SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY AFFAIRS JUNE 2013

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY AFFAIRS JUNE 2013

• NASA launched a satellite on 27 June, on a mission to explore a little-studied region of the sun and to better forecast space weather that can disrupt communications systems on Earth. Unlike a traditional liftoff, the Iris satellite rode into Earth orbit on a Pegasus rocket dropped from an airplane that took off around sunset from the Vandenberg Air Force Base on California's central coast.
  
• The 7-foot (2.1-meter) long Iris, weighing 400 pounds (180 kilograms), carries an ultraviolet telescope that can take high-resolution images every few seconds. Unlike NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory, which observes the entire sun, Iris will focus on a little-explored region that lies between the surface and the corona, the glowing white ring that's visible during eclipses. The goal is to learn more about how this mysterious region drives solar wind a stream of charged particles spewing from the sun and to better predict space weather that can disrupt communications signals on Earth.
  
• In tune with its operational drive to turn "stealthy" because surprise and deception are crucial in modern-day warfare, the Navy inducted its latest guided-missile stealth frigate INS Trikand on 29 June. INS Trikand is the last of the six stealth frigates ordered from Russia. The Navy had earlier inducted three 4,000-tonne Talwar-class stealth frigates ( Talwar, Trishul and Tabar) from Russia in 2003-2004.
  
• Then, impressed by the punch the frigates packed, India ordered another three (Teg, Tarkash and Trikand) under a $1.15 billion contract inked in 2006.On 29 june, Navy Vice Chief Vice Admiral R.K. Dhowan commissioned INS Trikand at a ceremony at Kaliningrad in Russia, which was also attended by the Indian ambassador Ajai Malhotra and other top Indian and Russian officials.
  
• India, of course, is also building its own stealth frigates. Three Shivalik-class frigates, built at Mazagon Docks (MDL), have already been inducted by the Navy. Then, there is an over Rs. 50,000 crore plan on the anvil to construct seven advanced stealth frigates, with all weapon and missile systems under the hull for a lower radar "signature", in a programme called Project-17A.The project will be shared between MDL at Mumbai and Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers (GRSE) at Kolkata.
  
• The Union Cabinet on 28th June, gave its approval to the proposal for the GSAT-15 communication satellite project along with procurement of launch services and insurance. The building of the GSAT-15 is part of the Indian Research Organisation’s (ISRO) efforts towards in-orbit spare capacity to meet contingency and to protect the services of existing users.
  
• The satellite will provide required redundant capacity, will augment capacity in the Ku band, and shall provide in-orbit redundant requirement of safety of life operations benefitting civil aviation services in the country. Nine operational INSAT/GSAT satellites are currently providing different frequency bands to nearly 195 transponders.
  
• The GSAT-15 satellite will cover the entire Indian mainland. Total cost involved in the project is Rs.859.5 crore including launch services. The Union Cabinet also gave its approval to the proposal for the GSAT-16 communication satellite project along with procurement of launch services and insurance.
  
• The project will meet contingency requirements, protect services of existing users and will augment and support existing telecommunication, television, VSAT and other satellite based services in the country. Nine operational INSAT/GSAT satellites are currently providing different frequency bands to nearly 195 transponders. The total cost involved in the project is Rs.865.50 crore including launch services.
  
• Tianhe-2 (Milky Way-2), the 33.86 Peta FLOP supercomputer of the China, emerged as the fastest super computer on the Earth. It was placed in service ahead of schedule in 2013 after it had been expected to be completed in 2015.
  
• According to the TOP 500 list for June 2013, Tianhe-2 is the faster super computer.It is housed at the National Supercomputing Center in Guangzhou (NSCC-GZ) and was designed and developed by the National University of Defense Technology (NUDT) and by Inspur. Resource management is based on Simple Linux Utility for Resource Management (SLURM).Another unique features of Tianhe-2 is a custom-built interconnection network, which routes data across the system
  
• The Scientists from University of Nottingham in UK, in June 2013 discovered a new layer in the Cornea and named it Dua’s Layer after the name of an Indian Researcher, the person responsible for the discovery. The new layer has been named after the name of the professor Harminder Dua. This discovery can help the surgeons to improve the results of treatment of patients who undergo corneal grafts and transplants. Earlier scientists believed that the cornea consists of five layers namely Descemet's Membrane Corneal Epithelium, Corneal Stroma, Bowman's Layer and Corneal Endothelium. The newly discovered layer is located between the Corneal Stroma and Descemet's membrane. Cornea is a protective lens in the eyes that allows light to enter into the eyes.
  
• The Unesco has designated India's Nicobar Islands as a world biosphere reserve under its Man and the Biosphere Programme, on 30 May. Member countries establish such reserves and the world body recognizes them under the programme to promote sustainable development based on local community efforts and sound science.
  
• They are considered as sites of excellence, where new and optimal practices to manage nature and human activities are tested and demonstrated. The island chain, home to 1,800 animal species and some of the world's most endangered tribes, was among 12 new sites added to the global network of biosphere reserves in Paris on Thursday. Such reserves are located in 117 countries and nine of them are now located in India. Other sites added to the list include Pakistan's Ziarat Juniper forest and China's Snake Island.
  
• Nation’s highest Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK) will be set up at Nyoma, Leh district of Jammu & Kashmir at a height of about 14,000 feet. The Nyoma Krishi Vigyan Kendra is likely to bring about substantial change in the lives of people of nearby areas who are mostly nomads and rear pashmina goats. This region is extremely cold and dry and therefore, it is a challenge to promote stable agriculture there. The KVK will seek to improve fodder production, provide health care to the roaming animals, introduce vegetable production under protected environment and impart training to women on animal care, etc.
  
• Japan on 5th June 2013 conducted the first successful test of new generation L0 Series Trains (maglev bullet trains)designed to travel at speeds of 311 mph. These trains are lashed with latest magnetic levitation technology (maglev) instead of the conventional wheels. The commercial services of this series of trains will start in 2027. The LO Series Trains are designed by Central Japan Railway Co (JR Tokai), and in its first phase will link central Tokyo with Nagoya station and cut the current time of journey by bullet train by more than half, from 90 to 40 minutes. The lines will be extended up to Osaka by 2045 as Japan is into the plan of creating a high-speed mass transit maglev network across the country. The train will have 16 carriages and will carry up to 1000 passengers at a time.
  
• In 1964, Japan unveiled its first bullet train named Shinkansen to coincide with its hosting of the Olympic Games. At present, Japan is the home of World’s most sophisticated rail network. The central line in Japan, Tokaido Shinkansen is the world’s busiest high-speed rail and it carries about 151 million passengers each year.
  
• The Department of Space on 2nd June established an endowed fellowship at the Graduate Aerospace Laboratories of the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) in the US. The fellowship has been established in honour of Prof. Satish Dhawan, who was the Chairman of Indian Space Research Organization during its formative period 1972-1984. “The fellowship provides an excellent opportunity every year starting from the winter session of the academic year 2013-14 to one meritorious graduating student from the Aerospace Department of the Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology, Thiruvananthapuram to be sponsored by the Department of Space, to pursue Masters in Aerospace Engineering at Caltech”, ISRO said.
  
• Prof. Dhawan was an alumnus of the Graduate Aerospace Laboratories at Caltech and obtained his PhD in aerospace in 1951. He was serving as Distinguished Visiting Professor during 1971-72 at Caltech, immediately preceding his assumption of the Chairmanship of ISRO in 1972. Prof Dhawan was not only a visionary leader of ISRO but also an internationally recognized researcher and a legendary teacher. He was bestowed with the Distinguished Alumni Award by Caltech in 1969, the highest alumnus honour, according to an ISRO statement. The Government of India honoured Prof. Dhawan by awarding him Padma Vibhushan in 1981.