India’s 1st dedicated satellite for astronomy research Astrosat successfully launched

India’s first dedicated satellite for astronomy research Astrosat has been successfully launched from Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikotta. It was launched along with 6 foreign satellites by the ISRO’s work horse Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle-C30 (PSLV-C30). 

About Astrosat 
Astrosat is India’s first dedicated multi-wavelength space observatory and one of the major scientific mission of ISRO after the highly acclaimed Chandrayaan-I and Mangalyaan. 

Functions: 
As a space observatory it has ability to observe celestial bodies like cosmic X-Ray sources and distant stars in different wavelengths simultaneously. It will observe the universe through ultraviolet, optical, low and high energy X-ray components of the electromagnetic spectrum. Payloads: Astrosat space observatory has been mounted with sophisticated scientific payloads having six key instruments with total mass of 750 kg. It includes telescopes, sky monitors, mirrors and special imager. Six key instruments are: UltraViolet Imaging Telescope (UVIT), Soft X-ray imaging Telescope (SXT), LAXPC Instrument, Cadmium Zinc Telluride Imager (CZTI), Scanning Sky Monitor (SSM) and Charged Particle Monitor (CPM). These instruments have been jointly developed by ISRO, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR) and Inter University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA). 

Orbit: Astrosat will be placed at low earth equatorial orbit at altitude of 650 km. Ground Command and Control Centre: It will be located at ISRO Satellite Centre (ISAC), Bangalore, Karnataka. Mission life: It has science research mission life of five years and will operate as a space observatory. With the successful launch of this space observatory, India became member of select group of nations after the US, Japan, Russia and Europe having its own space observatory. Significance of PSLV-C30 Launch For the first time, PSLV-C30 took flight mission in extended configuration as it was carrying total payload weight of 1631 kg. The first and third stages of PSLV-C30 launch were powered by solid fuel while the second and fourth stages are powered by liquid fuel. This successful mission also marks the first ever commercial launch of United States (US) satellites from India. Other 6 Satellites: 4 identical LEMUR nano-satellites of Spire Global Inc of US, micro-satellite LAPAN-A2 of Indonesia and nano-satellite NLS-14 (Ev9) of the University of Toronto, Canada. It should be noted that this is third time an Indian rocket has launched seven satellites in a single mission. In 2008, ISRO had launched 10 satellites using PSLV in one go including India’s Cartosate-2A satellite.

World Health Day on April 7 : Slogan " farm to plate, make food safe "

World Health Day was observed all over the world on April 7, 2015. Theme for year 2015 was “food safety” with the slogan from farm to plate, make food safe. 

The theme highlights 

• Need to make food free from viruses, microbes and chemicals substances that are responsible for more than 200 diseases. Indirectly unsafe food is linked to the annual deaths of some 2 million people, mostly children. 
• Need to create awareness about food safety as it possesses challenges from the changes in food production, distribution and consumption. 
• Changes in the environment and new emerging pathogens and antimicrobial resistance are also challenge to food safety. In this regard, WHO is also working with countries to strengthen efforts to detect, prevent and respond to foodborne disease outbreaks in line with the Codex Alimentarius. 

About World Health Day 
Every year on April 7, World Health Day is celebrated under the sponsorship of the World Health Organization (WHO). 

Purpose: 

• To focus on increasing the life expectancy by adding good health to the lives of people and promoting healthier living habits. 
• This day marks the WHO’s founding and is observed since 1950. 
• Since then April 7 every year is seen as an opportunity by the WHO to draw worldwide attention to a subject of major importance to global health each year.

Apple Inc fined $553 million for patent infringement

US Tech giant Apple Inc has been fined $553 million for three patent infringements owned by patent licensing firm Smartflash LLC. This verdict was given by federal Jury in US District Court for the Eastern District of Texas. The Jury in its verdict found out that Apple Inc’s iTunes software has infringed three
patents owned by Smartflash LLC. The federal jury in its verdict also held that Apple had not only used Smartflash’s patents without permission, but also used them willfully.
 

Background
In May 2013, Smartflash LLC had sued Apple Inc, alleging that iTunes software has violated its 3 patents related to accessing and storing downloaded songs, videos and games. In this regard, Smartflash LLC had asked $852 million in damages from Apple.

Google plans to bring balloon-powered Internet

Recently Facebook announced Internet.org in India, and now Google is also all set to bring its internet project offering connectivity to remote areas here
Google is in talks with the Indian government to introduce its Project Loon, an internet project that uses high-altitude balloons to offer affordable internet across the globe to people without any access.

Project Loon uses balloons that travel 20 km above the earth. Using software algorithms, Loon determines where the balloon needs to go depending upon the wind. It started as a pilot project in New Zealand wherein 30 balloons were launched. Last year in November, Google announced that Project Loon has the ability to launch up to 20 balloons per day.

The balloons can now last up to 10 times longer in the stratosphere, than they did in 2013 and a lot of them have lasted over 100 days – with 130 days being a record, Google had said.

Himachal Pradesh is first to launch Crime and Criminal Tracking Network System Project

Himachal Pradesh government has launched Crime and Criminal Tracking Network System (CCTNS) Project in the state.

This project will enable the State Police to raise the benchmark of professional efficiency besides catching interstate criminals more quickly.

It was launched by Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh from State Police Headquarters in Shimla.

About Crime and Criminal Tracking Network System (CCTNS) Project

• CCTNS project is funded by the Union government with budget of Rs. 19 Crore.
• Himachal Pradesh is the first state in India to launch this project prepared by the Union Home Ministry after Mumbai attack of 26/11.
• CCTNS project will connect 177 sites and 114 police stations in the state besides 13 district headquarters, 26 sub-divisional police officers and three police ranges headed by IPG rank officers with state crime records bureau.
• It will also connect CID crime branch, 14 control rooms, finger print bureau, forensic science laboratory, 16 CCTNS training centres including state data centre and data recovery centre.
• CCTNS project will also provide multiple channels to access citizen-centric services and online access for registering petitions on real-time basis.

First National Deworming Day on 10 February 2015

First National Deworming Day was observed on 10 February.

On the eve of the National Deworming Day, Union Ministry for Health & Family Welfare launched the National Deworming initiative.

It was launched by Union Minister for Health & Family Welfare Jagat Prakash Nadda in Jaipur, Rajasthan.

National Deworming initiative

Aim: To protect more than 24 crore children in India between the age of 1 to 19 years from intestinal worms. It also aims target intestinal parasitic worms among the children to achieve status of being Worm-free.

• It is one of the largest programmes in the world undertaken to deworm children.
• In the first phase, about 14 crore children will be covered across eleven States/UT. They are, Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Dadra & Nagar Haveli, Haryana, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu and Tripura.
• Albendazole tablets will be given to all targeted children in first phase. Dosage of half tablet to 1-2 years children and one full tablet for 2-19 years will be given.
• While in second phase, nearly 10 crore children will be targeted between 11 February and 14 February 2015.

Parasitic worms infestation

Worms interfere with nutrient uptake in small children causing parasitic infestation. It leads to severe complications among the children resulting in anemia, malnutrition and improper mental and physical development.

According to World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates, nearly 24 crore children in India in the age group of 1-14 years are at risk of intestinal parasitic worm infestation.

Apple records highest quarterly profit in Corporate history - $ 18 Billion

Profit of $18 billion was the biggest ever reported by a public company, worldwide.
The company sold 74.5 million iPhones in its fiscal first quarter ended Dec. 27, while many analysts had expected fewer than 70 million. Revenue rose to $74.6 billion from $57.6 billion a year earlier.
Apple Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook said the Cupertino, California-based company would release its next product, the Apple Watch, in April.

Sewage Killing Fish: An Environmental Threat

Test of Adyar estuary water reveals high metal levels of  Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD)
A month after thousands of dead fish were washed ashore on the Urur Kuppam beach, a lab test has confirmed what was suspected all along: sewage pollution in the Adyar estuary.

At 28 mg/litre, the BOD was nearly five times the safe limit for aquatic life to survive, a water sample tested at the Tamil Nadu Water Supply and Drainage Board has revealed.

A BOD reading above 6 mg/l is not suitable for the survival of fish, according to Central Pollution Control Board guidelines.

The higher the sewage pollution, the higher is the proliferation of microorganisms such as algae that deplete oxygen, raising the BOD. The water sample also contained heavy metals including chromium, zinc, copper and iron.

“It had rained quite heavily the previous two days, and it is quite likely that in addition to the regular load of sewage, an additional shock load was discharged when Metrowater let out excess sewage into the river.”

Ever since the fish kill, speculation had been rife about the cause, with suspicions ranging from toxic and biomedical waste to the insurgence of excessive saline water.

Eutrophication

Rajesh Ramesh, an activist with Trust for Environment Monitoring and Action Initiating, who got the water sample tested, said: “What we essentially have here is the eutrophication of the water, which is preventing any life from surviving.”

NASA launches SMAP Earth Observing Satellite : Help in Flood and Drought forecast

It is on a mission to track the amount of water locked in soil, which may help residents in low-lying regions brace for floods or farmers get ready for drought conditions.

A Delta 2 rocket carrying Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) satellite was launched early Saturday from Vandenberg Air Force Base on California’s central coast.

The satellite is on a three-year mission to track the amount of water locked in soil, which may help residents in low-lying regions brace for floods or farmers get ready for drought conditions.

Kalpana Chawla remembered on her 12th death anniversary on 1 February

Kalpana Chawla, the first Indian-American astronaut and first Indian woman in space was one of the seven crew members killed in the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster on February 1, 2003.

She first flew on the Space Shuttle Columbia in 1997 as a mission specialist and primary robotic arm operator.

Kalpana Chawla was born on July 1, 1961, in Karnal, India. She was the first Indian-American astronaut and first Indian woman in space.

As per her academic record, Chawla  completed her aeronautical engineering from Punjab Engineering College in and a masters degree from the University of Texas in 1980s. In 1994, Chawla was selected as an astronaut candidate

Kalpana Chawla died in the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster which occurred on February 1, 2003, when the Space Shuttle disintegrated over Texas during re-entry into the Earth's atmosphere, with the death of all seven crew members

First Canister-based Agni-V missile successfully test-fired

For the first time, a canisterised version of Agni-V missile was successfully test-fired on 31 January 2015 from Wheeler Island off Odisha coast.

This was the third successful flight test of the Inter-Continental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) and the first canister trial.
Test: The missile was launched from sealed canister, mounted on a TATRA truck. It was carrying dummy payload. Test showed that dummy payload withstand temperatures more than 3,0000 C and hit the target at pre-designated point in the Indian Ocean.
Implication: A canister-launch system of Agni-V missile will give the forces the requisite operational flexibility. With this system, ballistic missile can be transported and can launched from any place.

Agni-V missile

• Agni-V ICBM is indigenously designed and developed by Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).
• It is Part of the Agni series of missiles, one of the missile systems under the original Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme.
• Range: 5,500–5,800 km. It will allow India to strike targets across Asia and into Europe
• It is a 3 stage solid fuelled missile with composite motor casing in the second and third stage.
• It carries Multiple Independently Targetable Re-entry Vehicles (MIRV) payloads. A single MIRV equipped missile, that can deliver multiple warheads at different targets.
• Incorporate advanced technologies involving ring laser gyroscope and accelerometer for navigation and guidance.
• First successfully test-fired by DRDO from Wheeler Island off the coast of Orissa on April 19, 2012. With this, India joined an “elite nuclear club” that also included China, Russia, France, the US, the UK and possibly Israel.

ISRO’s GSLV Mark III rocket launched successfully

Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO’s) first sub-orbital flight and India’s latest generation launch vehicle- GSLV Mark-III X was successfully lifted off from Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh.
Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle-Mark III (GSLV Mk-III)  was carrying payload – Crew module Atmospheric Reentry Experiment (CARE) weighing 3775 kg.
Mission: It was a suborbital experimental flight mission which aimed to test the vehicle’s performance during the critical atmospheric phase of its flight and thus carried a passive (non-functional) cryogenic upper stage.
Objective:

• To test the rocket’s atmospheric flight stability with CARE payload and to the intended height of 126 km.
• To study the re-entry characteristics of the crew module- CARE and its aero braking and validation of its end-to-end parachute system.

Successful experimental flight
The flight mission began with the successful launch of GSLV Mk-III from the Second Launch Pad at Sriharikota.
After the launch, GSLV Mk-III carried its payload CARE to the intended height of 126 km.
Following this, CARE separated from the upper stage of GSLV Mk-III and re-entered the atmosphere and safely landed over Bay of Bengal with the help of its parachutes after successful lift-off of launch vehicle.
Thus, this successful launch will help India in perfecting the cryogenic engine technology and help to become self-reliant in launching communication satellites.

About GSLV-Mark III
The GSLV-Mark III is a three stage/engine launch vehicle.
Its first stage comprises two identical S-200 large solid boosters with 200 tonne solid propellant that are strapped on to the second stage, the L110 re-startable liquid stage.
The third stage/engine is the cryogenic which is more efficient as it provides more thrust for every kilogram of propellant burnt.

National Mathematics Day being celebrated on Srinivasa Ramanujan’s birth anniversary

Every year 22^nd December is observed as National Mathematics Day to celebrate birth anniversary of great Indian Mathematician autodidact Srinivasa Ramanujan.

This year, it will be the 127th birth anniversary of Srinivasa Ramanujan.

About Srinivasa Ramanujan

He was born on 22^nd December, 1887 in Erode district of Tamil Nadu.

He was considered as doyen of number theory, infinite series, mathematical analysis, and making formulas and equations without any formal training in pure mathematics.

Key contributions:

• ·  As a mathematical genius, he had compiled more than 3900 mathematical results and equations
•     His Ramanujan Prime and Ramanujan theta discoveries had inspired further research on this mathematical subject.
• ·  
  Along with British Mathematician Hardy, Ramanujan had discovered the smallest number represented as sum of two cubes 1729 which is known as Hardy-Ramanujan number.

Background

In 2011, Union Government had declared 22nd December as ‘National Mathematics Day’ to celebrate his 125th birth anniversary. Government also had declared, 2012 as National Mathematics Year.

All About : Geo-synchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mark III

On 30th October 2014, ISRO Chairman K Radhakrishnan announced that the experimental mission of Geo-synchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mark III (GSLV-MK III) will take place in the first half of December.

Date of the launch is not yet fixed because of the three reasons:

1. Preparedness of the vehicle.
2. Certain analysis and reconfirmation is yet to be done for the new vehicle.
3. Weather: from October middle to first week of December the weather conditions are not good because of the cyclonic storms are so frequent.

About Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mark III (GSLV Mark-III)

ISRO has developed the geo-synchronous satellite launch vehicle (GSLV-Mark I-III) with indigenous cryogenic engine

The main function of GSLV Mark-III is for Mid-Heavy Lift Launch System.

Objective:

• To launch heavy satellites weighing more than two tonnes into geostationary orbit 36,000 km above Earth.
• It will allow India to become less dependent on foreign rockets for heavy lifting.
• GSLV Mark-III comprises of three stage vehicle with a first stage consisting of two identical large solid boosters strapped onto the second liquid stage. The third stage is a cryogenic stage.

ISRO’s flight development plans

• First development flight (GSLV MK III D1) with an operational cryogenic stage is planned in between 2016 to 2017.
• Second development flight (GSLV Mk-III D2) is planned after one year of GSLV Mk-III D1 flight in 2017 to 2018.
• Successful flight development will help in India’s manned mission to space.
• The 630-tonne GSLV-MK III will carry a crew module of 3.65-tonne. ISRO plans to send astronauts into space eventually.