SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY AFFAIRS FEBRUARY 2015

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY AFFAIRS FEBRUARY 2015

• Science Cities to be set up in six zones across country
  Plans are afoot to set up ‘Science Cities’ in five to six zones across the country in a hub-and-spoke method as part of efforts to have science and technology footprint in every State, according to Union Minister of State for Science and Technology Y.S. Chowdary.
  
  ‘Science City’ would cater to scientific institutions/ labs located in different States in that particular zone. The ‘Science City’ would have the required infrastructure and other facilities, including a convention centre, high-end research laboratories and hotels. It would cater to scientific institutions of States covered by that zone and international researchers could also make use of the available facilities.
  
• Spacewalk on ISS completed
  NASA astronauts at International Space Station (ISS) have successfully completed the first of three spacewalks to create parking spots for Boeing and SpaceX to deliver astronauts to the orbital laboratory. The 6-hour, 41-minute-spacewalk by Expedition 42 astronauts Barry Wilmore and Terry Virts was meant to prepare the ISS for a pair of international docking adapters (IDAs) that will allow future commercial crew vehicles to dock.
  
  They rigged a series of power and data cables at the forward end of the Harmony module and Pressurised Mating Adapter—2 and routed 340 of 360 feet of cable.
  
  The cable routing work is part of a reconfiguration of station systems and modules to accommodate the delivery of new docking adapters that commercial crew vehicles will use later this decade to deliver astronauts to the orbital laboratory.
  
  The spacewalk was the first for Mr. Virts. Mr. Wilmore now has spent 13 hours and 15 minutes in the void of space during two spacewalks.Astronauts have now spent a total of 1,159 hours and 8 minutes conducting space station assembly and maintenance during 185 spacewalks, NASA said.
  
• India home to 18% of world’s raptors
  According to Zoological survey of India, India is home to 106 species of raptors. They are popularly known as ‘birds of prey.’ The publication reveals that more than 18 per cent of the 572 species of raptors spread all over the world can be found in India alone. 
  • There are primarily two kinds of raptors — diurnal (day flying) and nocturnal (night flying).
  • Out of the 333 species of diurnal birds of prey found in the world, 101 species can be found in the Indo-Malayan region.
  • India’s bio-geographical regions support 69 species of kites, vultures, eagles, harriers, hawks, buzzards and falcons in different habitats.
  • Among these raptors, the Indian White-backed Vulture, the Long Billed Vulture, the Slender Billed Vulture, the Red headed Vulture and the Forest Owlet are in the ‘critically endangered’ category, and the Egyptian Vulture and the Saker are in the ‘endangered’ list of the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) ‘Red List.’
  • Some of the interesting and lesser-known species of raptors include Andaman Serpent Eagle and Great Nicobar Serpent Eagle which can only be found in the Andaman and the Great Nicobar islands respectively. Other birds of prey like Amur Falcon, Buffy Fish Owl, Great Spotted Eagle and Chinese Sparrowhawk are also included in the book.
  
  
• Russia planning its own space station
  The Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos) has revealed plans to build an orbiting outpost and land cosmonauts on the moon once the International Space Station (ISS) is mothballed next decade. Roscosmos pledged its support for the ISS until 2024 but outlined plans to disconnect its modules soon after, and use them to build a Russian space station in its place.
  
  The creation of a national space station would ensure that Russia has a base to fly cosmonauts to until it has developed its more ambitious plans to send crews on orbiting missions around the moon and land them on its surface by 2030.
  
  Since Nasa, the U.S. space agency, retired its fleet of space shuttles, Russia has been the only nation able to ferry humans to and from the ISS aboard its Soyuz rockets.
  
  The Russians’ commitment to the ISS was welcomed by some experts, including Chris Hadfield, the Canadian astronaut who covered the David Bowie classic, Space Oddity, from the ISS. “This is excellent news, especially when read between the rhetoric. ISS is a key global symbol,” he tweeted.
  
  Other nations involved in the ISS are yet to give assurances that they will keep funding the space station beyond 2020. Moscow had threatened to pull out by that point, but the economic crisis, driven by low oil prices and Western sanctions over Ukraine, have stymied those plans.
  
• Delhi, Pune Get Mobile App to Check Air Pollution
  India's earth sciences ministry on 17th February launched the country's first air quality mobile application to provide the forecast for air quality and corresponding health advisories in real time. The service is presently for Delhi and Pune.
  
  Available on Android at present, SAFAR-AIR will provide current and one to three day forecast based on a color-coded system indicating air quality, where red would mean "very poor".
  
  Developed by scientists at the Pune-based Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology that had earlier designed country's first air quality forecasting scheme - system for air quality forecasting and research (SAFAR) – The users in Delhi and Pune, the first two cities to get the service, would now be able to plan their personal outdoor activities based on the advisories on the app. SAFAR-AIR was an effort by the government to generate consciousness among people and orient them towards a sustainable lifestyle low on carbon emissions.Delhi would have air quality information and advisories available for five locations - west, east, north, south, and central while it would be four - in Pune.
  
• India successfully test-fires nuclear capable Prithvi-II missile
  India on 19th February successfully conducted user trial of indigenously developed nuclear-capable Prithvi-II surface-to-surface missile, from a test range at Chandipur off Odisha coast. The state-of-the-art missile, which is capable of carrying 500 to 1000 kg of warheads, was test-fired from a mobile launcher in salvo mode from launch pad number 3 of Integrated Test Range (ITR) The launch of the sophisticated missile was conducted as part of operational exercise by the Strategic Force Command (SFC) of the Defence services.
  
  Prithvi-II has a strike range of 350 km and is 8.56 meters in length, 110 cm in girth and weighs 4,600 kg. It is thrusted by liquid propulsion twin engines and uses advanced inertial guidance system with maneuvering trajectory. The Prithvi-II missile, developed by the DRDO, has already inducted into the Indian Armed forces.
  
• CSE report on Indian energy
  A staggering 90 per cent of coal-based thermal power plants in India fare unsatisfactorily on the environmental front, shows a recent analysis. While state-owned power generation companies are among the worst performers, plants owned by private firms have performed better on environmental and energy parameters.
  
  In a report released by the Center for Science and Environment (CSE) on 21st February, the plants rated the best were owned by firms from the private sector. These facilities included CESC’s Budge Budge (West Bengal), JSW Energy’s Torangallu (Karnataka) and three from Maharashtra — Tata Power’s Trombay plant, JSW Energy’s Ratnagiri facility and Reliance Infrastructure’s Dahanu plant. Among the top 10 performers, eight were private companies.
  
  The plants that fared the worst were Jharkhand State Electricity Board’s Patratu, Uttar Pradesh Rajya Vidyut Utpadan Nigam’s Obra, Damodar Valley Corporation’s Bokaro B, Tenughat Vidyut Nigam’s Lalpania and Karnataka Power Corporation’s Raichur facilities.
  
  National Thermal Power Corporation, India’s largest power producing company, was among the worst performers, with scores of 16-28 per cent for six of its plants that the CSE rated. The analysis and ratings of the firms were conducted through a green rating project, initiated by the CSE in 1997. For this, it examined 47 thermal power plants from 2010-11 to 2012-13. These plants, accounting for 55 per cent of the total power generation capacity, were rated on the basis of parameters such as resource-efficiency (land, water and energy), pollution (water, solid waste and air) and compliance.
  
  The average score of the thermal power sector stood at 23 per cent, compared to a score of more than 80 per cent for any plant following best practices. About 40 per cent of the power plants monitored by the CSE had very low ratings (less than 20 per cent), as these were found non-compliant and had “poor performance and management practices”.
  
  More than half of these plants were violating air pollution norms and the units were withdrawing “half of India’s domestic water needs” annually (22 billion cubic metres).
  
  The CSE said though most of its environmental indicators were being noted by monitoring agencies, no action was taken against them. The CSE said India's energy policy should move away from thermal power generation and seek to improve the low power load factor of coal-based plants. It recommended the closure of old or inefficient plants and rationalization of the process of securing environmental clearances.
  
• India to deploy global calculator to study climate impact
  India will deploy a global calculator, similar to those launched in London and Beijing. It is to calculate climate impact scenarios in their territories. Some have already developed the calculator and others are in the process of creating their own versions of it.
  
  The calculator could illustrate climate impacts based on different choices and was linked to the latest, according to Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)
  
  The idea was to introduce three main principles in calculating the impacts of climate change: transparency, collaboration and simplicity. The calculator could look at transport efficiency, renewable energy, crop yields and forests, but the world obviously needed to change the way it powered its lifestyle.
  
  A newer version of the Indian Energy Security Scenarios (IESS) would be out soon. The tool was an improved version, which looked at all options in India, including emissions while calculating scenarios.
  
  Colombia had developed a country calculator to present its Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDC) later this year before the climate change talks at Paris. The calculator allowed for the use of temperature as a factor, but could not, however, make calculations based on how much developed countries needed to do or pay.
  
• North Korea fires short range missiles
  North Korea test-fired five short-range missiles into the sea on 8th February in its second such weapons test this year, a South Korean defense official said, amid dimming prospects for the resumption of high-level talks between the rival countries.
  
  The missiles, fired from a North Korean coastal town, flew about 200 kilometers (125 miles) before landing in waters off the country's east coast, a South Korean Defense Ministry official said on condition of anonymity, citing department rules.
  
  North Korea routinely tests missiles, rockets and artillery, but the latest launches came with the two Koreas at odds over terms for a possible summit meeting between their leaders. The two countries last month floated the idea of the summit, which would be the third such meeting since they were divided 70 years ago.
  
• Sailing vessel Mhadei logs 1, 00,000 miles
  Indian Navy Sailing Vessel Mhadei has sailed 1,00,000 nautical miles, a major feat for a sail boat used for adventure and training. Commander Dilip Donde became the first Indian to accomplish a solo circumnavigation around the globe in a sail boat. He set sail from Mumbai on August 19, 2009 and returned on May 19, 2010 with four halts.
  
  Later, in April 2013, Lt. Commander Abhilash Tomy completed the first unassisted, non-stop, solo circumnavigation by an Indian in a sail boat. INSV Mhadei with five sails and weighing 23 tonnes was built by Aquarius Fiberglas Pvt Ltd. in Goa and delivered to the Indian Navy in 2009.
  
• Brahmos test fired
  The Brahmos test launch on 14th February was flawless and the missile met all its designed parameters .The Indian Navy commissioned INS Kolkata August 16, 2014. This is the first ship of this class, with two more in the pipeline.
  
  All the three ships will be equipped with the vertical-launched BrahMos system as the prime strike weapon. The Universal Vertical Launcher Module (UVLM) being used in these has a unique design, developed and patented by BrahMos Aerospace. The UVLM has the benefits of stealth and permits launching of the missile vertically in any direction.
  
• UN agrees draft text for Paris climate summit
  UN climate talks in Geneva have ended with agreement on a formal draft negotiating text for the summit in Paris in December. The document, which runs to 86 pages, builds on negotiations in Peru last year. The Swiss meeting set out to create a draft for consideration at the Paris talks. The aim is to have a new global climate agreement in place by the end of 2015.
  
  The latest climate talks, which started on 8th February ended on 13th February, focused on finalizing a draft negotiating text for the Paris summit. The six-day conference in the Swiss city was the first formal gathering since the Lima climate summit in December
  
  On 13th February the Geneva Climate Change talks, countries agreed on a negotiating text for the 2015 agreement. Responding to the new draft text, Julie Ann Richards of the Climate Justice Program said there is a new breath of optimism for an ambitious climate agreement in Paris and there is also ownership by countries. The text has got bulkier in the latest round of talks and gone up to 140 pages. It was important to scale up financial support and ensure a high level meeting for loss and damage.
  
  The important thing is that there are enough good options in the text including a call to end fossil fuel emissions which were promising, she added. The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC) issued a statement saying that a key milestone towards a new, universal agreement on climate change was reached in Geneva following seven days of negotiations by over 190 nations. The agreement is set to be reached in Paris at the end of 2015 and will come into effect in 2020.
  
  Formal work and negotiations on the text will continue at the Climate Change Conference in Bonn in June with two further formal sessions planned for later in the year including in October, the UNFCCC said. Governments are expected to submit their national plans by an informal deadline of the period from March to June. China, the United States and the European Union have already given an indication of their plans.
  
  The UN seeks to limit the increase of the average global surface temperature to no more than 2C (3.6F) compared with pre-industrial levels, to avoid "dangerous" climate change. But scientists warn the Earth is on track for double that target. The World Meteorological Organization confirmed this month that 2014 had been the hottest year on record, part of a continuing trend. Fourteen out of the 15 hottest years have been this century. The UNFCCC, based in Bonn, Germany, has 196 parties - including virtually all of the world's nations - and grew from the 1997 Kyoto Protocol for cutting greenhouse gases. The next meeting will be held in Bonn in June.
  
• 3-D vaccine against cancer, infectious diseases
  NIBIB-funded researchers have developed a novel 3D vaccine that could provide a more effective way to harness the immune system to fight cancer as well as infectious diseases. The vaccine spontaneously assembles into a scaffold once injected under the skin and is capable of recruiting, housing, and manipulating immune cells to generate a powerful immune response. The vaccine was recently found to be effective in delaying tumor growth in mice.
  
• NIBIB
  The National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB) is the newest of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) research institutes and centers and was formed in the United States when President Bill Clinton signed it into law on December 29, 2000.
  
• New NFC tech to treat uranium ore impurities
  In a bid to treat impurities of uranium ore from Tummalapally deposits, an innovative and cost-effective technology has been developed by the Nuclear Fuel Complex (NFC) to produce consistent quality of uranium oxide powder, which is used to make fuel bundles of Pressurized Heavy Water Reactors (PHWRs).
  
  Tummalapally and its neighboring village Kannampally in YSR Kadapa district where huge uranium deposits were found, would be the mainstay for power production of the PHWRs in the country in future. It is estimated that two lakh tones of uranium deposits are there. They are one of the best deposits in the world in terms of quantity.
  
  The uranium ore mined from Tummalapally contains large quantities of carbonates and acid insolubles due to which the solvent was getting contaminated and it was not possible to produce pure uranium oxide powder. To convert it into nuclear grade material, NFC developed an innovative technology.
  
  The NFC was currently supplying 650-700 tones of fuel assemblies to 20 nuclear power reactors in the country, including 18 PHWRS and two BWRs (Boiling Water Reactors).
  
  There was no increase in manpower even though the production went up by three to four times. Another vital technology was the development of hi-tech seamless tubes for use in Advanced Ultra Super Critical Boilers which were being made by the NTPC, IGCAR and BHEL for thermal power generation. These tubes would facilitate operation of the boilers at high pressure and temperature and improve thermal efficiency by 28 to 47 per cent.
  
• LCA navy 2nd prototype makes debut flight
  LCA-NP2, the second prototype of the Navy version of the Light Combat Aircraft, flew for the first time on 7th February. It took off from the Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd runway and flew for about 35 minutes, said HAL, the production partner in the indigenous fighter programme.
  
  HAL Chairman T. Suvarna Raju said a main contribution in it was the new and complex landing gear designed for NP-2 by engineers of the Aircraft Research and Design Centre. Navy test pilot Captain Shivnath Dahiya of the National Flight Test Centre flew the NP-2. The chase aircraft cover was provided by a limited series production aircraft (LSP2) piloted by retd. Gp.Capt. Suneet Krishna.
  
• North Korea test-fires new anti-ship cruise missile
  North Korea has test-fired a new anti-ship cruise missile, according to images released by state media on 7th February showed, demonstrating the increased capability of the secretive state's outdated navy.
  
  The images were released in the lead-up to U.S.-South Korean military exercises this spring. North Korea routinely seeks to raise tensions ahead of the annual drills, although this year Pyongyang has also offered to suspend nuclear testing if Washington calls off the exercises.
  
  The images, which were shown on the front page of the ruling Workers' Party Rodong Sinmun newspaper, showed leader Kim Jong Un observing the missile being fired from a small naval vessel.
  
  The missile appeared identical in design to a Russian anti-ship missile, the KH-35, which is capable of flying at high speeds meters above the sea. North Korea has increased the number of air and naval military drills in recent weeks, ahead of the annual U.S.-South Korean military exercises on the Korean peninsula.