SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY AFFAIRS JULY 2011

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY AFFAIRS JULY 2011

• Gujarat would house the largest solar energy park in Asia in two years with a power production capacity of 500 Mw. This would be set up with an investment of around Rs 8,000 crore flowing from companies such as GMR and Lanco, which have been assigned generation capacities under the Gujarat Solar Mission. The park, on the lines of an industrial estate, is being developed by Gujarat Power Corporation Ltd (GCPL), as the sectoral nodal agency, on around 2,000 hectares of wasteland bordering the Rann of Kutch, in Patan district. When commissioned, the project would provide 800 million units of power.
  
• India on July 25 signed a civil nuclear cooperation deal with South Korea, allowing a framework for Korean companies to participate in atomic power plant projects in the country. The agreement was signed after a meeting between President Pratibha Patil with her South Korean counterpart Lee Myung-Bak. South Korea has become the ninth country, which had signed nuclear agreement with India after it got the waiver from the Nuclear Suppliers’ Group (NSG) in 2008.
  
• India registered a 20 per cent increase in tiger population in 2010, according to a report released on 28 July 2011 by Ministry of Environment and Forests. The report stated that the estimated population of 1,706 individual tigers represents a 20 per cent increase from the last survey in 2006, which estimated a number of 1,411 tigers. The assessment of tigers included 17 States with tiger population. The increase in the numbers happened because of the tiger populations in Uttarakhand, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra and Karnataka have shown an increase in their density. However, the report warned that tigers are still in danger due to an overall 12.6 per cent loss of habitat.
  
• The national green tribunal ordered Himachal Pradesh Power Corporation Ltd (HPPCL) to stop all construction work related tothe Renuka Dam project. The dam on the Giri River will offer a storage capacity of 542 million cubic metres of water and an installed power capacity of 40 MW. The proposed Renuka Dam Project is one of the largest projects in the backward district of Sirmour in Himachal Pradesh. The state governments of Himachal Pradesh, Delhi, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan signed a Memorandum of Understanding on 12 May, 1994 for the utilization and allocation of the waters of the Upper Yamuna . As a part of this agreement, a storage dam was to be constructed across Giri river, a tributary of the Yamuna, at Renukaji in Sirmour district of Himachal Pradesh. The ministry of environment and forests canceled Forest clearance to the project in October 2010. The assessment report mentions that about 308 families will be displaced and about 37 villages will be impacted because of the Renuka Dam project.
  
• A team of Scientists led by Paul Hartogh of Max Planck Institutefor Solar System Research recently solved a 14-year mystery by discovering the source of the water in Saturn’s upper atmosphere. The scientists discovered that giant jets of vapour from the planet’s moon Enceladus is responsible for Saturn’s water. Enceladus is Saturn’s sixth largest moon and it is covered with ice and is providing water to Saturn.
  
• Construction work on two more units of 700 MW each at the Rajasthan Atomic Power Station (RAPS) was inaugurated by Atomic Energy Commission Chairman Srikumar Banerjee. During the inauguration, Banerjee mentioned that exploratory works unveiled uranium deposits at another site, Tummalapalle spread over 35 km. At present, the country is estimated to have a total reserve of about 175000 tonnes of uranium. The findings are deemed as a major development.
  
• DRDO successfully flight tested its latest surface to surface Missile `PRAHAAR’ from Launch Complex III, off Chandipur Coast, ITR, Balasore, Orissa. The Missile has a range of 150 kms. The Missile is capable of carrying different types of warheads, operates as battlefield support system to the Indian Army. It is equipped with state of the art high accuracy navigation, guidance and electro mechanical actuation systems. The Missile system is developed to provide Indian Army a cost effective, quick reaction, all weather, all terrain, high accurate battlefield support tactical system. The development of Missile was carried out by the DRDO Scientists in a short span of less than two years.
  
• ITC’s luxury hotels was accorded the highest rating (Platinum Rating) of greenest luxury hotel chain in the World for their environment-friendly efforts. The rating was given by US Green Building Council (USGBC). ITC hotels are energy efficient and utilise renewable energy.
  
• The Oldest commissioned ship of the Indian navy, Sharabh was decommissioned on 14 July 2011 after 35 years of service. INS Sharabh was commissioned in January 1976 at Gdynia, Poland.
  
• Neptune the eighth planet of the solar system completed its first orbit around the sun on 12 July 2011, 165 years after its discovery. Neptune is also the farthest planet from Sun. It was discovered by German astronomer Johann Galle on 23 September 1846. Neptune is blue-green in colour and it was named after Roman God of Sea. Neptune completes one revolution every 165 years.
  
• Doctors in Spain performed the world’s first double-leg transplant,giving two new legs to a man whose legs were severed in an accident. The man lost both of his legs above the knee in an accident and the attempts to fit him with artificial limbs were not successful. Pedro Cavadas of La Fe hospital in Valencia performed the operation. He is the first doctor in the world to successfully transplant a jaw and a new tongue while doing a face transplant.
  
• India on July 15 successfully launched its latest, 1410 kg communication satellite GSAT-12 onboard a powerful Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, PSLV-C17, from Sriharikota. It is the 18th successful mission in a row for ISRO. GSAT-12 was injected into an elliptical Transfer Orbit of 284 km perigee (closest point to Earth) and 21,000 km apogee (farthest point to Earth). Subsequently, the onboard Liquid Apogee Motor would be used to place the satellite in a circular orbit. GSAT-12, aimed at augmenting the capacity in the INSAT system for various communication services like tele-education, tele-medicine and Village Resource Centres, would be co-located with INSAT-2E and INSAT-4A satellites. This was the second time in its 19 flights that the PSLV has been used for launching a communication satellite after Kalpana-1 in 2002.
  
• Giant glider-like aircraft completed the first night flight propelled only by solar energy on July 7th.Solar Impulse, whose wingspan is the same as an Airbus A340, flew 26 hours and 9 minutes, powered only by solar energy stored during the day. It was also the longest and highest flight in the history of solar aviation. The plane, which has 12,000 solar cells built into its 64.3-metre wings, is a prototype for an aircraft that its creators hope will carry out its first circum-navigation of the globe from 2012.Bertrand Piccard, the Swiss president of the project, best known for completing the first round-the-world flight in a hot air balloon in 1999, said the success of the flight showed the potential of renewable energies and clean technology.
  
• The Union government unveiled a new remote sensing data policy called the Remote Sensing Data Policy 2011(RSDP2011) which allows all data of resolutions up to 1 metre to be distributed on a non-discriminatory basis. The new policy replaced the 2001 policy. Apart from opening up the remote sensing sector, the RSDP 2011 will remove restrictions to facilitate more users to get high resolution data for developmental activities. Restrictions as per the earlier 2001 policy, was removed. Now there is no bar on publishing of high resolution, remote sensing data of up to one metre resolution.
  
• After 134 flights over three decades, The space shuttle Atlantis’ voyage will close when the final space fly to International Space Station(ISS) from Florida’s Kennedy Space Centre on July 8.The shuttle began its long-career in the 1970s as a successor to the Apollo moon craft and was designed to be the first reusable space craft. The maiden flight in April 1981 by astronauts John Young and Robert Crippen aboard shuttle Columbia formally ushered in the new era with a two-day, six-hour mission and 36 orbits of Earth. Since then, shuttles have flown more than 800 million kilometres -- more than the distance between Earth and Jupiter -- and brought more than 350 people into orbit, launched crucial satellites, ushered in a new era of cooperation in space and built the International Space Station.

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY AFFAIRS JUNE 2011

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY AFFAIRS JUNE 2011

• A 50-MW wind power project is to be set up in Tamil Nadu by April 2012. The project is to be set up by the subsidiary of Suryachakra Power Corporation Ltd, Suryachakra Green Power Pvt Ltd. Suryachakra Power Corporation Ltd entered into a memorandum of understanding with Winwind Power Energy Private Ltd (WPEPL) to set up 250 MW-capacity at Dharapuram in Tamil Nadu.WPEPL use agriculture waste, comprising output from sugarcane mills to fire the plants. 
• The Scientists on 5 June 2011 discovered a werewolf gene which causes hair to grow all over the body. The discovery could provide a remedy for baldness. According to the Scientists, a genetic fault is behind a rare condition called hyper-trichosis also known as werewolf syndrome, where thick hair covers the face and upper body. Based on this finding, Scientists could use drugs to trigger a similar gene mutation in people to cause hair grow on bald patches.It should be noted that Werewolf syndrome is ery rare, in the past 300 years only 50 cases were recorded. Thick hair similar to wolf grows on upper part of the body and face of a human being under this syndrome. 
• The World Environment Day is anually observed on 5 June. The theme of 2011 World Environment Day (WED) was Forests: Nature at your service. The 2011 WED theme explores the intrinsic link between quality of life and the health of forests and forest ecosystems. The WED theme also supports this year's UN International Year of Forests. The United Nations has also announced 2011 as International Year of Forests. The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) announced India to be the global host of World Environment Day 2011. 
• Prithvi-II missile was successfully flight-tested on 9 June 2011 by the Strategic Forces Command personnel. It was flight-tested at the Integrated Test Range at Chandipur in Orissa. Prithvi-II is nine metres tall. Its range is 350 kilometre. Prithvi-II is the first indigenously built surface-to-surface strategic missile. Prithvi-II is capable of carrying nuclear weapons and can carry payloads ranging from 500 to 1000 kg. It could be launched anywhere and it is equipped with a high accuracy navigation system. 
• The Spices Board on 5 June 2011 launched a campaign to educate farmers, traders and exporters about aflatoxin, a naturally occurring toxin that degrades spices exported from India. The campaign was launched following rapid alerts issued by the European Union against aflatoxin in nutmeg and mace exported from India.Nutmeg and mace are important spices that find wide application in food industry and medicine, and hence monitoring their quality is of utmost importance. Countries from the EU and West Asia, and South Africa and Japan import large quantities of these products in the raw form and as value-added spice oils and oleoresins.The board launched a nationwide publicity campaign to create awareness on the need to get rid of the toxin. Exporters, scientists from the Indian Institute of Spices Research and Kerala Agricultural University, the board, and educated farmers will address the campaign meetings. In the meetings the major nutmeg- and mace-growing regions of Kerala, Konkan coast and Raigad district of Maharashtra will be focussed upon. 
• A new report released by the International Energy Agency on 5 June 2011 stated that despite 20 years of effort, greenhouse gas emissions are increasing instead of decreasing. The IEA report revealed that energy-related carbon emissions topped 30 gigatons in 2010 which is 5 percent more than the previous record in 2008. If the emission increases further, it could lead to catastrophic climate shifts affecting global agriculture and water supplies. Moreover, it will set off more frequent and fierce storms besides causing an increase in sea levels that would endanger coastlines.The IEA report was released ahead of the Bonn summit to debate a new global warming accord taking place from 6 June to 17 June 2011. It should be noted that the World Environment Day is celebrated on 5 June 2011 every year. 
• The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) announced on 1 June 2011 its decision to launch its communication satellite, GSAT-12 in the second week of July 2011. ISRO in May 2011 successfully launched another communication satellite GSAT-8.The satellite will be launched from Sriharikota on a PSLV C-17 vehicle. GSAT-12, built at a cost of Rs.148 crore, includes 12 transponders in an extended C-Band and will help users in the field of tele-medicine, tele-education, social services, etc. The launch vehicle was expected to cost about Rs.100 crore.
• The environmental agency of Brazil, Ibama gave final approval on 1 June 2011 for a hydroelectric power plant in the Amazon rain forest. Ibama granted a license to the North Energy consortium forthe Belo Monte dam. It would be the world’s third largest dam and it could generate 11200 megawatts of electricity. The total cost to build the dam would be around 17 billion dollars. However, the environment activists opposed the construction of dam on the basis that it would flood a large part of the Xingu River basin, not only affecting local fishing but also forcing tens of thousands of indigenous people from their native lands. Environment activists criticized strongly Brazil’s efforts to protect the Amazon rain forest. In recent months deforestation numbers increased sharply in Brazil.
• The World Bank on 1 June 2011 approved the loan of 1 billion dollars to support India’s efforts to clean up the River Ganga. The total cost of the National Ganga River Basin Project is 1.556 billion dollars. The project will support the National Ganga River Basin Authority (NGRBA) to manage the Ganga clean-up and conservation programme.

• The Department of Atomic Energy (DAE), India on 21 June 2011 signed a memorandum of understanding with Rosatom Nuclear Energy State Corporation, of Russia, for cooperation in the activities to be pursued at the Global Centre for Nuclear Energy Partnership (GCNEP) being set up by the DAE in Haryana. DAE Secretary and Atomic Energy Commission chairman Srikumar Banerjee, and Rosatom Director-General SV. Kirienko, signed the MoU in Vienna.The Global Centre for Nuclear Energy Partnership (GCNEP) is set to be consisted of four schools studying advanced nuclear energy systems, nuclear security, radiological safety, and applications of radio-isotopes and radiation technologies. 
• UNESCO removed the in-danger tag from the Manas National Park, a World Heritage Site in Assam. The tag suffixed to the national park was removed at the 35th session of UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee in Paris that started on 20 June 2011.The in-danger tag was attached to Manas National Park in 1992 it was ravaged due to insurgency and political unrest. The removal of the tag was a huge achievement and recognised the hard work put in by the government and the people, to restore the lost glory of Manas. Manas National Park is a biodiversity hotspot in Northeast India. Mana has a number of additional epithets, including a national park, a tiger reserve, an elephant reserve and a biosphere reserve. It was declared a World Heritage Site in 1985. 
• A 50-MW wind power project is to be set up in Tamil Nadu by April 2012. The project is to be set up by the subsidiary of Suryachakra Power Corporation Ltd, Suryachakra Green Power Pvt Ltd. Suryachakra Power Corporation Ltd entered into a memorandum of understanding with Winwind Power Energy Private Ltd (WPEPL) to set up 250 MW-capacity at Dharapuram in Tamil Nadu.WPEPL use agriculture waste, comprising output from sugarcane mills to fire the plants. 
• The Scientists on 5 June 2011 discovered a werewolf genewhich causes hair to grow all over the body. The discovery could provide a remedy for baldness. According to the Scientists, a genetic fault is behind a rare condition called hyper-trichosis also known as werewolf syndrome, where thick hair covers the face and upper body. Based on this finding, Scientists could use drugs to trigger a similar gene mutation in people to cause hair grow on bald patches.It should be noted that Werewolf syndrome is ery rare, in the past 300 years only 50 cases were recorded. Thick hair similar to wolf grows on upper part of the body and face of a human being under this syndrome. 
• The World Environment Day is anually observed on 5 June. The theme of 2011 World Environment Day (WED) was Forests: Nature at your service. The 2011 WED theme explores the intrinsic link between quality of life and the health of forests and forest ecosystems. The WED theme also supports this year's UN International Year of Forests. The United Nations has also announced 2011 as International Year of Forests. The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) announced India to be the global host of World Environment Day 2011. 
• Prithvi-II missile was successfully flight-tested on 9 June 2011 by the Strategic Forces Command personnel. It was flight-tested at the Integrated Test Range at Chandipur in Orissa. Prithvi-II is nine metres tall. Its range is 350 kilometre. Prithvi-II is the first indigenously built surface-to-surface strategic missile. Prithvi-II is capable of carrying nuclear weapons and can carry payloads ranging from 500 to 1000 kg. It could be launched anywhere and it is equipped with a high accuracy navigation system.
• The Spices Board on 5 June 2011 launched a campaign to educate farmers, traders and exporters about aflatoxin, a naturally occurring toxin that degrades spices exported from India. The campaign was launched following rapid alerts issued by the European Union against aflatoxinin nutmeg and mace exported from India.Nutmeg and mace are important spices that find wide application in food industry and medicine, and hence monitoring their quality is of utmost importance. Countries from the EU and West Asia, and South Africa and Japan import large quantities of these products in the raw form and as value-added spice oils and oleoresins.The board launched a nationwide publicity campaign to create awareness on the need to get rid of the toxin. Exporters, scientists from the Indian Institute of Spices Research and Kerala Agricultural University, the board, and educated farmers will address the campaign meetings. In the meetings the major nutmeg- and mace-growing regions of Kerala, Konkan coast and Raigad district of Maharashtra will be focussed upon. 
• A new report released by the International Energy Agency on 5 June 2011 stated that despite 20 years of effort, greenhouse gas emissions are increasing instead of decreasing. The IEA report revealed that energy-related carbon emissions topped 30 gigatons in 2010 which is 5 percent more than the previous record in 2008. If the emission increases further, it could lead to catastrophic climate shifts affecting global agriculture and water supplies. Moreover, it will set off more frequent and fierce storms besides causing an increase in sea levels that would endanger coastlines.The IEA report was released ahead of the Bonn summit to debate a new global warming accord taking place from 6 June to 17 June 2011. It should be noted that the World Environment Day is celebrated on 5 June 2011 every year. 
• The century’s longest and darkest lunar eclipse has taken place on june 15 night. The awesome spectacle was visible all over the country, including the national capital. The total phase lasted 100 minutes. The last eclipse to exceed this duration was in July 2000. The next such eclipse will only take place in 2141. 
• India's latest warship 'INS Kabra' was on June 08 commissioned at Naval Base in Kochi by Vice Admiral K N Sushil, Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Southern Naval Command. The ship is named after an island in Andaman and Nicobar archipelago. INS Kabra is the eighth of a series built at GRSE. Garden Reach Ship(GRSE), Kolkata.With a top speed of over 35 knots and manoeuvrability offered by her water-jet propulsion, the ship was ideally suited for high-speed interdiction of fast-moving targets and useful in search and rescue operations, he said.INS Kabra complies with the latest regulations of International Maritime Organisation on sea pollution control.

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY AFFAIRS MAY 2011

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY AFFAIRS MAY 2011

• India successfully test fired indigenously developed air-to-air Astra interceptor missile with an 80 km range from Chandipur in Orissa first on 20 May and then again on 21 May 2011. Astra is one of the smallest missiles developed by the DRDO in terms of size and weight. Developed by Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), the Beyond-Visual-Range Air-to-Air missile was test-fired with an objective to study the modifications incorporated in its main frame and flight systems. The missile was test-fired to gauge performance of its motor, propulsion system and the configurations of the vehicle and aero-dynamics performance. 
• Union Environment and Forest Minister Jairam Ramesh on 24 May 2011 launched an elephant conservation programme, Hathi Mere Sathi on lines of the National Tiger Conservation Authority. The objective of the programme is to protect elephants as the mining projects in Central India pose great threat to Elephant corridors especially in the states of Orissa, Chattisgarh and Jharkhand. The Government had in 2010 declared the Elephant as the National Heritage Animal of the country. There are over 26000 elephants in India, out which one third are held in captivity. 
• India's advanced communication satellite GSAT-8 was successfully launched into its geosynchronous transfer orbit by Arianespace's launch vehicle Ariane-5 from Kourou in French Guyana on 21 May 2011. India's GSAT-8 which is the largest and heaviest satellite built by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and its partners was one of the two satellites on the flight. The other, an even heavier satellite weighing five tonnes, was from Singapore and Taiwan. Weighing about 3100 Kg, GSAT-8 is configured to carry 24 high-power transponders and a two channel GPS-aided GEO Augmented Navigation (GAGAN) payload. India's GSAT-8 is the 20th satellite designed and built indigenously by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) to meet this country's requirements for space capacity in communications and broadcasting 
• NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) launched Space Shuttle, Endeavour on 16 May 2011 from the Kennedy Space Centre, Florida for its final mission. The Space Shuttle, Endeavour carried a particle physics experiment to the International Space Station. The particle physics experiment is worth of 2 billion dollars. Once the Endeavour will be set in its orbit, it will deploy its payload, the 7.5-ton Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS). 
• An engineer from the University of Missouri developed a flexible solar sheet that captures more than 90 percent of available light.Today’s solar planes only collect about 20 percent of available light. This new device was developed by using a thin mouldable sheet of small antennas called nantenna. It could harvest the heat from industrial processes and convert it into usable electricity. Within five years the new discovery could be incorporated into roof shingle products, or be custom-made to power vehicles. 
• Gujarat High Court ordered the release of 494 birds held captive in cages. Justice MR Shah passed the order in response to several petitions which raised the issue whether birds have a right to live freely or whether they can be kept in cages. The caged birds were confiscated by police under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960 and under section 12 of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.The Gujarat high court in its judgment stated that it is the fundamental right of the bird to live freely in the open sky. To keep birds in cages is equal to illegal confinement of the birds. 
• The researchers from the University of Toronto Mississauga discovered 47-million-year old fossil of a lizard called Cryptolacerta hassiaca provided the first anatomical evidence that the body shapes of snakes and limbless lizards evolved independently. The fossil of the lizard revealed that amphisbaenians are not closely related to snakes. Instead of they are related to lacertids, a group of limbed lizards from Europe, Asia and Africa. Discovery of this fossil deny the theory that snakes and other burrowing reptiles had a common ancestry. Actually, their body shapes evolved independently. 
• Minister for Environment and Forests Jairam Ramesh declared that the Union government had approved two more tiger reserves in Karnataka. Following the government’s approval, B.R. Hills in Chamarajanagar district and Kudremukh in Chikmagalur district became the 40th and 41st tiger reserves in the country. The minister also observed that shifting of the 700 families living in the Bhadra Wildlife Sanctuary was one of the most successful examples of relocation in the India. 
• The expert group on strategies for low carbon growth submitted its report. The expert group was headed by Kirit Parikh. The expert group was set up in the aftermath of the December 2009 Copenhagen Summit with the objective of suggesting a low carbon growth strategy including sector-specific initiatives. The report by the expert group suggested a possibility of a higher range of emission intensity reduction up to 35% by 2020 over 2005 level. The Parikh expert group found that implementing the existing policies would make sure an emission intensity reduction of almost 25% at growth rate of 8% and a 24% reduction at 9% growth. The expert group further stated that fuel efficiency in transport sector, including the railways, emission cut in industries like steel, oil, cement and gas by adopting new technologies will be the part of a low carbon strategy. 
• The Indian Union Ministry of Environment gave its approval to India’s first Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) specialising in infrastructure development in Himalayan region in Mandi district of Himachal Pradesh. The IIT with 8000 students and 800 faculty members will be spread in an area of 500 hectares in Kamand region of the district. Of this land, 125 hectares will be forestland. 
• The Union Minister of Environment and forests, Jairam Ramesh stated on 6 May 2011 that it had cleared the 400 MW Maheshwar hydroelectric power project on the Narmada River in Madhya Pradesh. The ministry had given stop-work order after it was discovered that the Shree Maheshwar Hydel Power Corporation had failed to implement its resettlement and resettlement programme meant for people living in villages whose homes will be destroyed because of the construction of dam. The Narmada Bachao Andolan had spearheaded the protest against the project. 
• Pig-nosed Turtles are facing extinction threat because of large scale poaching. The demand for tortoise meat is high because people think that it has aphrodisiacal qualities. Pig-nosed turtle is listed on the IUCN red list of threatened species. It was added to the list in 1996.Pig-nosed Turtle weigh over 20 kg and grows to about 70 cm in shell length. The turtle is best adapted to an aquatic lifestyle with the exception of marine turtles. 
• Indian Space Research Organisation(ISRO) unveiled a supercomputer on 2 May 2011, which is to be India's fastest supercomputer in terms of theoretical peak performance of 220 TeraFLOPS (220 Trillion Floating Point Operations per second). The supercomputing facility named as Satish Dhawan Supercomputing Facility is located at Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC), Thiruvananthapuram.The new Graphic Processing Unit (GPU) based supercomputer named SAGA-220 (Supercomputer for Aerospace with GPU Architecture-220 TeraFLOPS) is being used by space scientists for solving complex aerospace problems. The supercomputer SAGA-220 was inaugurated by Dr K Radhakrishnan, Chairman, ISRO at VSSC.SAGA-220 Supercomputer is fully designed and built by Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre using commercially available hardware, open source software components and in house developments. 
• The first American in space, late Alan Shepard, was honoured with his own stamp on 4 May 2011 on the eve of the 50th anniversary of his flight. The success of Shepard's flight had helped lead America to the moon. Shepard later became the fifth man to walk on the moon. He died in 1998 at age 74.The Postal Service dedicated the Forever stamp to commemorate Shepard's suborbital flight on 5 May 1961. He is the first astronaut to be honoured, all by himself, on a stamp. Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin was the first man to go to space and he had defeated Alan Shepard by one month. 
• On 3 May 2011, the Department of the Environment and Forests of India declared of setting up a National Environmental Appraisal and Monitoring Authority (NEAMA) as a part of efforts to bring in institutional reforms and improve environmental governance. As a professional, science-based and autonomous entity tasked with environmental appraisals and monitoring of compliance, NEAMA is planned to mark a major improvement over the prevailing system of the institutional reforms and environmental governance.NEAMA is expected be more effective in addressing conflict of interest issues through separation of the processes of appraisal and approval. The appraised projects look for an approval of the Department of the Environment and Forests of India to ensure the principle of executive accountability. 
• First Ministerial Conference on Healthy Lifestyles and Non-communicable Disease Control was organised in Moscow by World Health Organisation on 28 and 29 April 2011. At the conference mental disorders was included in the non-communicable diseases (NCDs) list at India’s insistence. India achieved a major success on the global platform by pushing for inclusion of mental health in the list of non-communicable diseases. Union Health and Family Welfare Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad led the Indian delegation to Moscow.Mental health as a NCD was adopted in the Moscow Declaration on 29 April 2011. It was agreed that that NCDs such as mental disorders significantly contribute to the global disease burden.

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY AFFAIRS APRIL 2011

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY AFFAIRS APRIL 2011

• Bourn Hall Clinic, the world's first IVF (In-vitro Fertilisation) clinic, has opened a centre at Kochi (Kerala) — the first one outside the United Kingdom. They chose Kerala to begin with because of its high literacy standards and cost affordability coupled with high quality medical community and better health parameters. 
• National Policy for Containment of Antimicrobial Resistance for the first time in the second week of April 2011 put a cap on how much antibiotics should be used into poultry products or seafood. Antibiotic shots are generally given to chickens to make chickens fatter and bigger. Eating these food products can have harmful effect on human beings by causing antibiotic resistance in humans. The policy has enlisted common antibiotics like oxytetracycline, tetracycline, oxolinic acid and trimethoprim to prescribe the tolerance limit for them.According to an estimate, 20 to 50 percent of all antibiotics used in India is inappropriate causing harmful effects on human beings. 
• Nagpur will be promoted as the tiger capital and a gateway to tiger land. New tiger reserves have been approved in Maharashtra at Nagzira-Navegaon and Bor. Another major decision was to decentralise the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) and set up three field offices and the first one would be opened in Nagpur. 
• The PSLV-C16 scored a spectacular success on 20 April by putting three satellites into orbit with precision. It was the PSLV's 17th consecutive successful mission out of the 18 launches from Sriharikota. The Indian Space Research Organisation's (ISRO) Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C16) put three satellites in orbit –
  1. India's 1,206-kg Resourcesat-2,
  2. the Indo-Russian 93-kg Youthsat and
  3. The 106-kg X-Sat from the Nangyang Technological University of Singapore.
  Resourcesat-2 is would be useful in monitoring the earth's resources, including crop yield before harvest, the snow-cover in mountains, the glaciers advancing or the changes in the coastal zones and the urban landscape; locating groundwater; and realigning roads in rural areas.
  
  The Youthsat's three payloads — one from Russia and two from India — would be useful in studying the solar X-ray and gamma ray fluxes, and the influence of the activities in the sun on the upper layers of the earth's atmosphere.
  The X-Sat, Singapore’s first indigenous micro-satellite, is a remote-sensing satellite that can process the images it takes and send more refined images to the ground. 
• The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has asked the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) to build an orbiter that will provide the communication between the soil samples collected from the far side of the moon and the earth. The ISRO would provide an orbiting communicator to the NASA for this mission, scheduled for 2016. Chandrayaan-2 would be put in an orbit around the moon by a Geo-synchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) in 2013 and the project would cost Rs.462 crore. It would be a joint mission with Russia: while the spacecraft and the rover would be built by India, the lander would be from Russia. 
• Union Minister for Environment and forests Jairam Ramesh launched a Bio-remediation technology project in the Buddah Nallah of Ludhiana in Punjab. This is the first and the largest project of environment ministry across India under which bacteria are used for cleaning water bodies. There are five places across India where such Bio-remediation projects have been launched. The project is expected to provide relief to thousands living along the Sutlej River as well as canals off the Harike barrage in Punjab and Rajasthan. Severe disorders among them were reported because of the water pollution. The cost of the project is calculated at 16 crore rupees and this cost will be fully funded by the Union Ministry for Environment and forests, Government of India. 
• The Union Cabinet of India on 20 April 2011 approved the signing of the Nagoya Protocol on Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS) by India. The Nagoya Protocol comprises a plan to protect biodiversity by setting targets for 2020. As per the protocol, nations agreed to make 10 percent of coastal and marine areas and 17 percent of the globe’s land area into protected areas. Earlier, 13 percent of the globe’s land area and 1 percent of coastal and marine areas are into protected areas. Nagoya is a city in Japan. 
• According to a study done by the Scientists at Columbia University, the Antarctic ozone hole caused the series of droughts in Australia. The scientists concluded that the hole shifted wind and rainfall patterns across the Southern Hemisphere. Its effect has been strong over Australia. The scientists did an extensive research over the southward migration of the Southern Hemisphere jet stream. It should be noted that these high altitude winds determine weather patterns in both hemispheres. Ozone depletion is caused by chemical reactions in the stratosphere. The chemical reactions involved substances like Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), used in air-conditioning, aerosol and refrigeration. 
• The amount of compensation being paid to the victims of the use of the pesticide Endosulfan was increased from 300 rupees to 2000 rupees per month in Kerala by the state government in the third week of April 2011. In 2010, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) proposed a nationwide ban on endosulfan. Endosulfan was used in Kasargode on cashew plantations for a considerable time. After various diseases were reported from the district the pesticide Endosulfan was banned. Endosulfan is used in 70 crops like fruits, vegetables and crops. 
• The Conference of Parties to the Stockholm Convention in Geneva on 29 April approved the recommendation for elimination of production and use of Endosulfan and its isomers worldwide, subject to certain exemptions. The decision will not be binding on India unless specifically ratified by the country. However, the Indian delegation to the Convention concurred with the decision after its concerns about exemptions and financial assistance were addressed, The Persistent Organic Pollutants Review Committee to the Convention, which recommended the ban last year, will work with parties and observers to come up with alternatives to Endosulfan. The Convention will also approve financial assistance to developing countries for replacing Endosulfan with alternatives. The conference took the decision after considering the risk profile and risk management evaluation for Endosulfan done by the Review Committee and the exemptions decided upon by contact group on endosulfan and new persistent organic pollutants. Endosulfan is the 22nd chemical to be listed in the Convention. 
• Scientists, in the last week of April 2011, developed a new vaccine named Bapineuzumab jab, which is effective against the Alzheimer’s disease not only in stopping but also reversing the damage caused to the brain due to the disease. The Bapineuzumab jab was discovered to be effective in preventing and reversing the build-up of Amyloid. It will slow down the progress of the disease. Amyloid is the name of the toxic protein that clogs the brain in Alzheimer’s. Moreover, it destroys important connections between cells. The three drug firms namely Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson and Elan Corporation are involved in the making of vaccine. The testing process of the vaccine Bapineuzumap jab is likely to be completed towards the end of 2012. 
• A team of Scientists in the last week of April 2011 led by professors Alice Parker and Chongwu Zhou at the University of Southern California, Viterbi School of Engineering for the first time created a synthetic synapse circuit whose behaviour is very much similar to the function of a brain cell. A synapse is a junction that allows a neuron to pass a chemical or electrical signal to another brain cell or nerve. The Scientists combined circuit design with nanotechnology to address the complex problem of capturing brain function. This Scientific breakthrough could have long term implications from healing serious brain injuries to develop prosthetic nanotechnology. 
• A rapid molecular test kit has been invented to detect both TB and multi-drug resistant TB in just 90 minutes. The study was carried out simultaneously in India’s Christian Medical College and in countries like Peru, South Africa, the Philippines and Uganda. 
• The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said the launch of remote-sensing satellite the ResourceSat-2 has been tentatively scheduled for 10.12 a.m., April 20. The Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C16) will launch the 1,206-kg satellite along with two other satellites — YouthSat and X-Sat — from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota.ResourceSat-2, built by ISRO, is an advanced remote sensing satellite and designed for the study and management of natural resources.YouthSat, weighing 92 kg, is a joint Indo-Russian satellite for stellar and atmospheric studies. X-Sat is a microsatellite for imaging applications built by the Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. The countdown to the launch is expected to begin in the early hours of April 18.
• The Director General of International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) Robert S. Zeigler has said that the institute was discussing with the Indian Council for Agricultural Research (ICAR) the possibility of developing an India specific programme of molecular genetic and breeding for rice. One possibility the Philippines-headquartered IRRI was looking at was the creation of a single centre in Hyderabad. The other was the setting up of a number of institutions which would be coordinated by the IRRI and the ICAR, Mr. Zeigler said in Hyderabad on 9 April on the sidelines of the forty-sixth annual rice research group meeting at the Directorate of Rice Research of ICAR.

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY AFFAIRS MARCH 2011

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY AFFAIRS MARCH 2011

• According to the 2010 tiger census, whose results were declared on 28 March, there are approximately 1,706 tigers in the country, which includes about 70 in the marshes of the Sunderbans, which have never been scientifically surveyed before. The 2006 census had estimated that there were 1,411 tigers, without including any from the Sunderbans. Thus, India's wild tiger population has grown 12 per cent in the last four years. Thirty per cent of the tiger population lives in areas outside the government's reserves, giving conservationists a new challenge in the effort to protect them. Tiger occupancy areas shrunk from 9 million hectares to less than 7.5 million hectares over the last four years, this means that tiger corridors are under severe threat, especially in central India… in Madhya Pradesh and northern Andhra Pradesh. These are the two States that have fared the worst in the census, with tiger populations falling to 213 in Madhya Pradesh and 65 in Andhra Pradesh. The largest number of tigers lives in Karnataka – about 280 – and conservation efforts have been successful in the entire Western Ghats area, with Tamil Nadu and Kerala also seeing good results. While Kaziranga in Assam has 100 tigers, the largest in a single reserve, there are worrying signs from the North Eastern area. These forested hills are capable of supporting far more than the number of tigers that were found in the area, but poaching and the pressure of developmental activities have kept the numbers low. 
• The 20th International World Wide Web conference began in Hyderabad on 28 March, bringing together researchers, technologists, practitioners, and other experts from 50 countries. With the theme ‘Web for all', the conference would discuss the web's future direction and help it become all-inclusive. Being jointly hosted by the International Institutes of Information Technology Bangalore and Hyderabad and the Institute of Information Technology, Mumbai, over 700 delegates were attending the five-day event. The conference would have three key-note speeches by former President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, WWW inventor and director, World Wide Web Consortium, Tim Berners-Lee and Christos H. Papadimitriou, the C. Lester Hogan Professor of Computer Science at UC Berkeley. 
• The U.S. Space Agency on 25 March said, NASA spacecraft Stardust has ended a 12-year run that helped the world better understand comets and plan for future deep space missions. 
• An auroral and unusually big ‘supermoon' was seen lighting up the sky on 19 March , offering a visual treat to an enthusiastic audience of curious sky-gazers.The phenomenon was special, as the moon came closest to the earth in 18 years, becoming the biggest and brightest full moon of the year. The moon was around 14 per cent bigger and 30 per cent brighter than the other full moons.The moon was only 3,56,577 km away. The phenomenon occurred in 1955, 1974, 1992 and 2005. 
• India on 6 March successfully test-fired an Interceptor Missile, which intercepted an incoming ‘enemy' ballistic missile at an altitude of 16 km and pulverised it in “a direct kill.” While the ‘hostile' missile took off at 9.32 a.m. from a launch complex at the Integrated Test Range at Chandipur, Orissa, the interceptor blasted off at 9.37 a.m. from the Wheeler Island, off the Orissa coast. Both the missiles were made by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). The attacker simulated the 600-km range of a ballistic missile and the interceptor sped up at 4.5 Mach. This is the DRDO's sixth interceptor mission, and five have been successful including a hat-trick in the first three. ‘India is next only to the U.S., Russia, France and Israel, which have the BMD capability,” said Dr.Vijay Kumars Sarawat, who is the DRDO Director-General and architect of India's interceptor missile programme. 
• Multinational pharmaceutical drug company MSD, the fully owned subsidiary of Merck & Co, has launched a diarrhoea-prevention vaccine RotaTeq for infants and children in India.RotaTeq is a pentavalent rotavirus vaccine that helps in preventing rotavirus gastroenteritis, a leading cause of severe and life threatening diarrhoea in young children. 
• NASA said the launching of Taurus XL rocket carrying an Earth-observation satellite Glory from Vandenberg air force base in California was failed on 4 February. 
• Scientists at the Central Plantation Crops Research Institute (CPCRI), Kasaragod, have developed an indigenous technology to extract virgin coconut oil from fresh coconut kernels. Oil extracted from fresh coconut kernels is called virgin coconut oil. 
• India has applied to the European Organisation for Nuclear Research (CERN) at Geneva in Switzerland for associate membership. This was stated by CERN official Rudiger Voss on 2 March. Mr. Voss said if India was granted associate membership, Indian researchers would be eligible for jobs at the CERN. Currently, researchers of institutes that collaborate with the CERN can only be deputed there for short periods of time. It will also open the gates for the private sector to the international research organisation. The CERN was established in 1954 by 12 European countries. At present, it has 20 member-States.
• Minister of State for Environment and Forests Jairam Ramesh on 2 March launched the country's first research centre on marine bio-diversity at Jamnagar in the Saurashtra region of Gujarat, for the protection of the fragile coastal eco-system. The National Centre for Marine Bio-diversity (NCBM) would promote different kinds of research activities in respect of coastal and marine eco-systems and would also impart training and education to the youth for maintaining the ecological balance in the fragile coastal areas. The Gujarat port town was selected for the centre because of its closest proximity to the country's only National Marine Park spread over some 200 sq km area in the Gulf of Kutch. Mr. Ramesh said the centre would be his Ministry's first public-private partnership venture with the Reliance Industries, which had a major oil refinery in Jamnagar, sharing the 50 per cent cost of the initial project sanction of Rs. 20 crore.
• NASA's Glory spacecraft is scheduled for launch on March 4. Technical issues with ground support equipment for the Taurus XL launch vehicle led to the scrub of the original Feb. 23 launch attempt. Those issues have been resolved. Data from the Glory mission will allow scientists to better understand how the sun and tiny atmospheric particles called aerosols affect Earth's climate. The Taurus XL also carries the first of NASA's Educational Launch of Nano satellite missions. 
• The Department of Biotechnology (DBT) along with IAVI will soon establish and operate a laboratory in Gurgaon, near New Delhi, to meet one of the biggest challenges of designing and developing an efficacious AIDS vaccine — elicitation of antibodies that are capable of neutralising a broad spectrum of HIV variants found in humans.

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY AFFAIRS FEBRUARY 2011

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY AFFAIRS FEBRUARY 2011

• The Thailand scientists have successfully produced the world's First Dengue Hemorrhagic Fever Vaccine .The Thailand Ministry of Science and Technology has introduced the world's first live attenuated dengue hemorrhagic fever vaccine developed by Thailand researchers Dr Suthee Yoksarn, a lecturer of Mahidol University, together with his team and Chiang Mai University have jointly developed four stereotypes of the live attenuated vaccine. 
• NASA's Oldest and most Journeyed Space Shuttle, Discovery, was poised for launch on 24 February on its Final Mission, wrapping up a near three-decade legacy of orbital travel. When the storied spacecraft lifts off, it will mark the beginning of the end of the United States' space shuttle programme, with Discovery, first of the remaining three shuttles, headed for retirement this year. The closure of the shuttle programme will leave a gaping hole in the American space mission, forcing astronauts to rely on the Russian Soyuz space capsule for transport to the orbiting International Space Station. The shuttle will bring the first humanoid robot to the ISS. The Robonaut 2, or R2, is a joint project of General Motors and NASA and will stay behind when Discovery leaves as a permanent resident of the space station. Discovery first flew in 1984. Final flights for the other two in the fleet — Atlantis and Endeavour — are scheduled for later this year. 
• The defence research and development organization (DRDO) has launched multi-repellent wipes that will be available to the public at large, with India’s trajectory of malaria, dengue and chikungunya epidemics on the rise.
• The defence research and development organization (DRDO) has launched multi-repellent wipes that will be available to the public at large, with India’s trajectory of malaria, dengue and chikungunya epidemics on the rise
• An international scientist team led by Flinders University, U.K. has developed a new mobile technology which is set to improve calls during disasters by allowing the transmission of signals without nearby cell phone towers. 
• NASA's kepler mission has discovered a remarkable planetary system which has 6 planets around a sun-like star called 'kepler-II', including 5 small planets in a tightly packed orbits.Kepler Mission's main goal is to find small, earth size planets in the habitable zones of their stars. 
• Princeton University Engineers have developed a new larger-sensing technology that may allow soldiers to detect hidden bombs form a distance. 
• Indigenous unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) NISHANT has successfully completed a series of trails conducted by the army at chandan range, pokhran. 
• British researchers have developed World's first accurate blood test for Human mad-cow disease (or) creetzfeldt-jacket-disease. 
• The disease affects the brain, and is believed to have passed from cattle to humans through infected food. 
• Scientist operating NASA's kepler planet-hunting satellite reported that they had identified 1235 possible planets orbiting other stars, potentially tripling the number of known planets. 

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY AFFAIRS JANUARY 2011

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY AFFAIRS JANUARY 2011

• In an effort to recover the population of the endangered wild dogs (or) 'dhole', the central zoo authority has selected Indira Gandhi zoological park, visakhapatnam as the Conservation Breeding Centre for wild dogs (or) 'dhole' in the country and vandalur zoo in Chennai as the associate zoo in the pilot project. 
• Astronomers have discovered what they believe is the most distant and ancient galaxy named UDFJ - 39546284 thought to be more than 13 billion years old.
• Australian scientists have developed world's first hack proof software. A small operating system named SEL-4 Microkernel can defend the computer hackers to enter into the hardware.
• A study led by Alexis smith of keel university, Britain discovered an exo-planet has been found to be the hottest planet discovered so far with a record breaking temperature of 3,200° celsius. The planet named WASP-33b is also known as HD/5082.

• International conference on 'Recent Trends in Renewable energy Resources' (ICR2ER-2011) conducted by Indo-German Nachkontakt Association at Indian Institute of Chemical Technology in Hyderabad 
• INS Deepak, an Italian-built fleet tanker, was commissioned into the Navy by Defence Minister A K Antony. 
• In a groundbreaking achievement that could help scientists "build" new biological systems, Princeton University (USA) scientists have constructed for the first time artificial proteins that enable the growth of living cells. 
• India's first indigenously designed and developed Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) 'Tejas', Twenty-seven years after it was conceived, the LCA project progressed further, with Union Defence Minister A.K.Antony handing over the 'Certficate of Release to Service' to the Chief of Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal P.V.Naik. 
• Air temperatures of minus 61.2 degrees Celsius were reported in the settlement of Oimyakon in Russia's republic of Yakutia, known as the cold pole. The record low air temperatures of minus 67.7 degrees Celsius were registered in Oimyakon in 1933. In the 21st century, the lowest temperature was 64.5 degrees below zero. It was registered in 2002 
• The first Partial Solar Eclipse of the year occured on January 4 from 12:10 a.m. to 4:31 p.m. The maximum phase of the eclipse was at 2:21 p.m. The eclipse will be visible in the north-western States. 
• The 98th Indian Science Congress opened at Kattankulathur near Chennai. Dr.Manmohan Singh presented awards of the Indian Science Congress Association (ISCA) to 21 persons. In Three awardees from AP State are Rallapalli Rammurthi, D. Narayana Rao, Allam Appa Rao. Five Nobel laureates-Martine Chalfie, R.Timothy Hunt, Thomas Steitz, Venkata Ramakrishna, and AdaE.Yonath participated in the science congress. 
• The 99th Indian Science Congress will be held in Bhubaneswar from January 3 to 7, 2012. 
• India successfully flight-tested the indigenously developed micro-light Pilotless Target Aircraft 'Lakshya' from Test Range at the Gopalapur Air Defence Guided missiles (ADGM) College campus.

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY AFFAIRS DECEMBER 2010

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY AFFAIRS DECEMBER 2010

• The Geo-Synchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV-F06) launched from Sriharikota ended in a failure after 47 seconds after its flight. GSLV-F006 was carrying communication satellite GSAT-5P. Since 2001, out of seven GSLV satellites four satellites failed including the latest one. The previous satellite launched in April 2010 also failed. 
• India's first indigenously-developed balloon mounted radar was successfully launched from military compound in Agra. The helium-filled aerostat radar can also work in night and has a range of 100 kms. 
• Two nuclear weapons-capable Prithvi-II missiles were tested successfully from Integrated Test Range, Chandipur, Orissa. 
• The last of India's Foxtrot-class submarines, INS Vagli retired after 36 years of service. The retirement of INS Vagli will leave only 14 more submarines for India now. 
• India's indigenous Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) successfully test fired R-73 missile. The test firing took place at INS Hansa naval air base in Goa.

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY AFFAIRS NOVEMBER 2010

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY AFFAIRS NOVEMBER 2010

• The Strategic Forces Command of the Army successfully launched the Agni - 1 with the range of 700 k.m. on Wheeler Island, Orissa. 
• Social Networking site Facebook launches a next-generation online messaging service to include email addresses. Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg said that this service is not email.
• Researchers led by Mickie Bhatia of McMaster University in Canada discovered the way of converting human skin stem cells into blood.

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY AFFAIRS OCTOBER 2010

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY AFFAIRS OCTOBER 2010

• 3rd National seminar on AIDS was started at Hyderabad October 29, 2010. National Aids control board conducted this seminar. 
• NASA plans to send astronauts to Mars - said Mr. Pete Worden, Director of NASA at a Conference in San Francisco. 
• ‘India–Chem 2010’ International Exhibition and Conference was held in Mumbai. Central Chemical and Fertilizers Minister M.K.Alagiri naugurated the conference. 
• Bullet train CRH380 was launched in China and recorded as world’s fastest travelling at 420 Km per hour. The rail links between Shanghai and Hangzhou in china. 
• Over a year after it first embarked on its Swine flu vaccine development program, city-based Biotechnology Major Bharat Biotech has unveiled HNVAC, which it claims is the country’s and developing world’s indigenously developing cell culture H1N1 vaccine. 
• The Directorate of Rice Research (DRR) has organized the First DRR Industry Meet -2010 on Display of DRR technologies and Services at its Premises in Rajendranagar. Representatives from more than 30 Private Companies have participated in the meet. 
• The Chinese moon probe, called Chang'e 2 was launched from the Xichang Space Center in southwestern China's Sichuan province. Chang'e 2 is the second step in China's three-phase Chang'e moon exploration program, which is named after China's mythical moon goddess.

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY AFFAIRS SEPTEMBER 2010

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY AFFAIRS SEPTEMBER 2010

• India test-fired the supersonic BrahMos cruise missile, which has a range of 290 kms, from the Integrated Test Range (ITR) at Chandipur off the Orissa coast. The Brahmos-II, a result of an Indo-Russian joint venture, can be potentially used for surgical strikes, including at terror camps, without causing collateral damage. It can carry conventional warheads up to 300 kg and effectively engage ground targets from an altitude of just 10 metres. The missile can travel at three times the speed of sound. 
• The 13 computer cabinets containing the Tianhe-1, China's first domestically-made petaflop supercomputer, have been installed and it is scheduled to begin system debugging and testing in September, according to the National Supercomputing Center in Tianjin.

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY AFFAIRS AUGUST 2010

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY AFFAIRS AUGUST 2010

Amanjot Singh and Sahil Wadhwa, both students of Ryan International in Rohini(Delhi) discovered the main belt asteroid named 2010 PO24. This is the first time an asteroid has been spotted by any school in the country. 

The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) is building a new test range in Chitradurga district in Karnataka for its aeronautics missions for flight-testing sophisticated unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), air-to-ground weapons, huge parachutes, Light Combat Aircraft Tejas, aerostats and also for testing electronic warfare systems. The DRDO already has an Integrated Test Range (ITR) at Chandipur-on-sea, near Balasore, Orissa, from where different missiles are flight-tested.

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY AFFAIRS JUNE 2010

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY AFFAIRS JUNE 2010

• Andhra Pradesh Governor E.S.L. Narasimhan launched two water jet-propelled fast attack craft, INS Cankarso and INS Kondul for the Indian Navy in Vishakapatnam. 
• The medium range surface-to-surface Prithvi-II ballistic missile capable of carrying nuclear warheads was successfully test-fired from the Integrated Test Range (ITR) at Chandipur, off the Orissa coast. 
• The Cabinet approved a proposal of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) for setting up an academy of scientific and innovative research that will offer instruction and degrees in the frontier areas of science and technology. 
• India launched its first indigenously manufactured anti-influenza vaccine, Vaxiflu-S manufactured by Zydus-Cadila Healthcare that will protect people against the A (H1N1) flu.

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY AFFAIRS MAY 2010

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY AFFAIRS MAY 2010

• The first indigenously built Light Combat Helicopter (LCH), designed and developed by the Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL), made its inaugural flight in Bangalore. 
• Japan successfully launched the H—IIA rocket, a Venus probe from the Tanegashima space centre in southern Japan. 
• The team of scientists from Spain cloned a fighting bull named Got for the first time.
• U.S. geneticist Craig Venter and his team have built the genome of a bacterium and incorporated it into a cell to make what they call the world's first synthetic life form in an experiment that paves the way for designer organisms that are built rather than evolved.
• According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration of America, the year 2010 is turning out to be the warmest ever in recorded history and April was the warmest individual month ever.
• Agni-II surface-to-surface ballistic missile was successfully flight-tested from the Wheeler Island off the Orissa coast. The intermediate range missile can carry nuclear weapons and has a range of more than 2000 km.
• The 3rd inshore patrol vessel of the five series of vessels being built by Hindustan Shipyard Ltd was launched in Vizag. The vessel was named as Rani Durgavati. 
• The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) has set up a committee headed by K. Kasturirangan to study the capability of the National Aerospace Laboratory (NAL) to build civil aircraft.
• Microsoft Corporation launched its latest software Office 2010, SharePoint 2010, Visio 2010 and Project 2010 for business customers, unified productivity experience across computers, web and mobile.
• The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) submitted a proposal to the Union government to set up an Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research that will primarily focus on research on areas that are not taught in regular academic universities.
• According to the Asiatic Lion census-2010, the population of Asiatic Lions in the Gir forest in Gujarat's Saurashtra region, the only abode of the animals in the world, has grown by 13 percent to 411. The last count, taken in 2005, was 359.

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY AFFAIRS APRIL 2010

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY AFFAIRS APRIL 2010

• INS Shivalik, India's first indigenous stealth frigate, was commissioned at Mazagon Dock Limited in Mumbai. 
• According to a report titled ‘Monitoring of Tigers and Prey Animals of Kaziranga National Park,' released by Assam government, the Kaziranga National Park, famous for one-horned rhino, has the highest density of tigers in the world.The density of tigers at Kaziranga is 32.64 tigers per 100 sq.km., the highest in any known tiger habitat.
• The Hubble Space Telescope, named after the astronomer Edwin P. Hubble celebrated the 20th anniversary of its launch on April 24 into low-Earth orbit.
• According to Human Resources Development, the second campus of the prestigious Indian Institute of Science (IISc) is likely to be set up in Anantapur district.
• By a report of the global conservation group WWF, a lung less frog, a frog that flies and a slug that shoots love darts are among 123 new species found in Borneo since 2007.
• Central Rice Research Institute (CRRI), the premier rice research centre of the country here has come up with at least 11 new high-yielding varieties of rice, five of which are exclusively suitable for cultivation in Orissa.
• M.M. Pallam Raju, Union Minister of State for Defence launched the country's first Anti Submarine Warfare Corvette (ASWC) for the Indian Navy at the Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers (GRSE) Limited. 
• Communic Asia 2010, the most established information, communication and technology (ICT) event in Asia, will be held in Singapore from 15 to 18 of June.
• The Discovery space shuttle took off from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, for a 13-day mission aboard the International Space Station (ISS). The shuttle, a multi-purpose logistics module, carries three women-mission specialists — Dorothy Metcalf-Lindenburger, Stephanie Wilson and Naoko Yamazaki. Astronaut Tracy Caldwell Dyson is already at the space station and this mission will mark the first time that four women have been in space at one time.
• India's third indigenous naval destroyer, INS Chennai, built at the Mazagon Docks, was launched by Defence Minister AK Antony's wife Elizabeth. This belongs to Project 15A. Brahmos missile will be attached to this warship.
• The Ministry of Home Affairs sanctioned two new zonal units for the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) at Bangalore and Patna.
• ISRO’S mission to put communication satellite GSAT-4in orbit with Geo-synchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV-D3) suffered a setback with the indigenous cryogenic engine failing to ignite and the vehicle tumbling into the sea. The cryogenic technology is crucial to put heavy satellites in geo-synchronous transfer orbit at an altitude of 36,000 km. ISRO had worked for more than 17 years to develop its own cryogenic engine. The earlier five GSLV flights from 2001 to 2007 were powered by Russian cryogenic engines. 
• Indian scientists announced the first-ever detailed mapping of Mycobacterium tuberculosis. The government's Open Source Drug Discovery (OSDD) initiative released the results of its ‘Connect 2 Decode' (C2D) project to re-annotate the biological and genetic information relating to the Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) genome. 
• The Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) has proposed a National Mission on Monsoon towards developing reliable dynamic models for forecasting the monsoon over the next three to five-year period through a multi-institutional effort. The mission will include aspects of short (up to 3 days) and medium-range (up to a week) predictions as well. 
• The Indian Navy has deployed INS Betwa with an armed helicopter and marine commando team for anti-piracy patrol in the Gulf of Aden. INS Betwa, 16th Indian Navy ship deployed in the area since October 2008, has replaced INS Beas. 

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY AFFAIRS MARCH 2010

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY AFFAIRS MARCH 2010

• Laser Guided Bombs (LGB) were successfully tested from integrated test range, Chandipur, Orissa.
  
• The $10-billion Large Hadron Collider at the European Organization for Nuclear Research, or CERN, made high-energy collisions with proton beams crashing into each other at 7 trillion electron volts (TeV) to reveal about the unanswered questions of particle physics, such as the existence of antimatter and the search for the Higgs boson, a hypothetical particle that scientists theorise gives mass to other particles and thus to other objects and creatures in the universe.
  
• Agni-I ballistic missile, with range of 700-km, was successfully test-fired from the Wheeler Island off the Orissa coast.
  
• The 11-metre long Dhanush, a ship-to-surface and ship-to-ship system and the 8.5-metre-tall Prithvi-II, a surface-to-surface missile were successfully flight-tested. While Dhanush, a naval variant of Prithvi, was launched first from INS Subhadhra, anchored near Balasore, off the coast of Orissa, Prithvi-II was fired a few minutes later from Launch Complex-III at the Integrated Test Range, Chandipur.
  
• The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has developed a diagnostic kit that can detect A(H1N1) virus in an hour. The kit does not need sophisticated instruments and can be used in villages where electricity is not available. It uses a simple technique called real-time loop amplification methodology (RT LAMP) to detect the A(H1N1) virus.
  
• The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs approved a $75 million project to help clean-up four polluted sites in preparation to developing a National Plan for Rehabilitation of Pollution Sites. The ‘Capacity Building for Industrial Pollution Management' project, which is being sponsored by the World Bank, will work on four sites in Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal over the next five years.
  
• The vertical launch of Brahmos missile was successful with the super sonic cruise missile, while lifted off vertically from naval destroyer INS Ranvir, punched a hole in a decommissioned vessel 290 km away in the Bay of Bengal off the Orissa coast. This is the 22nd launch of Brahmos, which has already been inducted into the Army and the Navy.
  
• The state - of - the - art new generation Offshore Patrol Vessel (OPV) - ICGS 'Vishwast' was inducted into the Indian Coast Guard (ICG). 'Vishwast' is an OPV indigenously designed in - house and built by the Goa shipyard limited (GSL).
  
• Iran launched Nasr 1 missilescapable of evading radar and destroying targets up to 1,000 tons in size.
  
• The Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities in Jerusalem began exhibiting the 46-page hand written document of Albert Einstein's ground breaking theory of relativity for the first time.
  
• For the first time anywhere in the world, biotech agriculture giant Monsanto has admitted that insects like pink bollworm pest have developed resistance to its Bt cotton crop.
  
• The Indian Space Research organisation (ISRO) successfully flight - tested new – generation The Advanced Technology Vehicle (ATV - DO1) at the spaceport in Srihari Kota. The ATV - DO1, weighing three tonnes at lift - off, is the heaviest sounding rocket developed by the ISRO.
  
• The demonstration named "Vayu Shakti-2010" by the striker aircraft and helicopter gunships against mock terrorist camps and other support structures was mounted by the IAF at the Pokhran ranges in the Thar Desert, barely 100 km from Pakistan. President Pratibha Patil, the three services chief and the top brass of the IAF witnessed the first everday-and-night fire power demonstration of its kind.

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY AFFAIRS FEBRUARY 2010

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY AFFAIRS FEBRUARY 2010

• The Arctic writer expedition of Indian researchers is expected to leave on March 20; will spend one month at the International Arctic Research Base at Ny-Alesund, Norway. Coordinated by the National Centre for Antarctic and Ocean Research, the expedition’s research areas include phytoplankton productvity and modelling, the ice - binding proteins of algae, the diversity of heterotrophic bacteria and their role in phosphorus cycling in the Arctic water and sediment and atmoshpheric and weather - related aspects of the region.
• A National Bureau of Forest Genetics is to be established in Dehra Dun under the Indian Council for Forest Research and Education to protect India's diminishing forest resources.
• The Environment Ministry has taken a decision to impose a moratorium on the release of the transgenic brinjal hybrid developed by Mahyco, a subsidiary of global seed giant Monsanto.
• The launch of Agni-III, the two - stage, surface-to-surface ballistic missile from the Wheeler Island off Orissa coast was a complete success. V.K.Saraswat, Scientific Adviser to the defence Minister, called it ''a fantastic launch and a hatrick''. Agni - III missile has the longest range in India's arsenal.
• The India Meteorological Department (IMD) declared 2009 the warmest year since 1901.
• The Andhra Pradesh Government has opposed the Commercial release of Bt brinjal, relying on a report submitted by the Vice - Chancellors of two principal agriculture institutions - Acharya N.G. Ranga Agricultural University and AP Horticulture University.
  Bt brinjal is a genetically - modified variety developed by Majesco by inserting a gene from Bacillus Thuringiensis bacterium into the plant. Such insertion is claimed to give resistance to two important hosts, fruit borer and shoot borer. The Genetic Engineering Approval Committee of the Union Enviroment Ministry has approved it, but the Centre withheld its release pending public consultations.

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY AFFAIRS JANUARY 2010

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY AFFAIRS JANUARY 2010

• India conveyed its association with the Copenhagen Accord to the United Nations Framework convention on climate change (UNFCCC) secretariat by pronouncing its domestic mitigation actions to prevent climate change. India told the UNFCCC that it would endeavour to reduce emissions intensity of its gross domestic product (GDP) by 20 - 25 percent by 2020 in comparison to the 2005 levels.
  
  India has clarified that the domestic mitigation actions will be entirely voluntary in nature and will not have a legally binding character. The actions will not apply to the agriculture sector.
  
  China's voluntary mitigation actions will be to the lowering of CO₂ emissions per unit of GDP by 40 - 45 percent by 2020 compared to the 2005 levels. The US announced a 17% cut in the greenhouse gas emissions from 2005 levels.
• The cabinet committee on infrastructure accorded in principle approval for the establishment of the National Knowledge Network (NKN) that would inter connects all knowledge institutions. To be implemented by the National Informatics Centre (NIC) within next two years, will connect around 1,500 institutions. 
• The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) successfully tested the biggest and most powerful rocket motor called S-200, powered by 200 tonnes of solid propellants in Sriharikota.
  
  This test is a vital step in the development of ISRO's Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mark-III (GSLV MK-III), which will put a satellite weighing four tonnes in orbit.
  
  S-200 is the third biggest solid rocket motor in the world after the booster rocket of NASA's space shuttle and that of Arianespace's Ariane-5 launch vehicle.
• The Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) launched a total of 10 Rohini series indigenous sounding rockets from the Thumba, Equatorial Rocket Launching Station and the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota to investigate the effects of the longest annular solar eclipse of this millennium.
• A team of five, including the present and past students of the Indian Institute of Technology Madras won a business competition plan in New York and is to setup shop in New York to commercialize product called 'XEstor' which uses algorithms to store parameters and interfaces with the grid, thereby powering large networks and reducing power loss.
• The test flight of Astra, Beyond Visual-Range Air-to-Air Missile (BVRAAM) was successfully carried out from the Integrated Test Range (ITR) at Balasore, Orissa.M
• Prime Minister Manmohan Singh while launching Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission, called for creation of 'Solar Valleys' in India, akin to the Silicon Valley, as a contribution to the national as well as global efforts at combating climate change.

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY AFFAIRS DECEMBER 2009

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY AFFAIRS DECEMBER 2009

• India successfully test fired its nuclear-capable ballistic missile 'Dhanush', with a range of 350 kilometers, from INS Subadhra near Integrated Test Range off the Orissa coast. It is the single-stage ship-based surface to surface missile.
  
• The World Meteorological Organization announced that the first decade (2000-09) of the 21st century was the hottest decade on record.
  
• Scientists from the Indian Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology (IGIB) of CSIR in New Delhi, led by Dr. S. Sridhar and PhD student Vinod Scaria have decoded the genome sequencing of a human being. It was previously done by USA, UK China, Canada and Korea.
  
• The recently restarted Large Hadron Collider has become the world's most powerful particle accelerator, after setting a new record for beam intensity. CERNhas announced that scientists working at the particle collider successfully accelerated a beam of protons up to 1.18 tera-electron-volts (TeV), beating the previous record of 0.98 TeV held by the Tevatron at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory near Chicago since 2001.
  
• NASA’s Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) satellite was launched from Space Launch Complex-2 at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. The United Launch Alliance Delta II rocket carried it..
  
• Russia's Strategic Missile Forces (SMF) successfully test-launched RS-20V heavy intercontinental ballistic missile. It can carry a load of 200 tons and has a maximum range of 11000km.
  
• The Soyuz TMA-17 spacecraft lifted off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakistan with American, Russian, and Japanese astronauts onboard. They are headed to the International Space Station as new members of the ISS Expedition 22 crew.

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY AFFAIRS NOVEMBER 2009

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY AFFAIRS NOVEMBER 2009

• The Union Cabinet gave its nod for the Headend In The Sky (HITS), a digital delivery platform to distribute multiple channels through satellite straight to cable operators.
  
• The cultivation of Lotus plants were banned in Kanyakumari as these plants would prevent sunlight entering into ponds.
  
• The National University of Defense Technology (NUDT) unveiled China's fastest supercomputer, which could rival the world's most powerful computing devices. The supercomputer, named Tianhe,meaning Milky Way, is theoretically able to do more than 1 quadrillion calculations per second (one petaflop) at peak speed.

• According to Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Ma fourth of India’sgeographical area, or 81 million hectares, is undergoing a process of desertification. It reveals a first-of-its-kind ‘desertification status map’ of the country created in collaboration with several scientific institutions across the country. Changes in rainfall pattern and over-exploitation of natural resources are the main reasons for this change.
  The spatial inventory, which uses satellite imagery from an Indian Remote Sensing Satellite,Resourcesat, also reveals that a third of the country’s area (or 105.48 million hectares) is degraded.
  The research paper depicts that about 15.8 per cent of the country’s geographical area is arid, 37.6 per cent semi-arid and 16.5 per cent falls in the dry sub-humid region. Put together, about 228 million hectares, or 69 per cent of the country constitute ‘dry land.’
  
• The Government of India has approved a new policy on development of solar energy in the country by launching of the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission. It is one of the eight key National Missions which comprise India’s National Action Plan on Climate Change.
  
• The first night trial of the nuclear weapon capable Agni-II failed,with the missile not achieving the mission objectives. The 2,000 km range Intermediate Range Ballistic Missile (IRBM) was fired from a mobile platform from the Wheeler Island, off the Orissa Coast.
  
• The fifth nuclear reactor of the Rajasthan Atomic Power Station(RAPS-5) at Rawatbhatta, with a capacity of 220 MWe, reached criticality. This is the 18th nuclear power reactor to be commissioned in the country. With its commissioning, the total nuclear power-generation capacity now stands at 4,340 MWe.
  RAPS-5 is an indigenous Pressurised Heavy Water Reactor (PHWR). It uses Russian fuel and will come under the IAEA safeguards.
  
• NASA had launched Atlantis with six men to ISS from Kennedy space center, Cape Canaveral, Florida. The shuttle carries nearly 13,610 kg of equipment and Ammonium tanks.

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY AFFAIRS OCTOBER 2009

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY AFFAIRS OCTOBER 2009

• NASA has launched tallest rocket (327 feet) Ares 1-X form Cape Canaveral, Florida.

  
  
• Two Cyprus companies, NORASCO and Upturn Trading Limited, signed a Memorandum of Understanding with India’s CASE Neuberg Solutions for setting up turnkey solar energy plants.

  
  
• Three pairs of the Himalayan Tahr and two pairs of Blue sheep from a zoo in Japan were received by officials of the Padmaja Naidu Himalayan Zoological (PNHZ) Park in Darjeeling. 

  
  

  The animals were received as a part of an animal exchange programme. India has sent a pair of elephants to the Okinawa Zoo about three years back.

  
  
• Scientists at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California detected water, methane and carbon dioxide — the basic components of life — on the planet named HD 209458b, outside solar system. 

  
  

  It’s the second planet outside our solar system after Jupiter-sized planet, HD 189733b on which water, methane and carbon dioxide have been found, which are potentially important for biological processes in habitable planets.

• Three new species of legless amphibians have been discovered from forests in Manipur and Nagaland by researchers led by Delhi University Associate Professor S.D. Biju.

  
  
• India has allocated places at Chhayamithi Virdi in Gujarat and Kovvada in Andhra Pradesh to the U.S.-led consortia for expanded cooperation in the peaceful uses of nuclear energy.

  
  
• Russia has been given a site at Haripur in West Bengal, besides Koodankulam. French company Areva will start work at Jaitapur in Maharashtra.

  
  
• Three scientists who created the technology behind digital photography and helped link the world through fibre-optic networks shared the 2009 Nobel Prize in physics. Charles K Kao was cited for his breakthrough involving the transmission of light in fiber optics while Willard S Boyle and George E. Smith were honored for inventing an imaging semiconductor circuit known as the CCD sensor.

  
  
• Three Americans, Australian-born Elizabeth Blackburn, British-born Jack Szostak and Carol Greider won the Nobel prize for medicinefor revealing the existence and nature of telomerase, an enzyme which helps prevent the fraying of chromosomes that underlies aging and cancer. 

  
  
• Iran test fired Shaheb-3 and Sajjal missiles with a range of 1300 to 2000Km. These can carry payload of 1000kgs.

  
  
• The International Conference on'Peaceful Uses of Atomic Energy' was inaugurated by Prime Minister on September 29th in New Delhi. Bhabha was the president of the first international conference on this subject held in Geneva in 1955. The conference was also attended by Mohammad ElBaradei, Director-General of the International Atomic Energy Agency. The conference was organized by the Department of Atomic Energy in association with the International Atomic Energy Agency and the Indian Nuclear Society.
  
  

• Genetic Engineering Approval Committee (GEAC) recommended commercial cultivation of Bt Brinjal in India.

• The US Space Agency NASA has crashed a Rocket into a crater on the South Pole of the Moon in the hope of detecting water. The LCROSS (Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite) satellite crashed into the Cabeus crater floor near the moon's south pole at around 5,600 miles (9,000 kilometers) per hour.

  
  
• Two nuclear-capable, medium range surface-to-surface Prithvi-II missiles were successfully test-fired by the armed forces from the Integrated Test Range (ITR), Chandipur. Both missiles had a range of 350 km and can carry nuclear load.

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY AFFAIRS SEPTEMBER 2009

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY AFFAIRS SEPTEMBER 2009

• Space shuttle Discovery reached the earth safely after its travel in the space.
  
  
• NASA and ISRO’s Bi- static experiment to find water on the moon failed. It involved coordinated use of Chandrayaan-I and US space agency National Aeronautics and Space Administration's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter LRO spacecraft. 
  
  
• Sowa-Rigpa, a traditional system of medicine practiced in the Himalayan region, has been accorded legal status in India, through a proposed amendment in Medicine Central Council Act.
• The powerful Revolutionary Guard, which controls Iran's missile program, successfully tested upgraded versions of Iran's medium-range Shahab-3 and Sajjil missiles. Both can carry warheads and reach up to 1,200 miles, putting Israel, U.S. military bases in the Middle East and parts of Europe within striking distance.
• The Chandrayaan-1 probe had found traces of water across the surface of large parts of the moon. The Moon Mineralogy Mapper (M3) instrument of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) had clearly indicated the presence of water molecules on the lunar surface.
• In its sixteenth flight conducted from Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) SHAR, Sriharikota, ISRO's Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, PSLV-C14 successfully launched the 960 kg Indian remote sensing satellite Oceansat-2 and six nano European education satellites for international customers into a polar Sun Synchronous Orbit (SSO). This was the fifteenth successful flight of PSLV. The four nano satellites are named as Cubesat 1, 2, 3 and 4. The other two are named as Rubinsat 9.1 and 9.2.
• India has launched the Navy - warship INS Kochi, a Delhi-class destroyer. This is the second warship of Project 15-A built by Mazgaon Dock Limited.
• India has designed a new version of Advanced Heavy Water Reactor named Advanced Heavy Water Reactor-Low Enriched Uranium (AHWR-LEU) which will use low enriched uranium along with thorium as fuel.

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY AFFAIRS AUGUST 2009

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY AFFAIRS AUGUST 2009

South Korea had launched its first Rocket Naro-1. It failed to place the satellite in the earth’s orbit. 

The indigenously built T-90 S tank ‘Bhishma’ was handed over to army in Chennai. The superior features of the new battle tank are its mobility, lethal firepower, surprise hit-at-first sight and self-protection. Its enhanced mobility, ballistic computers for sight and accuracy and capability to fire all types of ammunition in addition to firing guided missiles make the `Bhishma' among the best in the world 

Spaceship Discovery was sent to International Space Center from Kennedy Space center, Florida. 7 astronauts were sent along with it. 

Chandrayaan-I was terminated by ISRO as it lost the radio signals with the craft. ISRO Chairman said that there was no chance of retrieving it. 

Cystorm, a Sun Microsystems Machine was developed by Mr Aluru Srinivas from Iowa State University. This supercomputer unleashes 28.16 trillion calculations per second. 

ISRO had launched a 3D mapping tool, Bhuvan. It is an indigenously developed system which takes pictures of the earth similar to that of Google earth. 

Nag was successfully test-fired
The indigenously developed anti-tank missile Nag was successfully test fired from the Interim Test Range at Chandipur-on-sea, about 15 kilometres from Balesore in Orissa.

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY AFFAIRS JULY 2009

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY AFFAIRS JULY 2009

• Technology and market research firm Forrester Research projected India to have 3rd largest online population by 2013 in its ‘Global online population forecast 2008-13’ report.

  
  
• Hindustan Aeronautics Limited handed over the first batch of four Cheetal helicopters to the Indian Air Force at HAL’s Barrackpore Division near Kolkata.

  
  
• India launched her first indigenous nuclear powered submarine Arihant on July 26. The submarine designed and constructed in India as Advanced Technology Vessel (ATV) project. ‘Arihant’ means ‘Destroyer of Enemies’.

  
  

  Some interesting features of indigenous nuclear powered submarine Arihant are:

  
  

  - It was dedicated to the nation by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at Ship Building Center, Vishakapatnam naval dockyard.

  
  

  - It is among the five in the class approved by the government for construction.

  
  

  - The other countries having capabilities to operate nuclear powered submarines are: U.S, Russia, U.K, France and China.

  
  

  - It is jointly developed by Indian Navy, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC), Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) with Russian assistance.

  
  

  - It is the nuclear powered ballistic missile submarine (SSBN)

  
  

  - It is about 110 metres long, 6000 tons, 22 knots speed, 11 metre-wide with complement of around 23 officers and 72 men

  
  

  - The 80 MW mini-nuclear reactor to power the submarine has been installed

  
  

  - The K-15 Submarine Launched Ballistic Missile (SLBM) for the submarine was tested successfully from an undersea platform on February 26, 2008

  
  

  - It can launch 12 SLBMs, even under ice-cap.

  
  

  - The necessary crew training to operate the submarine, is planned through Russian Akula II submarine expected to join Indian Navy on lease by year end.

  
  

  - The ATV project started making significant progress only after the land-based reactor became fully operational in December 2004 at Kalpakkam, near Chennai.

  
  
• Space shuttle Endeavor was successfully launched from International Space Center. It was launched with 7 members from Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral.

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY AFFAIRS JUNE 2009

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY AFFAIRS JUNE 2009
NASA successfully Launched LRO/LCROSS for return to the Moon


An Atlas V rocket carrying NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) and sister payload Lunar CRater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS) has launched from complex 41 at Cape Canaveral on Thursday evening. Both its payload passengers were successfully sent on their journey to the moon.


Japanese lunar probe to crash-land on moon


The Kaguya probe hit the moon. The probe was launched in September 2007 and has completed its scheduled observations. Its mission was extended and it has been in low lunar orbit since January last year.


Chandrayaan detects X-ray signals


Chandrayaan-I has picked up first X-ray signals from the Moon, revealing the presence of three elements. The Imaging X-ray Spectrometer (CIXS), one of the 11 payloads onboard Chandrayaan-1, has received X-ray “signatures” of aluminium, magnesium and silicon — three of the six elements it has been designed to detect, the others being titanium, iron and calcium. CIXS detected the X-ray signals on December 12, 2008 from a region close to the Apollo landing sites.


CIXS was jointly developed by ISRO and United Kingdom’s Rutherford Appleton Laboratory (RAL).


ISRO Launched W2M Satellite from French Guiana. It is a communication satellite. The satellite was launched by Orion Launch Vehicle. The communication satellite has been built for European EADS Astrium, a subsidiary of the European Aeronautic Defense and Space Company (EADS).Another satellite ‘Hot Bird’ was also launched by OLV.

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY AFFAIRS MAY 2009

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY AFFAIRS MAY 2009

• Iran has test fired a new ballistic missile, Sajjil-2, with a range of 1200 miles, far enough to hit Israel and southeastern Europe
• INS Airavat, a Landing Ship Tank (LST) of the Shardul class, was commissioned into the Indian Navy by Naval Chief Admiral Sureesh Mehta at Visakhapatnam on May 19.
• Indigenously built nuclear-capable Agni-II missile, with a load of 1 ton and strike range of up to 3,000 km, was successfully test fired from Wheelers Island, a launch pad off Orissa’s coast.
• Russian Soyuz-FG carrier rocket was launched from Site 1/5 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, with the Soyuz TMA-15 spacecraft, on a manned (3 astronauts from Canada, Russia and Belgium) spaceflight to the International Space Station (ISS).

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY AFFAIRS APRIL 2009

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY AFFAIRS APRIL 2009

• Bharti Airtel launched 16 Mbps wireless broadband powered by Airtel’s carrier Ethernet network in New Delhi, Chennai and Bangalore. 
• The Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C12) has put orbit Radar Imaging Satellite (RISAT-2), a surveillance satellite, which could keep a watch on the country’s borders. This is the first time the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) putting in orbit a RISAT in the micro-wave band. 
• The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea announced the successful launch of an indigenous communications satellite by a home-made three stage rocket, Unha-2 (Milky Way). 
• India has successfully test-fired a version of nuclear-capable Prithvi-II ballistic missile, with a range of 350 km from the Integrated Test Range at Chandipur.