lay the Foundation Stones of City Gas
Distribution (CGD) Projects in 65 Geographical Areas (GAs) in 129
districts under the 9th CGD Bidding Round recently awarded by PNGRB
(Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board).
This might herald the availability of convenient, environment-friendly
and cheaper natural gas for nearly half of the country’s population
spread across 26 States and Union Territories.
CGD Network:
Govt of India puts thrust to promote the usage of environment friendly
clean fuel i.e. natural gas as a fuel/feedstock to move towards a gas
based economy.
Development of CGD networks focuses to increase the availability of
cleaner cooking fuel (i.e. PNG) and transportation fuel (i.e. CNG) to
the citizens.
The expansion of CGD network will benefit the industrial and
commercial units by ensuring the uninterrupted supply of natural gas.
At Present:
Till September 2018, 96 cities/districts were covered for development
of CGD networks.
About 46.5 lakh households and 32 lakh CNG vehicles are availing the
benefit of clean fuel through existing CGD networks.
As per commitment made by various entities in this bidding round,
around 2 crore PNG (Domestic) connections and 4600 CNG stations
are expected to be installed in next 8 years across the country (This
expanded the coverage of CGDs to about 50% of the population over
35% of India’s area).
FLY ASH
The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has imposed penalties of up to
₹5 crore on thermal power plants that have not fully disposed of
the fly ash they generated.
Significance and concerns associated with fly ash:
The order is significant because of the high contribution of fly ash to
air and water pollution and its impact on crops being grown in
villages around these plants.
Fly ash is a major source of PM 2.5 (fine, respirable pollution
particles) in summer. It becomes air borne, and gets transported to
a radius of 10 to 20 kms.
It can settle on water and other surfaces. Fly ash contains heavy
metals from coal, a large amount of PM 2.5 and black carbon (BC).
Proper disposal of fly ash is still not happening in many places.
What can be done?
Fly ash, the end product of combustion during the process of power
generation in the coal based thermal power plants, is a proven resource
material for many applications of construction industries and currently
is being utilized in manufacturing of Portland Cement,
bricks/blocks/tiles manufacturing, road embankment construction
and low lying area development, etc.
Road contractors and construction engineers need to know the benefits
of using fly ash in construction.
Measures need to be taken to reduce the cost of construction of roads
using fly ash by way of tax structure, subsidies and transportation
services.
Besides, there is a need to prevent the ash from coming to the power
plant by washing the coal at its place of origin. The government should
also come out with a policy to encourage fly ash use in cement plant.
ATOMIC ENERGY REGULATORY
BOARD (AERB)
Union Government has appointed renowned scientist Nageshwara Rao
Guntur as Chairperson of Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB).
About AERB:
It was established in November 1983 to carry out certain regulatory
and safety functions in the fields of nuclear and radiation safety on a
countrywide basis.
It was constituted by President of India by exercising powers conferred
by Section 27 of Atomic Energy Act, 1962 to carry out certain regulatory
and safety functions under the Act.
The regulatory authority of AERB is derived from rules and
notifications promulgated under Atomic Energy Act, 1962 and
Environmental (Protection) Act, 1986.
Its mission is to ensure that use of ionizing radiation and nuclear
energy in India does not cause undue risk to health and environment.
UNIT–3: SPACE TECHNOLOGY
NASA’S KEPLER SPACE TELESCOPE
The Kepler space telescope has run out of fuel and will be retired
after a 9-1/2-year mission.
Currently orbiting the sun 156 million km from the earth, the
spacecraft will drift further from our planet when mission
engineers turn off its radio transmitters.
It was Launched in 2009, the Kepler mission is specifically designed
to survey our region of the Milky Way galaxy to discover hundreds
of Earth-size and smaller planets in or near the habitable zone and
determine the fraction of the hundreds of billions of stars in our
galaxy that might have such planets.
Since the launch of the observatory in 2009, astronomers have
discovered thousands of extra-solar planets, or exoplanets, through
this telescope alone.
Most of them are planets that are ranging between the size of Earth
and Neptune (which itself is four times the size of Earth).
As of March 2018, Kepler had found 2,342 confirmed planets; add
potential planets, and its find of exoworlds stands at 4,587. What
is the habitable zone? If a planet is too close to the star it orbits, any
water on the surface quickly boils off, forming a steam atmosphere.
If the planet is too far from the star, any water on the surface
freezes.
The habitable zone (or “Goldilocks zone”) is the range of orbital
distances from a star at which liquid water can exist on the surface
of a planet.
This range of distances changes depending on the size and
temperature of the star.
Earth is in the habitable zone of the sun – one of the reasons our
planet has liquid water like oceans and lakes.
NASA’S DAWN ASTEROID MISSION
Dawn, a NASA spacecraft that launched 11 years ago and studied
two of the largest objects in the asteroid belt, has ended its mission
after running out of fuel.
Scientists have known for about a month that Dawn was essentially
out of hydrazine, the fuel that kept the spacecraft’s antennae
oriented toward Earth and helped turn its solar panels to the Sun
to recharge.
Dawn became the only spacecraft ever to orbit a cosmic body in
the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter in 2011 when it
began circling the asteroid Vesta.
The unmanned spacecraft has travelled 4.3 billion miles (6.9 billion
kilometers) since its launch in 2007.
NASA’S ORION SPACECRAFT
Europe’s Airbus has delivered the “powerhouse” for NASA’s new
Orion Spaceship that will take astronauts to the Moon and beyond
in coming years, hitting a key milestone that should lead to
hundreds of millions of Euros in future orders.
Airbus’s European Service Module will provide propulsion, power,
thermal control and consumables to the Orion crew module,
marking the first time that NASA will use a European built system as
a critical element to power an American spacecraft.
About Orion:
NASA’s Orion spacecraft is built to take humans farther than
they’ve ever gone before.
Orion will serve as the exploration vehicle that will carry the crew to
space, provide emergency abort capability, sustain the crew during
the space travel, and provide safe re-entry from deep space return
velocities. Orion will launch on NASA’s new heavy-lift rocket, the
Space Launch System.
NASA’S INSIGHT SPACECRAFT LANDS ON
RED PLANET AFTER SIX-MONTH JOURNEY
InSight, a NASA spacecraft designed to burrow beneath the surface of
Mars has landed on the red after a six-month, 482 million-km journey.
It was NASA’s ninth attempt to land at Mars since the 1976 Viking probes.
All but one of the previous U.S. touchdowns was successful. NASA last
landed on Mars in 2012 with the Curiosity rover.
Significance of the mission:
InSight is more than a Mars mission – it is a terrestrial planet explorer that
would address one of the most fundamental issues of planetary and solar
system science – understanding the processes that shaped the rocky
planets of the inner solar system (including Earth) more than four billion
years ago.
InSight would do study of deep beneath the surface of Mars, detecting the
fingerprints of the processes of terrestrial planet formation, as well as
measuring the planet’s “vital signs”: Its “pulse” (seismology),
“temperature” (heat flow probe), and “reflexes” (precision tracking).
InSight seeks to answer one of science’s most fundamental questions:
How did the terrestrial planets form? Why Mars?
CHINA UNVEILS ‘HEAVENLY PALACE’ SPACE STATION
China has unveiled a replica of its first permanently-crewed space
station, which would replace the international community’s orbiting
laboratory- the International Space Station (ISS) and symbolizes the
country’s major ambitions beyond Earth.
About China’s space station:
• It is a 17-metre core module. Three astronauts will be
permanently stationed in the 60-tonne orbiting lab, which will
enable the crew to conduct biological and microgravity research.
• Assembly is expected to be completed around 2022 and the
station would have a lifespan of around 10 years.
Significance:
The International Space Station – a collaboration between the
United States, Russia, Canada, Europe and Japan – has been in
operation since 1998 and is due to be retired in 2024.
China will then have the only space station in orbit, though it will be
much smaller than the ISS which weighs 400 tones and is as large as
a football pitch.
About the International Space Station (ISS):
The International Space Station (ISS) is a space station, or a habitable artificial
satellite, in low Earth orbit. The ISS is now the largest artificial body in orbit.
The ISS consists of pressurized modules, external trusses, solar arrays and other
components. ISS components have been launched by Russian Proton and
Soyuz rockets as well as American Space Shuttles.
The ISS maintains an orbit with an altitude of between 330 and 435 km by
means of reboost manoeuvres using the engines of the Zvezda module or
visiting spacecraft. It completes 15.54 orbits per day.
ISS is the ninth space station to be inhabited by crews, following the Soviet
and later Russian Salyut, Almaz, and Mir stations as well as Skylab from the
US.
The ISS programme is a joint project among five participating space agencies:
NASA, Roscosmos, JAXA, ESA, and CSA.
The ownership and use of the space station is established by intergovernmental
treaties and agreements. The station is divided into two sections, the Russian
Orbital Segment (ROS) and the United States Orbital Segment (USOS), which is
shared by many nations.
GROWTH-INDIA TELESCOPE
The 0.7 m GROWTH-India telescope at the Indian Astronomical
Observatory located in Hanle, Ladakh, has made its first science
observation which is a follow-up study of a nova explosion.
About GROWTH-India Telescope:
The GROWTH-India telescope is part of a multi-country
collaborative initiative – known as the Global Relay of
Observatories Watching Transients Happen (GROWTH) – to
observe transient events in the universe.
The fully robotic telescope is designed to capture cosmic events
occurring over relatively shorter periods of the cosmological
timescale: years, days and even hours.
Universities and research institutes from the US, the UK, Japan,
India, Germany, Taiwan and Israel are part of the initiative.
Their primary research objective is time-domain astronomy,
which entails the study of explosive transients and variable
sources (of light and other radiation) in the universe.
Nova Observation:
Novae are explosive events involving violent eruptions on the surface of white dwarf stars,
leading to temporary increase in brightness of the star.
Unlike a supernova, the star does not go on to die but returns to its earlier state after the
explosion. Its goals are threefold:
1. Search for explosions in the optical regime whenever LIGO group detects a Binary Neutron
Star merger.
2. Study nearby young supernova explosions.
3. Study nearby asteroids.
The recurrent nova, named M31N-2008, has been observed to erupt several times, the most
recent eruption happening in November 2018.
HYSIS & PSLV- C43
Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C43) successfully launched 31
satellites from Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) in Sriharikota.
About HysIS and its significance:
The primary goal of HysIS is to study the Earth’s surface in visible,
near infrared and shortwave infrared regions of the
electromagnetic spectrum.
HysIS will be ISRO’s first full-scale working satellite with this
capability. While the technology has been around, not many space
agencies have working satellites with hyper spectral imaging
cameras as yet.
A hyper spectral imaging camera in space can provide well-
defined images that can help to identify objects on Earth far more
clearly than regular optical or remote sensing cameras.
The technology will be an added advantage of watching over India
from space for a variety of purposes such as defence, agriculture,
land use, minerals and so on.
HysIS:
Hyper Spectral Imaging Satellite (HysIS) is an earth observation
satellite built around ISRO’s Mini Satellite 2 (IMS-2) bus
weighing about 380 kg.
The life of the satellite is five years.
Satellites from Australia, Columbia, Malaysia, and Spain were
flown aboard PSLV for the first time. These foreign satellites
launched are part of commercial arrangements between Antrix
Corporation Limited and customers.
Primary Goal:
It is to study the earth’s surface in both the visible, near infrared
and shortwave infrared regions of the electromagnetic
spectrum.
Data from the satellite will be used for various applications
including agriculture, forestry, soil/geological environments,
coastal zones and inland waters, etc.
GSAT-29
The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) has launched its latest
communication satellite, GSAT29, from its second developmental flight
GSLV-Mk III D2.
About GSLV Mk III:
GSLV Mk III is a three-stage heavy lift launch vehicle developed by the
Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO).
Two massive boosters with solid propellant constitute the first stage, the
core with liquid propellant form the second stage and the cryogenic
engine completes the final stage.
About GSAT-29:
GSAT-29 is a multiband, multi-beam communication satellite, intended
to serve as test bed for several new and critical technologies. Its Ku-
band and Ka-band payloads are configured to cater to the
communication requirements of users including those from remote
areas especially from Jammu & Kashmir and North-Eastern regions of
India.
In addition, the Q/V-Band communication payload onboard is
intended to demonstrate the future high throughput satellite
system technologies. Geo High Resolution Camera will carry out
high resolution imaging. Optical Communication Payload will
demonstrate data transmission at a very high rate through optical
communication link.
Significance of the launch:
-The success of GSLV MkIII-D2 marks an important milestone in
Indian space programme towards achieving self-reliance in
launching heavier satellites.
- The success of this flight also signifies the completion of the
experimental phase of GSLV Mark III.
UNIT-4: Communication and Information Technology
INTERNATIONAL TELECOMMUNICATIONS UNION (ITU)
India has been elected as a Member of the International
Telecommunications Union (ITU) Council for another 4-year term (2019-
2022).
The elections to the Council were held during the ongoing ITU
Plenipotentiary Conference 2018 at Dubai, UAE.
By securing 165 votes, India ranked third among the 13 countries elected
to the Council from the Asia-Australasia region, and eighth among the 48
countries elected to the Council globally.
The ITU has 193 member states who elect representatives to the Council.
About International Telecommunication Union (ITU): Discuss in Sep-2018
currents
SHAKTI- INDIA’S FIRST INDIGENOUS
MICROPROCESSOR
It was designed, developed and booted by IIT Madras with microchip
fabricated in ISRO’s Semi-Conductor Laboratory at Chandigarh.
It has been developed under project partly funded by Ministry of
Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), as part of two-decade-
old efforts to develop indigenous microprocessors.
Significance:
The microprocessor will reduce dependency on imported microchips
especially in communication and defence sectors and thus eliminate risk
of cyber-attacks.
It can be used in mobile computing, wireless and networking systems. It
may also provide power to mobile phones, smart meters and surveillance
cameras.
PUBLIC SERVICE BROADCASTING DAY
The Public Service Broadcasting Day was observed across India on
November 12, 2018.
The day is observed every year to commemorate the first and last visit of
the Father of the Nation Mahatma Gandhi to the studio of All India
Radio, Delhi in 1947.
Mahatma Gandhi had on November 12, 1947 visited the studio of All India
Radio to address the displaced people from Pakistan who were
temporarily settled in Kurukshetra, Haryana after the partition of the
Indian subcontinent.
AGNI-I MISSILE
India has successfully conducted the night trial of the indigenously
developed nuclear capable Agni-I ballistic missile off the Odisha
coast.
About Agni –I:
Agni-I is a short-range ballistic missile developed by DRDO of India
under the Integrated Guided Missile Development Program.
It is sleek single-stage missile, powered by solid propellants
developed after the Kargil War to fill the gap between 250 km range
of Prithvi-II and 2,500 km range of Agni-II.
The 15-metre-long Agni-I, which can carry payloads up to 1000 kg,
has already been inducted into the Indian Army.
ICGS VARAHA
It is a new Offshore patrol vessel (OPV) launched by the Indian
Coast Guard (ICG). It is fourth in the series designed and built
indigenously by Larsen & Toubro (L&T).
It is fitted with advanced technology navigation and communication
equipment, sensor and machinery.
Its weaponry includes one 30 mm and two 12.7 mm guns with fire
control system. It has been designed to attain maximum speed of 26
knots.
It also equipped with an Integrated Bridge System (IBS), Automated
Power Management System (APMS), Integrated Platform
Management System (IPMS), and High Power External Fire Fighting
(EFF) system.
MISSION RAKSHA GYAN SHAKTI
Raksha Mantri Smt Nirmala Sitharaman has formally launched
‘Mission Raksha Gyan Shakti’.
The event showcased salient inventions and innovations achieved by
Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO), Defence
Public Sector Undertakings (DPSUs), and Ordinance Factories(OFs)
which have resulted in successful filing of Intellectual Property
Rights(IPR) applications.
The Directorate General of Quality Assurance (DGQA) has been
entrusted with the responsibility of coordinating and implementing
the programme.
Objective:
As part of the ongoing initiatives to enhance self-reliance in defence,
the Mission Raksha Gyan Shakti aims to provide a boost to the IPR
culture in indigenous defence industry.
UNIT-6: SUPERCONDUCTIVITY, LASER, ARTIFICIAL
INTELLIGENCE, ROBOTICS, NANOTECHNOLOGY
UNIT-7: INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS (IPR) &
RELATED RIGHTS
UNIT-8: ASTRONOMY & PARTICLE PHYSICS
UNIT-9: BIOTECHNOLOGY
EARTH BIOGENOME PROJECT
International biologists have launched Earth BioGenome Project
(EBP)- an ambitious project to read all the DNA in each of the
world’s known animal, plant and fungal species over the next 10
years, sequencing 1.5m different genomes at an estimated cost of
$4.7bn.
About the Earth BioGenome Project (EBP):
The Earth BioGenome Project plans to record the genomes — the
DNA blueprint of life — of 1.5 million species of animal, plant,
protozoa and fungi within a decade.
So far, 19 research institutions around the world have signed up to
take part in the EBP and more plan to join.
They expect to read the full DNA sequence of all the world’s
eukaryotic species — organisms whose cells have a nucleus enclosed
by membranes. These are animals, plants, fungi and protozoa, which
encompass all of life except simple microbes (bacteria and archaea).
.
Significance:
The blueprints for all living species will be a tremendous resource
for new discoveries, understanding the rules of life, how evolution
works, new approaches for the conservation of rare and
endangered species, and provide new resources for researchers in
agricultural and medical fields.
So far, only 3,300 eukaryotic species have had their DNA fully
sequenced, 0.2% of the target. With strong international co-
ordination, adequate funding and continuing rapid technological
progress, 1.5m genomes could be achieved by 2028.
.
Unit-10: DIFFERENT TYPES OF DISEASES AND ITS RECENT ISSUES, HEALTH
& FAMILY WELFARE AND VARIOUS IMMUNISATION PROGRAMME
HELI-CLINICS’ FOR REMOTE AREAS
Union Minister has mooted “Heli-Clinics”/Helicopter Clinics for
remote areas, which could help to provide specialized medical care to
people living in inaccessible hilly terrains of the States like Jammu &
Kashmir and Northeast.
Central Government’s Previous Measures:
In the last four years, which include opening of Dialysis Centres in
every district hospital, setting up of Wellness Centres and, launch of
“Ayushman Bharat”.
There is need to incentivize medical practitioners to go to remote
rural areas and to provide adequately satisfactory facilities for the
government doctors to be able to serve in the rural areas.
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MICROBIOME RESEARCH
From November 19 to 22, Pune hosted an international conference on
microbiome research — a field of study that is still in its infancy in India.
What is “Human Microbiome”?
The human body carries diverse communities of microorganisms, which
are mainly bacterial. These are referred to as “human microbiome”.
Their role:
These organisms play a key role in many aspects of host physiology,
ranging from metabolism of otherwise complex indigestible carbohydrates
and fats to producing essential vitamins, maintaining immune systems and
acting as a first line of defense against pathogens.
Significance of research on the human microbiome:
Research on the human microbiome has thrown light on various aspects
— how different parts of the human body are occupied by characteristic
microbial communities, and how various factors contribute in shaping
the composition of the microbiome, including the genetics, dietary
habits, age, geographic location and ethnicity.
MISCELLANEOUS
WORLD TOILET DAY
In 2013, the United Nations General Assembly officially designated
November 19 as World Toilet Day.
World Toilet Day is coordinated by UN-Water in collaboration with
governments and partners. Previously, World Toilet Day was established
by the World Toilet Organization in 2001.
About World Toilet Day:
World Toilet Day is a day to raise awareness and inspire action to tackle
the global sanitation crisis – a topic often neglected and shrouded in
taboos.
SDG 6 aims to ensure that everyone has a safe toilet and that no-one
practices open defecation by 2030. Failure to achieve this goal risks the
entire 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
QUADRICYCLES
- The ministry of road transport and highways has approved the sale of
quadricycles for personal use.
- Quadricycle – a vehicle of the size of a 3-wheeler but with 4 tyres and
fully covered like a car. It has an engine like that of a 3-wheeler.
- Ministry of Road Transport & Highways notified the insertion of
‘Quadricycle’ as a ‘non transport’ vehicle under the Motor Vehicles Act
1988.
- Quadricycles were only allowed for transport usage under the Act, but
now has been made usable for non-transport also (Personal use).
Thank you
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