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A Shankar IAS Academy Initiative
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
(PART I)
TM
Plot No.1742, Ist Floor, 18th Main Road, Anna Nagar, Chennai 600 040.
Phone : 044-26216435, 64597222, 4353 3445, Mobile : 94441 66435
www.shankariasacademy.com
INDEX
PAGE
SL.NO. TITLE
NO.
8
ADITYA-L1 MISSION
India will launch its first solar mission Aditya-L1 by 2019, where L1 stands for Lagrangian point.
Lagrangian points are the locations in space where the combined gravitational pull of two large masses
roughly balances each other.
In the Sun-Earth system there are about five such Lagrangian points.
The mission is a joint venture between ISRO and physicists from various institutes in the country.
The objective of the mission is to study the dynamic nature of the suns Chromosphere and outer most region
Corona and to collect datas about coronal mass ejections
SUPER MOON
A supermoon is the coincidence of a full moon or a new moon with the closest approach that
the Moon makes with the Earth on its elliptical orbit.
If a Supermoon falls on a full moon day then it results in the largest apparent size of the lunar disk for an
observer on the Earth.
The technical name is the Perigee-syzygy of the EarthMoonSun system. Occasionally, the supermoon
coincides with the total lunar eclipse.
MICRO MOON
A Micro-moon is the coincidence of a full moon or a new moon with the farthest approach that
the Moon makes with the Earth on its elliptical orbit.
The technical name is the Apogee-syzygy of the EarthMoonSun system. Very rarely, the Micrormoon
coincides with the total lunar eclipse.
TEAM INDUS - INDIAS MOON MISSION
Chandrayaan-1 was Indias first lunar probe, launched by PSLV-C11 of ISRO. The probe had impacted near
Shackleton Crater ejected underground soil for analyzing the presence of water and ice. It predicted the
possibility of water molecule and Hydroxyl in the moon.
Chandrayaan-2 the future indigenous project of ISRO comprises of Orbiter, Lander and Rover (first rover
project of ISRO) which will conduct on-site chemical analysis.
Team Indus, only Indian company won the Google Lunar X Prize, is Indias first proposed private moon
mission. Except for the launch vehicle, all of the technology that will power the rover and Lander will be
developed by Team- Indus.
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MOONSHOT
The term Moonshot, in a technology context refers to an ambitious, exploratory and ground-breaking
project undertaken without any expectation of near-term profitability.
Google has adopted the term Moonshot for its most innovative projects, many of which come out of the Google
X, the companys semi-secret lab. Google Moonshots include Google Glass, Project Loon, the driverless
car, augmented reality glasses, a neural network, robots for the manufacturing industry and Project
Calico, a life extension project.
MAGNETOSPHERIC MULTISCALE MISSION (MMS)
MMS is an unmanned space mission of NASA to study the earths Magnetosphere and to map magnetic
reconnection, (Process occurs when the sun and the Earths magnetic fields interact) by using
four identical satellites flying closely (7.2 km) in a tetrahedral or pyramid formation.
Recently, it had set the Guinness world record for highest altitude fix of a GPS signal.
EXO MARS TRACE GAS ORBITTER (ETO)
The ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter is the first in a series of Mars missions to be undertaken jointly by the two
space agencies, ESA and Roscosmos.
It is a two tier mission with an orbitter and a lander, where the landing probe is named after 19 th century
Italian astronomer Giovanni Schiaparelli, who made telescopic observations of Mars.
A key goal of this mission is to gain a better understanding of methane and other atmospheric gases that are
present in small concentrations (less than 1% of the atmosphere) which could be the evidence for possible
biological or geological activity.
OSIRIS-REX
The Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security, Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-REx) is a
NASA asteroid study and sample return mission.
OSIRIS-REx will travel to a near-Earth asteroid called Bennu and bring a small sample back to Earth for
study.
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CASSINI HUYGENS
It is an unmanned spacecraft sent to Saturn as a joint mission of ESA, NASA, and ASI.
Its a tele-robotic spacecraft, where the Orbitter is named as Cassini and Lander is named as Huygens.
Cassini Huygens is fourth such a probe to visit Saturn after Pioneer 11, Voayger1 and Voyager 2.
Cassini had mapped Saturns magnetic and gravity fields with exquisite precision.
JUNO MISSION
The term JUNO stands for Jupiter Near Polar Orbit, is an unmanned solar powered spacecraft was launched
by NASA as part of its New Frontiers Program (Series of space exploration missions being
conducted by NASA with the purpose of researching several solar system bodies including
Pluto)
JUNO is second such spacecraft to orbit around Jupiter, next to Galileo. Where Galileo is Nuclear powered
and JUNO is solar powered.
Galileo had found the evidence of Subsurface salt water on Jupiters moon Europa, Ganymede and Callisto.
While JUNO will study Jupiters gravity field, magnetic field and polar magnetosphere.
NEW HORIZON MISSION
New Horizon is NASAs spacecraft which was dedicated to carryout scientific studies about the objects present
in the Kuiper Belt by performing two types of missions.
The primary mission is to perform a flyby study of the Pluto system. While the secondary mission is to fly by
and to study one or more other Kuiper belt objects (KBOs).
Recently, it had conducted scientific study in Pluto, largest object in the so called Kuiper belt besides that it
still contains two more dwarf planets like Haumea and Makemake.
TRAPPIST-1
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NASA scientists for the first time have discovered seven new earth-sized exoplanets that may have possibilities
to hold life.
These planets were identified by using NASAs space based Spitzer Space Telescope and associated by
ground based Europeans Southern Observatorys Very Large Telescope (VLT), located at Chile.
Exoplanet or Extrasolar planet is a planet that does not orbit the sun and instead of that it orbits a
different star, stellar remnant or brown dwarf. These seven planets orbits a dwarf star named TRAPPIST-1.
Trappist-1 is a star, larger and more massive than Jupiter and much cooler than the sun, which is about 39
light years from the Earth, located in the constellation of Aquarius.
These seven planets were named alphabetically from b to h, out of these seven planets e, f and g holds
high possibility for habitat, which is believed to have the presence of methane and oxygen so it comes under
the Goldilocks zone.
GREAT OBSERVATORY PROGRAMME
The goal of the NASAs great observatories programme is to observe the universe in distinct wavelengths of
light.
Under this programme 4 specialized telescopes were launched between 1990 - 2003.
The four telescopes were Hubble space Telescope, which looks on visible light is still in operation. The
second is Compton Gamma Ray observatory, which is no longer in operation and the third one is
Chandra X-Ray Observatory which is also still in operation and the final one launched in 2003 in NASAs
Spitzer Space Telescope.
RESORUCESAT-2A
ReSOURCESAT-2A is a follow on mission to its predecessor Resourcesat-1.
RESOURCESAT-2A was launched into the Polar Sun Synchronous Orbit (SSO) by using PSLV-C36.
It has three advanced cameras in the name of LISS-3, LISS-4 and AWiFS which aims to provide clear
information of rural and urban areas, soil mapping, forests, farm lands, crop coverage, crop system analysis,
drought monitoring and other disaster management, coastal regulation, availability of minerals.
The obtained images will be stored by using Solid State Recorders having a capacity of 200 Giga Bits.
QUESS SATELLITE
Recenlty, China had launched the worlds first Quantum satellite in the Sun Synchronous Orbit which is
named as QUantum Experiments at Space Scaler (QUESS) satellite otherwise it is also known as MICIUS.
Quess will transmit uncrackable keys from space to the ground so that China will establish a Hack proof
communication system from space to the ground.
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TANSAT
TanSat, is a global carbon dioxide monitoring satellite launched by China to understand the effects of climate
change.
By this launch China had become the Third country after Japan and US to have its own satellite to monitor
green house gases.
Japans green house gas satellite is called as GoSat, which worlds first satellite dedicated for greenhouse gas
is monitoring while NASAs satellite is GHGsat.
SCRAMJET ENGINE
Scramjet stands for Supersonic Combusting RAMJET. It is a variant of a Ramjet engine in which combustion
takes place in supersonic airflow, while in Ramjet the combustion takes place in subsonic airflow.
Scramjet engines works on the principle of Air-breathing propulsion system. In which the engine utilizes
oxygen from the atmosphere for combustion.
Where, it does not have a compressor or rotating parts to compress the air, instead, it uses its high-speed
forward motion to compress the air.
It reduces the lift-off mass of the vehicle, since it does not carry on board liquefied oxygen and thus it turns
cost effective by increasing the energy efficiency of rocket.
Recently, ISRO had tested its Scramjet engine with the help of Advanced Technology Vehicle, named as RH
560 which was able to fly at Mach 6.
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With this, India became fourth country in the world to have scramjet engine next to US, Russia and European
Space Agency.
Dual mode Ramjet is a type of jet engine where a ramjet transforms into scramjet over the Mach speed of 4-
8 range, which means it can efficiently operate both in subsonic and supersonic combustion modes.
NAVIC
NaVIC or IRNSS is an independent Indian satellite based positioning system designed to provide accurate
position information service.
IRNSS provides two types of services, namely, Standard Positioning Service (SPS), which is provided to
all the users and Restricted Service (RS), which is an encrypted service provided only to the authorized
users.
It consists of group seven satellites, out of which three were in geostationary orbit and four were in
geosynchronous orbit. It provides service to the entire India beyond that it can cover 1500 km in all the
directions of the country.
Some of its applications were Navigation, Fleet management, Disaster management, Integration with mobile
phones, Visual and voice navigation etc
RLV TD
The term stands for ISROs maiden Reusable Launch Vehicle, which is expected to demonstrate various
technologies before commissioning for real time projects.
Various technologies demonstration includes HEX, SPEX, LEX, REX.
It is a kind of two stages to orbital launch vehicle that combines both launch vehicle and aircraft.
RLV-TD doesnt has any connection with AVATAR, which is also a reusable launch vehicle platform that
belongs to DRDO.
GSLV MK-III
Its a kind of three stage vehicle with Indian Cryogenic engine in the third stage and it is expected to carry
GSAT-19 in its maiden travel.
It is claimed as heavy lift launch vehicle because of it is capable to put satellite of 4 tonnes into geo-
synchronous Transfer orbit or 8 tonnes satellite into low earth orbit.
Indias dependence on foreign launch vehicle will be gradually reduced.
It fulfills Indias dream of sending its astronauts into space.
Already a dummy test was conducted in 2014 with GSLV MK-III under the name CARE (Crew module
Atmospheric Reentry Experiment) mission.
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PSLV C-37
ISROs PSLV C37, an XL variant of launch vehicle was used to launch 104 satellites (101 International
and 3 Indian Satellites) belonging to 7 countries.
The same XL variant of PSLV launch vehicle was previously used for its Chandrayaan and Mangalyaan
mission.
The primary passenger is Cartosat-2 and the rest were 103 co-passenger Nano satellites. Out of these 104
satellites, Cartosat-2, INS-1A, INS-2A belongs to India, 96 Nano satellites named as Doves belongs to
USA and one each from Israel, Kazakhastan, Netherlands, Switzerland and UAE.
The satellites separated from the launch vehicle in different directions. The separation angle and time will be
such that one satellite will not collide with another. After 1000 seconds the distance between a satellite and
the rocket will be 1000 meters.
Owing to the differential relative velocity of each, the distance between the satellites will increase continuously
but the orbit will remain the same where all the 104 satellites were placed in the Polar Sun Synchronous
Orbit (SSO).
CUBESAT
CUBESAT a kind of miniaturized satellite for space research which is about 10 cubic units in dimension, where
it uses Commercial off the Shelf (COTS) components for their electronics and structure.
CubeSats were mainly parked in the Lower Earth Orbit (LEO) where it can serve for the purpose of Earth
observation or for amateur radio.
CubeSats will transfer data from space by laser beams at a speed of 200 mbps, which is 100 times faster
than t he current capacity.
INSPIRE (Interplanetary Nanospacecraft Pathfinder In Relevant Environment) was the first CubeSat to be
launched in space.
These satellites consists of basic maneuvering tools such as magnet torquers, actuators, star trackers, sun
sensors, earth sensors, reaction wheels and GPS receivers and antennas.
Recently ISRO had placed 104 satellites by using PSLV C-37, where it had placed 88 cubesats of USA.
CARTOSAT-2
CARTOSAT-2 is highly useful for detailed mapping and other cartographic applications as well as applications
in Land Information System (LIS) and Geographical Information System (GIS).
So, far ISRO had placed four Cartosat satellites in space and the images sent by these satellites were of high
resolution in nature where it seeks its applications in rural and urban management, coastal land use and
regulation, monitoring of road networks and pipelines.
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NANO SATELLITES
With the recent successful launch of PSLV C-37, ISRO had placed tow Nano satellites such as INS -1A and
INS-2A. The primary objectives of Indian Nano Satellites (INS) system are as follows:
Design and develop a low cost modular Nano satellite in the weight range of 10 kg capable of carrying payloads
up to a weight of 5 kg.
Provide an opportunity for ISRO technology demonstration payloads.
Provide a standard bus for launch on demand services.
Provide an opportunity to carry innovative payloads for Universities / R&D laboratories.
SOUTH ASIA SATELLITE
It is otherwise called as GSAT-9, launched by GSLV-F09.
Its a kind of geosynchronous meteorological cum communication satellite.
It provides services to all the SAARC countries except Pakistan.
Out of these SAARC countries Sri Lanka and Afghanistan already have communication satellites developed
with the help of China and India respectively.
LIGO OBSERVATORY
LIGO consists of two widely separated interferometer device that involves in detecting the gravitation waves
directly as per Einsteins General Theory of Relativity.
LIGOs multi-kilometer-scale gravitational wave detectors use laser interferometer to measure the minute
ripples in space-time caused by passing gravitational waves from cataclysmic cosmic sources.
Gravitational waves carry Pure information about the objects and events that created them.
Gravitational waves are ripples in the curvature of space-time caused by some of the most violent and
energetic processes in the universe. It propagates as waves, travelling outward from the source at a speed of
light.
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These space-time ripples are gravitational waves. They are extremely weak so they are very difficult to detect.
Gravity waves and Gravitational waves were not on and the same. Gravity waves are physical
perturbations driven by the restoring force of gravity in a planetary environment. Wind driven waves, tides
and tsunamis are types of gravity waves.
Gravitational waves were created by the massive explosions of Supernovas, Spinning of neutron stars and the
collision of Black holes.
LIGO-India project is piloted by the DAE and the DST, which aims to set up the station at Hingoli distrtict of
Maharastra.
LISA PATHFINDER PROJECT
LISA Pathfinder is an ESA mission, which also carries a NASA payload. LISA pathfinder will place two test
masses of Gold-Platinum cubes in a nearly perfect gravitational free-fall and will control and measure their
relative motion with unprecedented accuracy.
Its primary objective is to measure deviations from Geodesic motion, thus it studies the gravitational waves
in the space by putting two test masses in a near perfect gravitational free fall and control and measure their
motion with unprecented accuracy.
LISA pathfinder is a combination of three space craft, trailing the earth at a distance of about 50 million
kilometers and these will orbit the sun in the L1-Lagrangian point and these three spacecraft will lie at the
corner of a giant huge equilateral triangle and will be about 5 million kilometers from each other.
The three spacecraft are expected to act as an interferometer which can detect gravitational waves; ripples
in the fabric of space time, caused by the mergers of super massive celestial bodies and by using the special
laser beams and telescopes, the trio will measure the gravitational waves.
Since there are three points from which the observation is carried out, this space antenna will be able to
pinpoint the location of the source of the detected gravitational waves to a high accuracy.
NGARI OBSERVATORY
NGARI is the worlds highest altitude gravitational wave observatory carried out by China in the Tibetian
region close to the Line of Actual Control with India.
The telescope will detect and gather precise data on primordial gravitational waves in the Northern
Hemisphere.
Along with the South Pole Telescope and Facility (SPTF) in Chiles Atacama Desert Ngari would be the
second such a kind of the worlds top primordial gravitational wave observational base on the earth.
Ngari is the first Dark Sky Reserve of China for the astronomical observatories.
COSMIC PARTICLE ACCELERATOR
Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope (GMRT) is an indigenous project set up at Pune by NCRA, which aims to
study a variety of radio astrophysical problems ranging from nearby solar system to the edge of observable
universe.
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Recently GMRT, NASAs Chandra X-Ray observatory had discovered a peculiar cosmic combination
called as Cosmic Particle Accelerator for the fist time in the history of astronomical science.
Recent Cosmic Particle Accelerator involves in the collision of supermassive black hole with the giant
galaxy clusters.
GUSTO OBSERVATORY
The term GUSTO stands for Galactic/Extragalactic Ultralong duration balloon Spectroscopic Terahertz
Observatory is a planned balloon based observatory mission of NASA which involves in flying an Ultralong-
Duration Balloon (ULDB) carrying a telescope with carbon, oxygen and Nitrogen emission line detectors.
GUSTO will provide the first complete study of all phases of the stellar life cycle from the formation of
molecular clouds, through star birth and evolution, to the formation of gas clouds and he re-initiation of cycle.
The mission is expected to be getting launched from McMurdo, Antarctica by 2021 and is expected to say in
the air between 100-170 days, depending upon weather conditions.
CHANDRA X-RAY OBSERVATORY
Chandra X-Ray Observatory (CXO) which uses Wolter telescope is a kind of space based satellite observatory
of NASA.
It was earlier known as Advanced X-ray Astrophysics Facility (AXAF).
CXO has high angular resolution of its mirrors so that it is sensitive to X-ray sources which are 100 times
fainter than any previous X-ray telescope.
INTERNATIONAL DARK SKY RESERVE
An IDA International Dark Sky Reserve is a public or private land possessing an exceptional or
distinguished quality of starry nights and nocturnal environment that is specifically protected for its scientific,
natural, educational, cultural, heritage and/or public enjoyment.
Reserves consist of a core area meeting minimum criteria for sky quality and natural darkness by restricting
artificial light pollution and a peripheral area that supports dark sky preservation in the core. Reserves are
formed through a partnership of multiple land managers who have recognized the value of the
natural nighttime environment through regulations & long-term planning.
The purpose of dark sky preserve is generally to promote astronomy. Since different national organizations
have worked independently to create their programs, different terms have been used to describe the areas.
This has led to confusion between the terms reserve, preserve and park. So IDA had came out with two
distinguishing words IDSR for reserve and IDSP for the parks.
NISAR
NISAR is a joint collaboration made between NASA and ISRO, which is the biggest collaboration between the
two space agencies yet, will provide an unprecedented detailed view of earth by using Synthetic Aperture
Radar.
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It is first Radar satellite to get operated in two different band frequencies, one is L-band polarimetric SAR
produced by NASA and the other is S-band polarimetric SAR produced by ISRO. The satellite will be placed
into sun-synchronous dawn to dusk orbit by using GSLV launch vehicle.
The satellite is designed to observe and take measurements of some of the planet's most complex processes,
including ecosystem disturbances, ice-sheet collapse, and natural hazards such as earthquakes, tsunamis,
volcanoes and landslides.
Data collected from NISAR will reveal information about the evolution and state of Earth's crust, help
scientists better understand our planet's processes and changing climate, and aid future resource and hazard
management.
SEAGATE of NASA is the worlds first synthetic aperture radar satellite and NISAR would be second such a
kind of thing but NISAR would be the first Radar satellite to get operated in two different band frequencies.
Multi-object Tracking Radar (MOTR) developed by ISRO is capable to track 10 objects simultaneously.
It tracks Indias space assets and space debris.
ISRO STUDIES RIP TIDE
ISRO had studied the occurrence of killer rip tides by using IRNSS in collaboration with a private lifeguard
agency appointed by Goa Government at Calangute in Goa to safeguard its beaches.
Rip tide is a strong sea current which pulls the water away from the shore, often dragging swimmers and
people into deeper water.
Rip tides can be identified by discolored water, choppy waves and foamy surface.
BLUE STRAGGLER - VAMPIRE STAR PREY
Recently, Astrosat had captured the rare celestial phenomenon of a small six-billion year old vampire star
preying on a bigger celestial body.
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The Vampire star phenomenon is observed when smaller star sucks mass and energy out of a bigger
companion star causing eventual death.
It is also called as Blue Straggler as small star becomes bigger, hotter and bluer giving its appearance of
being young.
Astrosat is Indias first dedicated multi wavelength space observatory aimed at studying celestial sources in
X-ray, optical and UV spectral bands simultaneously.
It isparked into a 650 km Lower Earth Orbit by using PSLV-C30.
KOUNOTORI OR WHITE STORK
Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) had launched a space cargo ship in the name called as
KOUNOTORI or WHITE STORK bound for the International Space Station (ISS), carrying a Space
junk collector that was made with the help of a fishnet company.
Scientists at JAXA(Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) have spent 10 years developing a tether system to
pull space junk out of orbit around Earth.
JAXA worked with fishnet manufacturer Nitto Seimo to create an electro dynamic tether made from thin
wires of stainless steel and aluminum, using fishnet plaiting technology.
The clean-up concept involves attaching one end of the tether to debris. As the tether swings through the
Earths magnetic field, it will generate electricity, which is expected to have a slowing effect on the space
debris, pulling it into lower and lower orbit, and eventually into the Earths atmosphere where it will burn up.
BELLE-II EXPERIMENT
The High Energy Accelerator Research Organisation (KEK) of Japan completed roling-in (Moving from
assembly to collision point) the Belle-II Experiment.
It takes a first step by integrating particle detector with powerful Super KEKB accelerator.
Complementary to the direct search experiments being carried out at the Large Hadron Collider in CERN,
Belle-II will indirectly probe new physics using intense electron-positron beams and a sensitive detector where
it provides measurement of direction and momentum of newly produced particles.
Belle-II has the participation of 23 countries including India where, India participates both on experimental
and theoretical sides. The fourth layer of the six-layer highly sensitive silicon vertex particle detector will be
built by TIFR scientists.
CRITICALITY
The term Criticality in nuclear technology refers to the balance of neutrons in the system. It refers to the
perfect balance between the production rate and the loss rate.
Subcritical refers to a system where the loss rate of neutrons is greater than the production rate of neutrons
and therefore the number of neutron decreases as time goes on.
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Supercritical refers to a system where the production rate of neutrons is greater than the loss rate of
neutrons and therefore the neutron population increases.
MOTHER OF ALL BOMBS
The Massive Ordnance Air Blast bomb (MOAB) or GBU-43 is also known as the Mother Of All Bombs is
the largest non-nuclear bomb ever deployed in combat by the United States but it is the second largest
conventional bomb after the Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP)
It is a custom-made Air Force weapon that has been in the arsenal for more than a decade. It is designed to hit
softer targets such as surface facilities, tunnel entrances and troop concentrations with GPS guided munition.
It is a concussive bomb, meaning it is designed to detonate before it hits the ground. Its thin aluminium skin
helps to maximise its blast radius and generate a shockwave.
FATHER OF ALL BOMBS
The Aviation Thermobaric bomb of Increased Power is also known as the Father Of All Bombs
developed by Russia is four times more powerful than US weapon.
Unlike the MOAB, which uses conventional ordnance, the FOAB i.e., Big Daddy is Thermobaric it uses
oxygen from the atmosphere, rather than carrying an oxidizing agent in its explosives.
It uses 44 tonnes of TNT compared to the US device which uses 11 tonnes of TNT.
It detonates in two stages where main destruction is inflicted by an ultrasonic shockwave and an incredible
high temperature. All that is alive merely evaporates.
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MBIR PROJECT
Multipurpose fast research reactor project taking place in Russia is known as MBIR project.
It essentially signifies research on sodium cooled generation fast reactors where it tries to addresses five key
problems such as
Reprocessing and Refabricating waste
Safety requirements
Shortage of nuclear reactor fuel
Competitiveness
Enforcing non-proliferation of fission materials and weapon technologies.
It involves in creating a new nuclear technology concept based upon closed fuel cycle with fast neutron
reactors and can test different coolants like gas, lead, molten salt.
Fast neutron or Fast reactors is one in which the nuclear fission chain reaction is sustained by fast neutrons,
so these reactors does not requires moderators.
With these types of reactors nuclear scientists can address major ecological problem of reprocessing and
deactivation of accumulated radioactive waste.
WATER JET FAST ATTACKING CRAFT
They were high speed offshore patrol vessel designed by GRSE for Indian Navy.
They act as effective platform for patrol, antipiracy, law enforcement, military missions such as search and
rescue operations, Humanitarian assistance and disaster relief in Indias Exclusive Economic Zone.
Some of them were INS Tarmugli, INS Tillanchang, INS Tihayu and INS Tarasa all being named after
Indian islands.
SWATHI
Its a kind of Weapon locating Radar (WLR) developed by DRDO.
All weapon locating radars is also called as Silent theater Radar
Its 50 km coverage provides fast, automatic and accurate location of weapons.
It has two roles to perform such as Weapon location mode for enemys artillery and Direction Of Own Artillery
Fire (DOOAF) mode for our own artillery.
RECCE VEHICLE
RECCE Mk-I vehicle was developed by VRDE of Ahmednagar.
It is employed for carrying out post event reconnaissance of Nuclear, Biological and Chemical warfare
contaminated areas.
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BALLISTIC MISSILE DEFENCE (BMD)PROGRAMME
Research Centre Imarat (RCI) of DRDO responsible for BMD has double tiered missile defence system that
hopes to provide a multi layered defence system against any potential ballistic missile strikes.
Prithvi Defence Vehicle (PDV) or Pradyumna or Prithvi-II is used for Exo atmospheric interception
at a range of 80 km.
Advanced Air Defence (AAD) or Ashwin is used for Endo atmospheric interception at a range of 30 50
km.
India is the fifth nation to have BMD after US, Russia, Israel and China. Except Israel all the four countries
have indigenous BMD technology.
SCORPENE CLASS SUBMARINE
It is a class of Diesel-electric attack submarines jointly developed by India, France and Spain capable to
undertake multifarious types of mission such as anti-surface, anti-submarine warfare, intelligence gathering,
mine layering and area surveillance in all theatres including the tropics.
It features diesel propulsion and an additional Air-Independent propulsion (AIP) technology which
comes under 3rd generation submarines.
Flight I includes INS Kalvari, INS Khanderi, INS Vela and S53 without AIP technology and further
Flight II of Scorpene class will have two more ships S54 and S55 with AIP Technology.
All the six Scorpene class submarines are developed under the project named entitled as Project 75.
Project 75I is a follow on project of Project 75 with AIP technology along with the vertical launch system
enables them to carry multiple Brahmos supersonic cruise missiles capable of anti-surface and anti-ship
warfare missions.
PANCHI
Its the wheeled version of Nishant UAV, developed under Project FALCON.
It is a multi-mission UAV with day/night operational capability.
TAPAS-201
TAPAS (RUSTOM-II) is a kind of UAV which had came out with some modifications, where initially
RUSTOM-II was planned to act as UCAV but now the modified version TAPAS is capable to play only ISR
(Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance) role for the Indian Armed Forces.
In simple term TAPAS can be called as UAV and not as UCAV, where TAPAS comes under the category called
as MALE (Medium Altitude Long Endurance).
TAPAS 201 is the first R&D prototype UAV which had undergone certification and qualification for the first
flight from the CEMILAC and DGAQA
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BRAHMOS
It is a product of joint collaboration between India and Russia and it is capable of being launched from land,
sea, sub-sea and air against surface and se-based targets.
Thus it called as worlds first and only supersonic anti-ship cruise missile in the current date.
The range of the supersonic missile was initially capped at 290 km as per the obligations of the Missile
Technology Control Regime (MTCR).
Since Indias entry into the club, the range has been extended to 450 km and the plan is to increase it to
600km.
It is made up of Two Stage solid propellant that operates on Fire and Forget principle.
Brahmos-I is a short range ramjet supersonic cruise missile that travels at a speed of Mach 2.8 to 3.0 and has a
maximum range of 290 km.
Brahmos-II or Brahmos(K) is being designed to fly more than 300 km at a speed of Mach 7 by using
Scramjet engine.
Brahmos-III or Brahmos (NG) is still being in the planning stage, superior to DF-21.
NIRBHAY
It is Indias first long range subsonic cruise missile, which can be launched from land, sea and air.
It is capable of delivering conventional and nuclear weapons. Moreover it is Indias first two stage missile to be
employed with nuclear weapon along with stealth technology.
It has a range of more than 100 km coverage and can be inducted by Su-30MKI.
BARAK-8
It is a long range anti-air and anti-missile naval defence system jointly developed by India and Israel, while
the MR-SAM is currently under co-development.
It is a kind of Surface to Air missile which can be launched from Kolkata class destroyers with a striking range
of about 100 km.
It contains Multifunction Surveillance and Threat Alert Radars (MFTARs) which helps in plugging the
existing holes in Indias air defence coverage.
MICA MISSILE
MICA is a kind of anti-air multi target all weather fire and forgot with short, medium and long range.
The missile is capable to have lock on after launch (LOAL) facility.
Recently IAF has fired long range air to air MICA missile from Mirage-2000 combat aircraft on a
maneuvering target.
Mirage 2000 is a single engine fourth generation jet fighter manufactured by Frances Dassault aviation.
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AGNI IV MISSILE
Its a kind of two stage surface to surface nuclear capable Intermediate Range Ballistic Missile which covers
range of about 3000 to 4000 km.
It possess two navigation system for accuracy such as RINS and MINGS
CANISTER TECHNOLOGY
A canister for a missile provides a dual function which acts as an environmental container and also acts as a
launching tube.
A canister launch system can be either hot launch, where the missile ignites in the cell, or cold launch, where
the missile is expelled by gas produced by a gas generator which is not part of the missile itself, and then the
missile ignites.
In case of hot launches the problem is the heat produced by the missile at the time of launch. The hot launch is
better for small missiles as the ejection part itself will be done by using missiles own engine.
In case of Agni V it will be a cold launch. In this launch a gas generator will be used to push the missile to a
height and then at that height the first stage of missile will be ignited.
Agni-V a kind of three stages Intercontinental Ballistic Missile covers more than 5000 km, where it
called as Multiple Independently Reentry Vehicle (MIRV) based upon the nature of payload.
Agni-V also possess two navigation system such as RINS and MINGS.
SHAURYA and AGNI-V were the only two missile in our country in the current time to perform canister
launching.
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MK.IV LCU
The Mk IV LCU are meant to augment the Indian Navy's amphibious capability. The ship can be deployed for
maritime roles like maritime security, beaching, un-beaching, humanitarian relief operations and evacuation
from distant islands, search and rescue operations and peace-keeping missions.
The LCUs will likely be inducted into the tri-service command responsible for India's Andaman and Nicobar
island territory. The Indian Navy is developing the chain of islands as an amphibious warfare hub, possibly to
counterbalance China's growing military influence in the Indian Ocean Region. The craft may also operate in
the Arabian Sea.
PAVA SHELLS
PAVA shells contain Pelargonic Acid Vanillyl Amide, an organic compound found in chilli pepper.
It derives its name from the compound, which is also known as Nonivamide. It is considered to be bio-safe,
less lethal than pellet guns and equally effective.
It paralyses the protesters for short duration and its a kind of non dye marker grenade. It is also used as a
food additive to add pungency, flavouring and spicy effect to food.
INS ARIHANT
By inducting the indigenously built INS Arihant into service, India had successfully completed its
Nuclear triad.
Nuclear Triad refers to nuclear weapons delivery of a strategic nuclear arsenal which consists of three
components: Land based Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (ICBM), Strategic Bombers from aircrafts, and
Submarine Launched Ballistic Missiles (SLBM).
INS Arihant is a kind of Ship submersible Ballistic Nuclear (SSBN) which will be armed with K-15 (Sagarika
missiles) and K-4 missiles.
INS CHENNAI
It is the third ship of Kolkata-class Stealth guided missile destroyers of Indian Navy, first ship to be
named after the capital of Tamil Nadu and it is the last of the three ships built under the project 15A.
The ship has the state of art weapons and sensors, stealth features and advanced action information system, a
comprehensive auxiliary control system.
INS Chennai will be fitted with the Supersonic Brahmos & Barak 8 Long Range Surface to Air Missile
system.
The ships air defence capability designed to counter the threat of enemys aircraft and anti-ship cruise missiles
will revolve around the vertical launch, long range surface-to-air missiles system.
Indigenously developed twin tube torpedo launchers, Towed Array Sonar capability and rocket launchers will
add punch to the ships anti-submarine capability.
The ship has state of the art hull mounted sonar HUMSA-NG and it is fitted with the Chaff decoy system
Kavach for defence against enemy missiles.
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For protection from enemy torpedoes, the ship has been equipped with the torpedo decoy system
Mareech. Both Kavach and Mareech were indigenous in nature.
Some other advanced weapons and sensors were brought from Israel and Russia.
The ship is designed to carry and operate upto two multi-role combat helicopters, which are expected to be a
Sea King and HAL Dhruv.
It uses a communication mechanism in which all the crew can be kept in a loop with the integration system
during an emergency.
INS SARVEKSHAK
Indian Naval Survey vessel INS Sarvekshak is the first ship in India, perhaps first in the world, to use
solar energy on board.
The main challenge was selecting the right solar panel for the ship. Ordinary solar panels are not suitable for
the marine environment as they cannot resist humidity.
Ordinary solar panels are required to be kept stationary in a specific direction but the Razor thin flexible
panels can be installed in any place where the sunlight is available. Thus it generates 5.4 Kw electricity by this
Zero maintenance solar power system.
It had been installed on the canopy of its telescopic (retractable) helicopter deck.
NETRA
NETRA is the first indigenously built Airborne Early Warning and Control System (AEW&C) developed by
Indian Air Force which is mounted on Embraer aircraft.
AEW&C is the airborne radar system of AESA type mounted on a jet aircraft for airborne surveillance system
to provide command to the friendly forces in the battle field and also to detect enemys patrolling vehicle
within the boundary.
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The terms AWACS and AEW&CS are warning systems related to airborne threats. AEW&CS stands for Air
Borne early warning & control system is indigenously developed by India (DRDO). It has a range of 200kms
and 240 degrees coverage.
AWACS-Airborne warning and control system is an Israeli technology. It has a better range of 400kms
and 360 degree coverage. Only four nations as of now have such technology, such as India, Isreal, US and
Russia.
IUHDSS
Indian Navy has launched an Integrated Underwater Harbour Defence and Surveillance System (IUHDSS) in
Mumbai to enhance the security of valuable naval assets against asymmetric threats.
IUHDSS is designed and developed by Israeli Aerospace Industries ELTA for surface and sub-surface
surveillance of the harbour.
It is a state of the art system with integrated radars, advance sensors, electro optic cameras and
sound navigation and ranging systems (SONARs).
Its sensors have been strategically installed around Mumbai harbour to provide comprehensive real-time
situational awareness for monitoring and analysis.
It is capable of detecting, tracking, identifying and generating warning for all types of underwater and surface
threats to harbour security.
Besides detecting large targets, it can also detect small targets like divers, boats and swimmers at adequate
ranges. IUHDSS will play an important role in strengthening Harbour Defence and Security.
DARKNET
It is an overlay network that can only be accessed with specific software, configurations, or authorization,
often using non-standard communication protocols and ports and not by common search engines.
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Two typical darknet types are friend-to-friend networks and privacy networks.
Darknet market or cryptomarket is a commercial website on the dark web that operates via darknets
such as Tor or I2P responsible for underworld and bitcoin operations.
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
It is the branch of computer science concerned with making computers to behave like humans. It has two
branches one as Strong AI and the other as Weak AI.
It is a recreation and rules for using the information, reasoning and self correction by machines particularly
computer systems.
It is widely used in Aviation, Video games, Neural Networks, Expert systems, weather forecasting and
Robotics.
Neural Network is bottom up approach used in AI. It basically aims at mimicking the structure &
functioning of the human brain, to create intelligent behaviour.
Expert System is top down approach used in AI. Instead of starting at the base level of neurons, followers of
the expert system are designing intelligent machines by taking advantage of the phenomenal computational
power of the modern computer that can solve problem by deductive logic.
Turing Test is a test carried out for behaviour intelligence analysis in a computer that requires the presence
of human being but CAPTCHA is a kind of reverse Turing test, which test the humans intelligence.
SWAYAM
It stands for Study Webs of Active-learning for Young Aspiring Minds programme, which was launched by
Ministry of Human Resource Development with 350 online courses which would be widened by DTH channels
in future.
Professors of centrally funded institutions will offer online (Virtual) courses to citizens of India.
All courses would be offered free of cost under this programme however fees would be levied in case learner
requires certificate but before that he needs to take test to earn those academic grades.
CYBER PHYSICAL SYSTEMS
Recently DST initiated this Cyber Physical Systems (CPS) programme which took its root in some of the IIT.
It encourages having greater synergy between the university, scientists and industry.
CPS is an interdisciplinary field dealing with the deployment of computer based systems that do things in the
physical world for instance, the self-driven cars produced by Google and Tesla, Smart grids,
aircraft navigation system is qualified under CPS.
BHIM APP
BHIM is a digital app on the UPI platform created by NPCI to facilitate faster and smoother digital payments.
It provides one stop solution for all digital payments.
BHIM acts as an aggregator for all UPI-based offerings of banks. Even a bank not connected to UPI can
receive money through BHIM with the help of their banks IFSC and MMID code.
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BHIM allows easy transfer of money or making payment by using only phone number and it can work even on
basic phones with the USSD payment support.
It has a mobile wallet and QR code facility along with the Aadhar pay facility.
BHIM also provides BHIM referral bonus scheme and BHIM cash back scheme, which is
administered by Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology and it will be implemented by NPCI.
BHARAT QR CODE
QR Code is a 2D matrix code that contains information on a specific task.
Codes were scanned by a QR reader which is completely different from the conventional barcode reader which
uses monocoherent source for reading.
India has reached a new milestone in cashless transaction by launching BharatQR, the world's first
interoperable payment acceptance solution try to remember that BharatQR code is not a wallet.
Bharat QR code is developed jointly by the four prominent card payment companies Mastercard, American
Express, Visa and NPCI which runs RuPay cards.
Multiple cards can be linked to the same mobile app. Mobile pin is to act as a security feature and no OTP
is required.
USSD based service being developed for non smartphone users.
This is the second big ticket initiative from the Centre, after BHIM, towards pushing digital
transactions. Multivariate QR codes are available based upon the clients requirements.
Bharat QR codes is available in two formats such as Dynamic Bharat QR code and Static Bharat QR
code.
MOBILE WALLETS
A mobile wallet is the digital equivalent to the physical wallet where we need to load the cash from our bank
account, which can be utilized during the time of purchase.
Payment can be done by entering a PIN, Password, and fingerprint or by using NFC technology to interact
with mobile wallet ready payment terminals.
Closed Wallet: Certain amount of money is locked with a mobile wallet company, where he allows the
customer to utilize the amount to purchase the goods only from his company.
Semi-Closed Wallet: It also does not allow permitting cash withdrawal or redemption from the wallet like
the previous case but it allows the customer to purchase goods with listed merchants.
Semi-open Wallet: It also provides the same facility of semi-closed wallet but additionally it allows the
customers to have wallet to wallet transactions but within the same companys wallet.
Open Wallet: It is solely owned by the bank authorities, so it allows us to buy goods and allows to withdraw
the cash at ATMs during the time of emergency.
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BIG DATA
Big Data refers to that data which is so huge in number that it cannot be processed using the traditional data
extracting techniques.
These kinds of data require innovative forms of information processing that enable enhanced decision making
and process information. Characteristics of Big Data are:
High Volume: Every organization generates large amount of data.
High Velocity: Data is generated continuously in a rapid manner.
Huge Variety: This data has different formats like it may be audio, video or text.
Huge Veracity: The rate of generation of data is not constant.
For the first time the recent Economic Survey of 2016-2017 has used Big Data Analysis to shed new light on
the flow of goods and people within India.
BLOCK CHAIN TECHNOLOGY
Bitcoin or Crypto currency is the worlds first open source decentralized digital currency, a digital token
that has a perceived value and payment network.
Block chain is an anonymous online ledger that uses data structure to simplify the Bitcoin transaction.
Blockchain enables two entities that do not know each other to agree that something is true without the need
of a third party.
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As opposed to writing entries into a single sheet of paper, a Blockchain is a distributed database that takes a
number of inputs and places them into a block.
Each block is then chained to the next block using a cryptographic signature. This allows blockchains to be
used as a ledger which is accessible by anyone with permission to do so.
If everyone in the process is pre-selected, the ledger is termed permissioned. If the process is open to the
whole world, the ledger is called unpermissioned.
Thus this electronic ledger ensures that the same bitcoin is not spent twice by the same user.
The electronic ledger of transactions is continuously maintained and verified in blocks of records. With the
help of cryptography, the tamper-proof ledger is shared between parties on computer servers.
INTERNET OF THINGS
The Internet of Things (IoT) is the network of physical objectsdevices, vehicles, buildings and other items
embedded with electronics, software, sensors, and network connectivity that enables these objects to collect
and exchange data.
Its a kind of Machine to Machine communication which takes place via Internet by without having the
presence of human beings.
Data Transmission is done either in a wired mode or in wireless mode.
It finds its wide range of application in house automation, smart cities, Industrial manufacturing, Healthcare
systems and Automotives.
VIRTUAL REALITY
It is the umbrella term for all the magical artificial worlds that are popping up around us.
Most commonly users plonk on a headset and get a 360 degree view of an immersive fake world. It is
predominantly used in video games.
AUGUMENTED REALITY
It a kind of computer generated 3D models or videos or images in which a virtual stuff is added to the real
world environment.
With the help of devices camera the real time augmentation and information is overlaying takes place which
enhances users current perception (Geocaching).
For the effective implementation of AR we require AR application, AR markers and Android OS enabled
mobile phone with camera facility. The classic examples were Pokemon Go, HoloLens of Microsoft City
lens of Nokia and ISROs SAKAAR application.
This can be used for sporting events and events and tourism, as information about the game or place can be
overlayed as you look around. Indias first augmented reality Institute has been proposed to be set up at
Varanasi.
It will provide students from diploma to research level with hands on training on high value machines.
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PROJECT ALLOY
It is a solidarity project of Intel, where they created a device based upon Merged Reality. The device is a
headset that uses Real Sense technology enabling people to use their hands to interact with elements of the
virtual world. There is no need for cables to connect to the computer.
Merged reality is more dynamic and natural compared to virtual reality. Unlike virtual reality, merged
reality needs the right combination software and hardware. It makes a person to perform two different tasks
simultaneously.
PRADHAN MANTRI GRAMIN DIGITAL SAKSHARAT ABHIYAN
It is the new scheme launched by the Ministry of Electronics and IT to make rural households digitally
literate by March 2019.
This scheme is initiated under Digital India Programme and expected to be one of the largest digital
literacy programs in the world.
It would empower the citizens by providing them access to information, knowledge and skills for operating
computers / digital access devices for their basic needs.
Thus this uses IT to actively participate in the process of Nation building.
WANNACRY
It is a massive Ransomware attack that had hit several countries in the world.
This ransomware basically encrypt files and demands a Bitcoin payment to regain access.
It spreads as attachment to emails, hidden documents, PDFs, Spreadsheets etc
It also seems to have spread via a computer virus known as a worm, unlike many other malicious programs,
this one has the ability to move around a network by itself.
The hackers have likely made this as a self spreading malware. It is based on a piece of NSA code known as
Eternal Blue.
GOOGLE LENS
Its a kind of vision based computing capability that uses computer vision and Artificial Intelligence
technologies.
It makes the smart phones to understand what we were looking at and helps to act based on that information.
Google Lens is very much the spiritual successor to Google Goggles, which the search giant launched way
back in 2010 with mostly the same purpose.
Google discontinued Goggles in 2014 since it wasn't really being used. However, computer vision technology
has come a long way since then, as has awareness of AR as a technology and its potential.
CYBER BULLYING
Cyber bullying is an online activity involved in targeting a juvenile person on social media to cause
harassment/embarrassment. If the same kind of activity involves in targeting a non-juvenile then term is
called as Cyber Stalking.
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SMART INDIA HACKATHON
Smart India Hackathon 2017 is a pan India 36 hour nonstop digital programming competition.
The participating teams will simultaneously compete from across 33 locations in India to offer digital yet
sustainable innovative solutions to solve real time challenges faced by the nation.
It will harness the creativity of millions of bright young minds. Students, Researchers, Utilities and
Technology Enthusiasts Challenge to Capture the Flag (CTF) which involves participants to hack into a
SCADA system, toggle a switch and exit the system.
TRI-NETRA
Terrain imaging for diesel dRivers INfra red, Enhanced opTical & Radar Assisted system is a system
mounted in loco engines to provide proper vision to the loco pilot during fog, heavy rain and also during night
in order to reduce train accidents.
It was developed by Development cell of Railway board, which is based on the technology employed by fighter
aircrafts for its operation in darkness and used by naval ships in mapping the ocean floor and navigation in the
night.
The system is made up of high-resolution optical video camera, high sensitivity infrared video camera and
additionally a radar-based terrain mapping system acts as a three vision for the locopilot.
It enable the loco pilot to see objects from upto two to three kilometers on normal condtions and one
kilometer away on straight track even during inclement weather.
ELECTRONIC VOTING MACHINE
It primarily has two units such as Control unit and Balloting unit.
Control unit additionally has Auxiliary display unit and EVM totalizer.
They run on 6volt alkaline specially manufactured battery during power failure.
M1 Machine: Not compatible with VVPAT system so currently it is not in use.
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M2 Machine: Has VVPAT system and incorporated dynamic coding of key codes thereby enabling transfer of
the key in an encrypted form as additional feature.
M3 Machine: It has VVPAT system and Tamper Detection which makes it inoperative at the moment
anyone tries to open the machine and Self diagnostics which checks it fully every time when it is switched
on to detect any change in hardware and software.
The software used by ECI in the EVM is based on OTP so that the program once burnt cannot be altered or
re-written or re-read. It makes it Tamper proof.
The ECI-EVMs use some of the most sophisticated technological features like one OTP P-ROM chip,
dynamic coding, date and time stamping of each and every key press, advanced encryption technology and
EVM-tracking software to handle EVM logistics, among others to make the machine 100% Tamper proof.
It is a stand-alone machine which makes it hackfree. While other countries uses computer based with
internet connectivity which subjects to hacking.
Same EVM can be used simultaneously for both Parliamentary election and for State assembly election.
DRISHTI
It is the only indigenously developed Transmissometer of its kind available today.
It is used to determine the Meteorolgical Optical Range (MOR) and Runway Visibility Range (RVR) and it was
developed by CSIR-NAL for IMD
It plays a significant role for the safe landing and take-off of an aircraft.
WHITE SPACE
TV white space communication is the most preferred wireless alternative for long distance communication.
TV white spaces technology utilizes the unused White Space to provide cheap Internet connectivity to
remote areas.
White space refers to gaps of unused spectrum between terrestrial broadcast channels in the 470-700 of
Televisions UHF band frequency.
GROW LIGHTS
Grow light or plant light is an artificial electric light source which is designed in such a way to stimulate
plant growth by emitting the exact electromagnetic spectrum intensity and frequency appropriate
for photosynthesis.
Grow lights are used in applications where there is either no naturally occurring light, or where supplemental
light is required. Recently, it came in news in connection with Urban Vertical Farming
In vertical farming the crops are raised in tubs kept in vertical racks and they get their nutrition either
Hydroponically, that is through nutrient enriched water or Aeroponically that is through nutrient
enriched air.
The tubs are kept under specialized LEDs of Blue & Red light, which is the optimal light for photosynthesis in
leafy greens, and are also known as Grow lights.
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INTERNATIONAL SMART GRID ACTION NETWORK (ISGAN)
Recently India had hosted its first ever meeting of ISGAN (13th executive committee meeting) at
Gurugram.
ISGAN is an agreement under International Energy Agency, a Paris based autonomous intergovernmental
organization.
ISGAN creates a mechanism through its 25 Implementing Agreement countries including India to accelerate
the development and deployment of smarter electric grids.
Integrating the power sectors a range of advanced information, sensing, communications, control, and energy
technologies and systems, collectively known as the smart grid.
HYPERLOOP TECHNOLOGY
It is a system where magnetically levitating pod like capsules is sent at high speeds through low-pressure
(near Vacuum) tubes with the help of solar power. Thus it potentially reduces the transportation time.
In Hyperloop (5th Mode) transportation system, Pods are expected to zip smoothly through continuous steel
tubes which are maintained at a partial vacuum.
The pod sandwiches the passenger compartment between an air compressor upfront and a battery
compartment in the rear.
The pods were supported by Air caster Skis at the bottom. The Skis float on a thin layer of air provided under
high pressure eliminating rolling resistance and provides maximum speed of 1220 km/hr.
Linear induction motors that are placed along the tube would accelerate and decelerate the capsule to the
appropriate speed for each section of the tube route there by controlling the speed of the pod.
SYNTHETIC NANO ROBOT
A team of researchers in the University of Hong Kong has developed the world's first light-seeking synthetic
Nanorobot.
With size comparable to a blood cell, those tiny robots have the potential to be injected into patients bodies,
helping surgeons to remove tumors and enabling more precise engineering of targeted medications.
THUBBER
A rubber material that posses high thermal conductivity and elasticity is called as Thubber.
The key ingredient in Thubber is a suspension of non-toxic, liquid metal micro-droplets, which makes
Thubber to be getting pre-stretched and restretched.
It is an electrically insulating composite that exhibits an unprecedented combination of metal like thermal
conductivity, elasticity similar to soft biological tissue.
The material finds its applications in athletic wear, sports medicine, wearable devices, robotics, and prosthetic
materials.
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LITHIUM-ION BATTERY
In recent times it had been witnessed Lithium-Ion battery had the fastest growing and most promising battery
in the field of Electrochemistry. It possess some of the following advantages when compared to its competitor
It has higher energy density when compared to Nickel cadmium batteries.
It has low self discharge rate when compared to Nickel Hydrogen batteries.
It is able to operate at higher voltage when compared to its competitors.
Recently International Space Station (ISS) had decided to replace their Nickel-Hydrogen battery by
using Lithium-Ion battery.
NATIONAL ATLAS AND THEMATIC MAPPING ORGANISATION
NATMO is the premier agency of applied Geospatial technology and pioneer in Thematic mapping and
Atlas Cartography functions under Department of Science and Technology.
Recently NATMO had prepared worlds first Braille Atlas in English for visually impaired persons by using
silk-screen painting technology.
SURYA JYOTI
Surya Jyoti is a kind of Micro solar dome which is designed in two aspects one with the presence of PV
cells and the other without PV cells.
The Micro Solar Dome (MSD) is a day and night lighting single device unique in its features, that has a
transparent semi-spherical upper dome made of acrylic material which captures the sunlight and the light
passes through a sun-tube having a thin layer of highly reflective coating on the inner wall of the passage.
It also contains a lower dome made of acrylic. There is a shutter in the bottom of the lower dome which can be
closed, if light is not required in the daytime.
It is leak proof and works throughout the day and 4 hours continuously after sunset. The entire development
activities were taken up by an R&D Organisation under the aegis of the Department of Science & Technology.
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LATITUDE 7285
American tech giant Dell has unveiled Latitude 7285, the worlds first laptop that charges wirelessly.
It is convertible laptop with detachable tablet. It is embedded with wireless receiving coil based on magnetic
resonance technology developed by wireless charging company WiTricity.
Unlike other current wireless charging standards (like Qi) which require accurate placement of charging coils
on top of another, the WiTricity technology generates a very safe magnetic field that transmits the electricity
wirelessly near the range of receivable device.
BIOREMEDIATION STRATEGIES
Bioremediation involves in degradation or transformation of metals to their less hazardous forms by the use of
microbes, their metabolites and other biological systems.
The efficacy of bioremediation depends on a number of metal microbe interactions including

Biotransformation (Enzymatic oxidation or reduction on metals by microbes), Bioaccumulation
(Retaining the concentration of the contaminant by the microorganisms) and Biosorption (It is the
metabolism-independent association of metals with the microbial cell wall).
A number of microbial species have been used as potent metal biosorbents such as bacteria (Bacillus,
Pseudomonas and streptomyces) and Fungi (Aspergillus, Rhizopus and Penicillium).
ZERO LIQUID DISCHARGE
It is a water treatment process in which all waste water is purified and recycled, therefore leaving zero
discharge at the end of the treatment cycle.
The components of ZLD involve reverse osmosis, enable extensive reuse and recovery of water and salts, thus
the process minimizes the freshwater requirements.
TELECONNECTION
It is an atmospheric science refers to a casual connection or correlation between meteorological or other

environmental phenomenon which occurs a long distance apart.
The link between El-Nino and the Indian monsoon is also an example of Teleconnection.
BROMINATED FLAME RETARDANTS
Brominated flame retardants are highly toxic chemicals added to plastic parts of electronic gadgets like
computers, televisions, refrigerators etc. to make them less flammable.
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BHARAT STAGE EMISSION STANDARDS
These were emission standards instituted by the Central Pollution Control Board functions under Ministry of
Environment Forests and Climate Change aims to regulate the output of air pollutants from internal
combustion engines and spark ignition engines.
In India, Vehicle emission norms were first introduced in 1991. In 2002, Mashelkar Committee came up
with a roadmap so that the emission can be phased in India.
In 2012, Expert Committee under Saumitra Chaudhuri was constituted to draft auto fuel vision and policy,
2025 to bring countrys fuel quality at par with global norms.
Bharat stage emission norms and Euro norms is one and the same but Euro standards is tested with lower
maximum speed of 120km/hr while BS norms is tested with lower maximum speed of 90 km/hr.
The harmful emissions that are identified for regulations in different BS stages are Sulphur content, Carbon
monoxide, unburnt hydrocarbons, Nitrogen oxides and particulate matter.
CATALYTIC CONVERTER
A catalytic converter is an emission control device that converts toxic gases and pollutants in exhaust gas to
less toxic form by performing redox reaction.
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It uses two important catalyst Platinum and Palladium/Rhodium.
Catalytic converters are used with internal combustion engines fueled by either petrol (gasoline) or diesel
including lean-burn engines as well as kerosene heaters and stoves.
BIOFUELS
Biofuel is a fuel that is produced through contemporary biological process rather than the geological process.
First generation biofuels are produced directly from food crops by abstracting the oils for use in biodiesel Ex:
Crops of Wheat, Sugar etc
Second generation biofuels are produced from non-ffod crops such as wood, organic waste, food crop waste
etc
Third generation biofuels are produced based on the improvements in the production of biomass. It takes
advantage of specially engineered energy crops such as algae.
Fourth generation biofuels are aimed at not only producing sustainable energy but also a way of capturing and
storing CO2. This process differs from second and third generation production as at all stages of production
the carbon dioxide is captured using processes such as oxy-fuel combustion. The carbon dioxide can then
be geo sequestered by storing it in old oil and gas fields or saline aquifers. This carbon capture makes fourth
generation biofuel production carbon negative rather than simply carbon neutral, as it is locks away more
carbon than it produces
OIL ZAPPER VS OILIVOROSU-S
The name Oilivorous-S suggests an affinity to Oilzapper. They belong to the same family of oily sludge-
degrading consortia of microbes.
Oilivorous-S differs from Oilzapper in a way that it has an additional bacterial strain that makes the former
more effective against sludge and crude oil with high-sulphur content.
Both Oilivorous-S and oilzapper can be used as in-situ bioremediation technology to treat the oil
pollutants.
Thereby, it eliminates the need to transfer large quantities of contaminated waste from the site, a process that
poses more threats to the environment. Secondly, the solution is complete in itself contaminants are not
merely transferred from one environmental medium to another (from water to air or land) but destroyed.
Moreover, bioremediation is far more cost-effective than other physic-chemical treatment technologies used
to clean up hazardous waste.
In-situ bioremediation includes Bio-venting, Bio-sparging and Bio-augmentation while the Ex-situ
bioremediation includes land farming, Bio-piles, Bio-reactors.
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HUMANITARIAN TECHNOLOGY
Recently, India had signed LEMOA agreement with United States in which Technology for Humanitarian
Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) is one among the prime objective.
Humanitarian technology involves in promoting social justice and nurturing a more peaceful world.
It often merges engineering technical skills with other areas of knowledge to derive appropriate solutions that
are sustainable, participatory and aim at improving the resilience and capacity of vulnerable communities.
Humanitarian Technologies were widely used in following areas:
Biometric scanners & data system for registration of vulnerable communities.
Smart home technologies for remote monitoring of build environments.
Wearable technologies that monitor health conditions and mobility of vulnerable populations.
Augmenting real-time communication and navigation for early warning and aid search and rescue situations.
E-NOSE PROJECT
e-Nose Project is also a kind of Humanitarian Technology.
It has already trailed in the International Space Station (ISS) can directly detect microbiological
contamination such as bacteria and fungi with the potential to damage the equipment and harm the health of
astronauts.
Another Avenue of the e-Nose project is exploring how to use the device for breath gas analysis as means of
detecting diseases.
The first step involves testing in the ISS and measuring the oxidative stress of astronauts breathing in pure
oxygen while undertaking a spacewalk.
Recently, American astronaut Peggy Whitson made history by making her Tenth space walk (Extra
Vehicular Activity) and broke the records for most space walks by a woman with eight walks and most hours
spent by a women in space walking with more than 50 hours.
With this she broke the record of previous women Sunita Williams, who earlier had the record of seven
space walks.
Anatoley Solovyev, Russian Astronaut holds the 16 EVA world record with 82 hours.
AIRLANDER-10
It is a kind of hybrid ship, which means partly airship and partly plane filled with helium gas.
It combines the technology from airplanes, helicopters and airships. It is capable to carryout both the manned
travel and unmanned travel.
PASSIVE VENTILATING
Smart Living is a concept given for a building design for Passive Ventilating A Zero energy building.
It is a building where the total amount of energy used by the building on an annual basis is roughly equal to
the amount of renewable energy created on the site.
In passive Ventilating, the air channels inside the building are investigated and optimized after simulations.
41
SAVE ENNORE CREEK
The term Save Ennore Creek campaign sometime seen in the news is related to the removal of fly ash
dumped in Buckigham canal and Kosasthalaiyar River.
Ennore is a backwater located in Chennai along the Coromandel Coast of the Bay of Bengal.
The North Chennai Thermal Power Station is located at the North of the creek and the Ennore Thermal Power
Station located to the South leads to the dumping of fly ash in the creek region, which is a part of Pulicat
Water system.
HYDRAULIC FRACTURING
It is a well stimulation technique in which rock is fractured by a pressurized liquid. The process involves the
high pressure injection of Fracking Fluid, primarily water, containing sand or other properties suspended
with the aid of thickening agents (Guar Gum) into a well bore to crate cracks in the deep rock formations
through which natural gas, petroleum and brine will flow more freely.
Adding a Guar Gum increases viscosity of water and makes high pressure pumping and the fracturing process
more efficient.
POLY METELLIC NODULES & SULPHIDES
Both the Polymetallic Nodules and Polymetallic Sulphides were highly economic and strategic important
materials found in the sea beds.
Recently Union cabinet had approved the extension of contract with the International Seabed Authority
(ISA) for the exploration of Polymetallic Nodules (PMN).
PMN is otherwise called as Manganese nodules, which is potato shaped largely porous in nature found
abundance in the seabed. Where Manganese is the dominant source and along with that it also contains
Nickel, copper, cobalt, lead, molybedenum, cadmium, vanadium, Titanium and Iron.
PMS is otherwise called as Sulphide nodules, in which Sulphide is the dominant source and along with that
it also contains Gold, Copper, Silver, Zinc, Platinum as it constituents.
BALLAST WATER
The water that fills the lowermost dock of the ship is called as Ballast water, whre it provides essential
buoyancy force for the ships to have safe sailing in the deep ocean waters.
Ballast water carried by ships could transport fish, viruses, bacteria, algae, zooplankton and benthonic
invertebrates to harbors at a faster pace and the discharge of this water promotes Bio-Invasion in the new
area.
Recently International Maritime organization had came out with the ballast water convention for
implementing effective handling mechanism for Ballast waters.
The Convention requires all new ships to implement an approved Ballast Water and Sediments Management
Plan.
42
All new ships will also have to carry a Ballast Water Record Book and follow ballast water management
procedures to a given standard.
Ballast waters will be treated with ultra violet rays and it will be discharged by without carrying out any
recycling activities.
CLOUD SEEDING
Cloud Seeding is otherwise called as artificial rain is the practice of artificially inducing or increasing
precipitation through clouds by adding external agents.
The foreign particles which are drenched or sprayed over the clouds were Dry Ice (Solid Carbon dioxide),
Silver Iodide, Salt powder etc by using the jets fixed to airplanes.
For cold clouds, sodium iodide crystals are used and for warm clouds such as for India common crystal salt is
used.
Generally it rains after 30 minutes of seeding where it is meant to increase the precipitation and rainfall is
not guaranteed.
There are three types of cloud seeding such as Static cloud seeding, dynamic cloud seeding and
hygroscopic cloud seeding.
It promotes adverse health issues like Iodism, Argyria, Blue-grey discolouration of eyes and skin.
PROJECT HIMANSH
The word Himansh stands for slice of ice is the first high altitude glaciological research station of India
that has been established by NCAOR under the ministyr of Earth Science, currently located in Spiti Valley of
Himachal Pradesh.
It will provide the much needed scientific research in the Water Tower of Asia (Himalayan) region by
carrying out geotectonic, geo-glacial, glaciocyclic research on the Himalayan glaciers.
43
ZEALANDIA
ZEALANDIA is the new geological continent found in submerged condition beneath the south west pacific
ocean.
Where 94% of the continent is under water and the main difference between Zealandia and other continents is
that it has much wider and deeper continental shelves than the usaual case.
The highest point of Zealandia is Aoraki-Mount cook which is about 3724 m.
MAURUTIA
MAURUTIA is the lost continent that the scientists had confirmed under the Indian Ocean island of
Mauritius.
The discovery was based upon the presence of three billion old Zircons, mineral found mainly in granites,
which also contains the trace amount of uranium, thorium and lead.
NEERDHUR
NEERDHUR is a multi fuel improved cook stove with high overall thermal efficiency, reduced fuel
consumption and reduced emissions through design improvements and technological innovations was
developed by CSIR-NEERI.
It can run on multi fuels like biomass pellets, charcoal, agro residue, wood ships, wood logs, cow dung cakes
etc.
It has a provision for increased air supply to facilitate proper combustion and thus high overall thermal
efficiency.
Neerdhur cookstoves have been approved by Ministry of New and Renewable Energy and been certified by
Bureau of Indian Standards.
SURYA MITRA
Surya Mitra is a kind of Skill development programme launched by Ministry of New and Renewable Energy
resources.
NISE, an autonomous body under the ministry took the in charge to provide skill training to the rural youths
in handling solar installations, operation and maintenance in India and abroad.
It also prepares the candidates to become new entrepreneurs in the solar energy sector.
As a part of Suryamitra Programme, NISE had developed a GPS based mobile application, which allows
the services of trained Suryamitras to the various end users of solar applications across India at their
doorsteps.
MARPOL
The MARPOL convention functions under International Maritime Organization (IMO) includes regulations
aimed at preventing and minimizing pollution at sea from ships, and this includes both accidental pollution
and pollution from routine operations. At current date MARPOL Convention consist of 6 technical annexures:
Regulations for the prevention of pollution by oil.
Regulations for the control of pollution by noxious liquid substances in bulk.

Prevention of pollution by harmful substances carried by sea in packaged form.
44
Prevention of pollution by sewage from ships.

Prevention of pollution by garbage from ships.
Prevention of air pollution from ships.
SOLIBACILLUS KALAMII
Scientists at NASA had named a new spore forming bacteria found only in International Space Station and not
in earth as Solibacillus kalamii.
It is named so to honour the late Indian president and renowned Scientist.
CRISPR CAS9
Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats (CRISPR) Cas9 is a gene editing
technique that offers high degree of flexibility and accuracy.
It has two key molecules, one is Cas9 which acts as Molecular Scissors and guide RNA (gRNA) which aims to
find and bind a specific sequence in the DNA.
It works like a word processing programmes Find and Replace function.
It was developed from bacteria, which snip out part of the virus DNA for defence.
This RNA guided DNA editing platform is non-organism specific in nature.
THREE PARENT BABY
It is also called as Mitochondrial donation/replacement Therapy.
DNA is usually present in Nucleus and in Mitochondria of a human living cell.
Only mothers Mitochondria is transferred to the infants, suppose if it had undergone mutation then the
infants will report a disorder known as Leigh syndrome, a fatal genetic disorder that affects brain,
muscles and nerves of infants.
45
To overcome this syndrome, we have the treatment which is better known as Three parent IVF because
the babies, born from genetically modified embryos, which would have DNA from a mother and father and egg
cell from a donor.
Two most common techniques in this method are Maternal Spindle Transfer and Pronuclear
Transfer.
The child will have 99% genetically match with the parents and free from mitochondrial disease.
SYNTHETIC BIOLOGY
India is taking its first steps to evolve a policy on synthetic biology, an emerging science through which new
life forms can potentially be made in labs and existing life forms, such as bacteria and other microbes can be
improved to produce specific proteins.
It finds its application in the production of drugs, vaccines, fuel components and other chemicals. A popular
example is the production of Artemisinin, a powerful anti-malarial drug.
It also finds its wide range of applications in the field of Bioelectronics.
GRAPH AIR TECHNOLOGY
Team of Scientists at CSIRO in Australia had developed Graph Air Technology which involves in
developing the worlds strongest material Graphene by using a humble soyabean.
Thus this technology aims in growing the thin Graphene film in an ambient air with a natural precursor rather
than the highly controlled environment.
Until now the cost of Graphene production is the major roadblock in its commercialization, now by this
technology the fabrication cost will rapidly gets reduced.
DNA PROFILING
DNA Profiling is also called as DNA fingerprinting is a method of isolating and identifying variable
elements within the base pair sequence of DNA.
Polymorphism forms the basis of DNA fingerprinting, since DNA from every tissue of the body shows the
same degree of polymorphism.
Recently Andhra pradesh Government had launched a DNA index system for DNA profiling of criminals.
MCR -1 GENE
In an ominous sign for antibiotic effectiveness, the MCR-1 gene, which is responsible for resistance against
antibiotic Colistin, has been identified in India.
The gene was found in a sample of E.coli bacteria by scientists in a hospital in Haryana.
Mcr-1 has already been detected in China, USA and Brazil. The gene is believed to build resistance in bacteria
against Colistina last resort antibiotic to treat infectious diseases in humans.
It is often used to treat human diseases when no other antibiotic works. Colistin belongs to a group of
antibiotics called polymixins which are termed critically important by the World Health Organization.
46
SOLEXA SEQUENCING
Shankar Balasubramanian, an Indian-origin British professor of chemistry and DNA expert at Cambridge
University, has received a Knighthood along with Olympic stars Andy Murray and Mo Farah among others by
Queen Elizabeth II for their contributions.
Mr. Balasubramanian, has been recognized for his work as a co-inventor of Next Generation DNA sequencing,
described as the most transformational advance in biology and medicine for decades. Solexa sequencing,
as it is now known, allows an individual genome to be sequenced in a day or two at less than 1,000 pounds;
previously, sequencing the human genome took years of work and cost billions.
FRANKEN FIXATION
Frankenfixation refers to the use of genetic modification to fix carbon dioxide into the soil.
It derives from term popularised by critics of genetically modified foods, Frankenfoods.
The U.S. Department of Energys Joint Genome Institute recently oversaw an effort to piece together an
artificial metabolism from the bits and pieces of biosynthetic pathways that were once scattered across the
three kingdoms of life.
YAMANAKA GENES
They are the four essential genes in our body that can reprogramme the cells in our body and in the
principle used to regenerate the old cells or to grow new organs.
All the genes were collectively known as OSKM (Oct4, Sox2, Klf4 and Myc). These genes were named
after Japanese Scientist Shinya Yamanaka.
47
NATIONAL HEALTH POLICY, 2017
It intends on gradually increasing public health expenditure to 2.5% of the GDP.
It proposes free drugs, diagnostics and emergency in public hospitals.
The policy advocates allocating two-thirds of resources to primary care.
It enables access within the first 60 minutes after a traumatic injury.
To reduce rate of CVD, Cancer, Diabetes, Respiratory disease & Blindness.
It highlights AYUSH as a tool for effective prevention.
It proposes introducing Yoga in schools and offices to promote good health.
It also proposed reforming medical education.
Achieve the global 2020 HIV target (90:90:90 global targets).
Elimination of Leprosy, Kala-Azar and Lymphatic Filariasis.
Health card for every family and grading of clinical establishments.
TWELVE SUPERBUGS NAMED BY WHO
WHO had classified twelve families of antibiotic resistant bacterias as Priority Pathogens.
3 were Critical Priority, 6 were High Priority and 3 were Medium Priority .
Hospital infections include Pneumonia, Meningitis, Urinary Tract Infections, Wound Infections,
Gastroenteritis, Blood stream infections leading to toxic shock syndrome, sepsis and death.
Superbugs are resistant to anti microbial drugs such as antibiotics, antifungals, antivirals, antimalarias and
anthelmintics (against intestinal worms).
Chennai Declaration calls for urgent initiatives against superbugs.
Schedule H1 drug is a class of prescription drugs in India which cannot be purchased over the counter
without the prescription of a qualified doctor.
Red line Campaign aims to curb irrational use of antibiotics and create awareness on the side effects of
taking antibiotics without prescription.
MENTAL HEALTHCARE BILL, 2016
It includes mental conditions associated with the abuse of alcohol and drugs.
It does not include mental retardation.
Person with mental illness shall have the right to make an advance directive.
Setting up Mental health authority and mental health review board.
48
Muscle relaxants and anesthesia should be given before Electro convulsive therapy and this therapy will
not be performed for minors.
A person attempts suicide shall be presumed to be suffering from mental illness.
PROJECT SUNRISE
Launched by Ministry of Health and Family welfare to tackle the rising HIV prevalence in North-Eastern
states, especially among people injecting drugs.
MEASLES RUBELLA VACCINE
Vaccination is the process through which attenuated form of micro-organisms of specified disease is
injected inside a healthy person. Recently Measles Rubella vaccination campaign was successfully completed
in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Goa and Lakshadweep.
Measles is currently provided under universal Immunization Programme. However, Rubella will be a new
addition.
Measles is a deadly disease and one of the important causes of death in children. It is highly contagious in
nature. It leads to life threatening complications such as Diarrhoea, pneumonia and brain infection.
Rubella is generally a mild infection, but has serious consequences if infection occurs in pregnant women,
causing Congenital Rubella syndrome (CRS).
CRS leads to Cataract, Glaucoma, hearing loss, microcephaly, mental retardation and heart defects in the
foetus and newborns.
INJECTIBLE CONTRACEPTIVES
Deoxymedroxy Progestrerone Acetate (DMPA) is a three month progesterone injectable drug that
prevents pregnancy by stopping ovulation.
It does this by blocking the rush of Leuteinishing Hormone (LH) that causes ovulation.
There are other injectable contraceptives such as Norethindrone enanthate (NET-EN) and monthly injections
of combined Estrogen and Progestin.
DPMA also prevents Ectopic gestation, endometrial cancer and uterine fibroids.
NUTRITIONAL DEFICIENCY DISEASE GHI
India ranks 97th out of 118 countries in the Global Hunger Index 2016 report which was released by
International Food Policy Research Institute (IRPRI) and stated that Indias hunger situation as serious,
where Stunting and Wasting reflects in acute under nutrition.
Major prevalent nutritional deficiency diseases were :
Protein Energy Malnutrition
Iron Deficiency Anemia.
Iodine Deficiency Disorders.
Vitamin-A Deficiency.
49
MADHUMEGHA MISSION
Recently the Ministry of AYUSH has celebrated National Ayurveda Day on 28th October, 2016, on behalf of
Lord Dhanvantaris birthday.
In this day the Ministry has launched a new mission called Mission Madhumegha, which aims to provide a
specially designed National Treatment Protocol for effective management of Diabetes through
Ayurveda.
Each year, a single disease will be kept as a theme to generate awareness about prevention and control and to
promote efforts of research through year long activities.
BGR-34
Blood Glucose Regulator-34 is considered to be the countrys first anti-diabetic Ayurvedic drug jointly
developed by NBRI, CIMAP and CSIR institutes based in Lucknow.
It has 34 identified active phyto-constitutes from herbal resources that offers effective, safe, patient friendly
solution for managing Type-2 Diabetes.
CORONARY STENTS
Recently, National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) had fixed the ceiling price of Drug Eluting
Stents (DES) and Bioresordable stents.
Currently there are five different types of Stents such as Dual Therapy Stent, Bioresordable Vascular Scaffold,
Bio-Engineered Stent, Drug Eluting Stent, Bare Metal Stent.
A stent is a small mesh tube made up of cobalt chromium alloy, that's used to treat narrow or weak
arteries. Arteries are blood vessels that carry blood away from your heart to other parts of your body.
A stent is placed in an artery as part of a procedure called Percutaneous Coronary Intervention (PCI), also
known as coronary angioplasty.
50
HIGH RANKING FOR INDIAS VACCINE REGUALATORY STRUCTURE
Indias vaccine regulatory body NRAI (National Regulatory Authority of India) was given the maximum
ratings of 4 by the World Health Organisation (WHO) for vaccine regulations.
The ratings were given by WHO after completing the assessment of the status of the NRAI system against
WHO NRA Global Benchmarking Tool and measured the maturity of the system in India.
The National Regulatory Authority (NRA) of India comprising the Central Drugs Standard Control
Organisation (CDSCO), State Drug Regulatory Authorities, Pharmaco-vigilance Programme of India (PvPI)
and Adverse Events Following Immunization (AEFI) structures at the Central and States levels.
The nine functions included in the tool are National Regulatory System; Registration and Marketing
Authorization; Vigilance; Laboratory Access and Testing; Regulatory Inspection; Clinical Trial Oversight; NRA
Lot Release; Licensing Premises; and Market Surveillance and Control.
EVERGREENING
Ever greening, is referred to the practice whereby pharmaceutical firms extend the patent life of a drug by
obtaining additional 20-year patents for minor reformulations or other iterations of the drug, without
necessarily increasing the therapeutic efficacy.
However it has become a practice in the pharmaceutical industry where on one hand innumerable patients
struggling to afford the high priced patented drugs, while on the other hand innovators struggling to give
immortal value to their creation.
GENERIC DRUGS
When a company develops a new drug, it applies for a patent, which prohibits anyone else from making the
drug for a fixed period.
Once the patent expires, other manufacturers duplicate and market their own versions of the drug which is
terms as Generic Drugs it does not involve a repeat of the extensive clinical trials to prove their safety and
efficacy.
The generic drug has the same Active ingredient as the brand name drug. This ingredient is the one that
cures the patient; and the other Inert Ingredients which give the drug its colour, shape or taste, vary from
the brand name drug to the generics.
Recently, a countrywide campaign has been under way to ensure the availability of generic drugs under the
Pradhan Mantri bharatiya Janaushadhi Pariyojana.
INDIA INNOVATION INDEX
The World Economic Forum, NITI Aayog, the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and the
Cornell University(New York) will work together to develop an India Innovation Index.
The index will be based on key pillars of innovation like
51
The strength of institutions,
Capacity of human capital and research,
Supporting infrastructure &
The level of business sophistication, among others.
It will enable to identify and measure the issues that affect innovation capabilities.
It can help create a transparent benchmark of innovation for Indian states.
It will boost competition and ensure progress towards innovation at the local levels.
India currently ranks 66th out of 128 countries on the Global Innovation Index (GII) of 2016.
ACCESS TO MEDICINES REPORT
The access to medicines report was given by United Nations High Level Panel with the following
recommendations:
Its need of the hour for R&D Treaty.
Prioritise R&D investments in a way that it prioritises diseases that kill million of people in the developing
world.
Solutions are required for remedying the policy incoherence between justifiable rights of inventors, trade
rulers and global public health targets.
Government and private sector must refrain from explicit or implicit threats, tactics or strategies that
undermine the right of WTO members to use TRIPS flexibilities.
The Eleven member states such as Bangladesh, Bhutan, south Korea, India, Indonesia, Maldives,
Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Timor Leste have the opinion that the pharmaceutical majors based
in the USA and Europe often use IPR protection to charge exorbitant prices for the medicines
manufactured by them.
They also resort to overt threat tactics to prevent the developing nations from exercising flexibility under
the provisions under the WTO TRIPS agreement.
NEW IPR POLICY, 2016
The Government had approved the National IPR policy on 12th May 2016. It has the following objectives:
IPR Awareness
Generation of IPR
Legal and legislative framework
Administration and management
Commercialization of IPR
Enforcement and adjudication
Human capital development.
Global Intellectual Property Center (GIPC) had ranked India 43rd out of 45 Global economies in an
international intellectual property index.
52
GI TAG FOR NILAMBUR TEAK
The GI tag is an indication which is definite to a geography territory. It is used for agricultural, natural and
manufactured goods. Inorder to get a GI tag the goods need to be produced or processed or prepared in that
region.
It is also essential that the product should have special quality or reputation. Once the Geographical Indication
tag awarded to a product then the same nomenclature cannot be used for the same product by anyone else if it
is originating at a different location.
Nilambur Teak or Mecca of Teak is a unique variety of timber found in the state of Kerala. This teak is
internationally known for its superior quality and elegant appearance.
Other Kerala products with GI tag registration includes Vazhakulam Pineapple, Wayanadan rice varieties
Jeerakasala and Gandhakasala, Tirur Betel vine, Central Travancore Jaggery and Chengalikodan Nendran.
TARGET THE BULLS EYE
Recently CSIR and NIO scientists had found three new canyons in the Srikakulam district in Andhra Pradesh
formed by the river Kandivalasa.
IDFC Bank in association with UIDAI and NPCI had developed Aadhaar-linked cashless merchant solution,
named as Aadhaar Pay to enable digital payments.
BharatNet aims to expand broadband connectivity to reach the length and breadth of the country at a rate of
2 Mbps to 20 Mbps.
Digi Gaon aims to provide telemedicine, education and skills.
Worlds oldest fossil was found in the Chitrakoot region in Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh.
Deep borehole investigation is carried out by Ministry of Earth Science at Koyna region in Maharastra to
have a deep study about Earthquakes.
E-Dhaga app enables handloom weavers to order and track their yarn and Bunkar Mitra app, the first
ever helpline for handloom weavers.
Shagun is a web portal for the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) which aims to showcase innovations and
progress in elementary education sector of India by continuous monitoring of the flagship scheme SSA.
LHCb experiment is one of the seven particle physics detector experiments collecting data at the LHC
accelerator at CERN had discovered a new system of five particles, which solves the answers for multistage
Quarks and the composition of Baryons.
India signed the Kigali Agreement in 2016 to phase out another refrigerant, Hydroflurocarbon (HFC),
an alternative currently used to HCFC in refrigerants.
Worlds first green fluorescent frog was discovered in Argentina. Moreover, first time it is being reported in
amphibians It gives muted palette of green, yellow and red color under normal light but gives off a bright blue
53
and green glow under dark condition due to the presence of Hyolin molecules. The ability to absorb light at
short wavelength and re-emit at longer wavelengths is called as fluorescence.
Sahayaks are the combatants who provide support to officers and Junior Commissioned Officers (JCO) in
the army when serving with units or HQ functioning on war establishments.
Goggle for Blind (G4B) uses ultrasound and infrared sensors to help visually impaired to detect their
obstacles in their path.
M-SIPS scheme aims to provide a special incentive package to promote large scale manufacturing in the
ESDM sector to boost domestic electronic product manufacturing and also addresses Net Zero imports in
electronics by 2020.
Ek Kadam Unnati Ki Aur a joint initiative of Intel India and Central Government to create blueprint for
the digitization of rural India.
CSIR-CSIO, Chandigarh had developed the advanced reading machine for the visually impaired named as
Divya Nayan. Its a kind of Portable Reading Machine which is based on the principle of contact scanning
of a printed document and converting it into speech.
Stubble burning is the deliberate setting fire of the straw stubble that remains after wheat and other grains
have been harvested.
Hypoxic zones or dead zones are the areas in the ocean of such low oxygen concentration that animal life
suffocates and dies.
Allelopathy is a biological phenomenon by which an organism produces one or more biochemicals that
influence the germination, growth, survival and reproduction of other organisms.
VAHAN and SARATHI platforms aim to create National register for Vehicle registration and driving license
respectively.
Nomadic Elephant is the Indo-Mongolia joint Military exercise.
Surya Kiran is the Indo-Nepal joint military exercise.
Al Nagah-II is the India-Oman joint Military exercise
INLCU 51 is the latest indigenously developed surveillance ship of Indian Navy.
Vikrant is the indigenous aircraft carrier which is currently under development.
PHALCON is Airborne Warning And Control System (AWACS) of Israel.
Graphene Oxide is employed to filter salt from the salt water. Graphene is 200 times stronger than steel,
with high thermal stability, elasticity, electrical conductivity and low resistivity.
Recently three new balsam species of plants named after the Toda tribes deity hill as Kawtyy, Nawtty
and Taihmushkuln found in the Nilgiris.
54
Polylactide (PLA) is a biopolymer being touted as a potential alternative to traditional petroleum based
plastics mainly due to its environmental and ecological benefits.
Recognizing the potential and possibilities in the fisheries sector, recently Union ministry of Agriculture and
Farmers welfare had launchedthe Mission Fingerling to unlock the countrys latent potential through
integrated approach.
Hilsa Fish which is otherwise called as Khoka Ilish in Bengal is the first fish variety in our country to
get legal protection that too was given by West Bengal Fisheries department by declaring five Hilsa
sanctuaries on the Hoohly River from Farakka to Sagar.
The recent release of State of Global Air 2017 report, it states that India occupies the first position on
global ranking on premature deaths due to ozone pollution.
Jupiter is the planet which has Great Red Spot and the largest moon of Jupiter is called as Galileans.
ICGS Ayush is an ideal platform for undertaking multifarious close coast missions like surveillance, search
and rescue operations. It has indigenously designed Integrated Bridge System (IBS), Machinery
Control System (MCS) and an indigenously built Gun mount System (GMS) with fire control system.
Indian Navy had inducted the second sailboat INSV Tarini, which will be the all-women crew for
Indian Navy. Tara-Tarini was the traditional patron deity worshipped for safety and success for sailors and
merchants of ancient Odisha.
Recently WHO had launched Global Leprosy Strategy 2016-2020. Where, Leprosy is otherwise called
as Hansens disease, which is caused by Mycobacterium leprae. It involves in affecting the skin and
peripheral nerves.
Poly Chlorinated Biphenyls is the most important material found in E-Waste.
Endemic Night Frogs were recently found in Western Ghats.
Hat Spider with pilose (fine hair) carapace (exterior covering), tapering abdomen with appendages like
tails and spiny legs is found in the Kans forestland of Shivamogga district of Karnataka.
Meladonium is chiefly prescribed to patients suffering from heart and circulatory conditions for
enhancing their physical capacity and mental function. It is also used to cure somach ulcers and eye problems.
Ratan P.Watal committee as set up with an objective to study the introduction of single window system
of payment gateway to accept all types of Digital payments.
*****
8
SAMPLE MCQs
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
b) 1 and 3 only
in
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17
18
19
d) 2 and 3 only
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21
22
23
24
25
26
27
Select the correct answer from the codes given

below:
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the above given statements is/are

correct?
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30
8
KEYS
(b) (c) (d)
(b) (d) (d)
(d) (a) (a)
(c) (c) (b)
(a) (d) (c)
(b) (b) (d)
(c) (d) (b)
(c) (d) (d)
(a) (c) (a)
(c) (d) (d)
(d) (c) (b)
(a) (a) (d)
(d) (d) (d)
(d) (b) (c)
(a) (a) (c)
(c) (b) (d)
(b) (d) (c)
(d) (b) (c)
(a) (b) (d)
(b) (c) (a)
(d) (a) (b)
(b) (d) (a)
(c) (c) (a)
(b) (a) (a)
(a) (d) (c)
(b) (a) (a)
(c) (b) (c)
(c) (b) (c)
(d) (a) (d)
(b) (a) (c)
(d) (c) (c)
(d) (c) (b)
(a) (b)
(b) (d)

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A Shankar IAS Academy Initiative

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

TEAM INDUS - INDIAS MOON MISSION

MAGNETOSPHERIC MULTISCALE MISSION (MMS)

EXO MARS TRACE GAS ORBITTER (ETO)

NEW HORIZON MISSION

GREAT OBSERVATORY PROGRAMME

ReSOURCESAT-2A is a follow on mission to its predecessor Resourcesat-1.

Various technologies demonstration includes HEX, SPEX, LEX, REX.

Indias dependence on foreign launch vehicle will be gradually reduced.

It fulfills Indias dream of sending its astronauts into space.

Provide an opportunity for ISRO technology demonstration payloads.

Provide a standard bus for launch on demand services.

Provide an opportunity to carry innovative payloads for Universities / R&D laboratories.

SOUTH ASIA SATELLITE

It is otherwise called as GSAT-9, launched by GSLV-F09.

Its a kind of geosynchronous meteorological cum communication satellite.

It provides services to all the SAARC countries except Pakistan.

LISA PATHFINDER PROJECT

COSMIC PARTICLE ACCELERATOR

CHANDRA X-RAY OBSERVATORY

It was earlier known as Advanced X-ray Astrophysics Facility (AXAF).

INTERNATIONAL DARK SKY RESERVE

ISRO STUDIES RIP TIDE

BLUE STRAGGLER - VAMPIRE STAR PREY

It isparked into a 650 km Lower Earth Orbit by using PSLV-C30.

KOUNOTORI OR WHITE STORK

MOTHER OF ALL BOMBS

FATHER OF ALL BOMBS

Reprocessing and Refabricating waste

Shortage of nuclear reactor fuel

Enforcing non-proliferation of fission materials and weapon technologies.

WATER JET FAST ATTACKING CRAFT

Its a kind of Weapon locating Radar (WLR) developed by DRDO.

All weapon locating radars is also called as Silent theater Radar

Its 50 km coverage provides fast, automatic and accurate location of weapons.

RECCE Mk-I vehicle was developed by VRDE of Ahmednagar.

BALLISTIC MISSILE DEFENCE (BMD)PROGRAMME

SCORPENE CLASS SUBMARINE

It is a multi-mission UAV with day/night operational capability.

The missile is capable to have lock on after launch (LOAL) facility.

CYBER PHYSICAL SYSTEMS

QR Code is a 2D matrix code that contains information on a specific task.

USSD based service being developed for non smartphone users.

High Volume: Every organization generates large amount of data.

High Velocity: Data is generated continuously in a rapid manner.

Huge Veracity: The rate of generation of data is not constant.

BLOCK CHAIN TECHNOLOGY

Data Transmission is done either in a wired mode or in wireless mode.

PRADHAN MANTRI GRAMIN DIGITAL SAKSHARAT ABHIYAN

Thus this uses IT to actively participate in the process of Nation building.

It spreads as attachment to emails, hidden documents, PDFs, Spreadsheets etc

SMART INDIA HACKATHON

ELECTRONIC VOTING MACHINE

M1 Machine: Not compatible with VVPAT system so currently it is not in use.

It is the only indigenously developed Transmissometer of its kind available today.

INTERNATIONAL SMART GRID ACTION NETWORK (ISGAN)

SYNTHETIC NANO ROBOT

It has higher energy density when compared to Nickel cadmium batteries.

It is able to operate at higher voltage when compared to its competitors.

NATIONAL ATLAS AND THEMATIC MAPPING ORGANISATION

The efficacy of bioremediation depends on a number of metal microbe interactions including

ZERO LIQUID DISCHARGE