Science and Technology Crux Vol. 09
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aspirantforum.com ScienceNews and for Tech.Jan-Mar 2017 The Crux of The Hindu Vol. 09 News of Jan-Mar 17 Vol. 09 Important News in the field of Space Atomic Energy Environment and Ecology Health and Medicine Bio-Technology Computer and IT Defence Agriculture Miscellaneous aspirantforum.com: ASPIRANT FORUM : Vol. 09 Jan.-Mar Vol. AN INITIATIVE BY UPSC ASPIRANTS Visit Aspirantforum.com for guidance and study material for IAS Exam. aspirantforum.com Science and Tech. The Crux of The Hindu Vol. 09 News of Jan-Mar 17 Aspirant Forum is a Community for the UPSC Contents Civil Services (IAS) Aspirants, to discuss and debate the various things related to the exam. We welcome an active Space.........................................4 participation from the fellow members to enrich the Atomic Energy.........................17 knowledge of all. Environment and Ecology.......23 Health and Medicine...............44 Compiled and Edited by Karuna Thakur Shakeel Anwar Bio-Technology.......................60 Designed by: Computer and IT.....................74 Anupam Rastogi Defence....................................82 Agriculture...............................84 The Science and Tech. Crux will be published online Miscellaneous..........................92 for free for every three months. We appreciate the friends and followers for apprepreciating our effort. For any queries, guidance needs and support, Please contact at: [email protected] You may also follow our website Aspirantforum.comaspirantforum.com for free online coaching and guidance for IAS Vol. 09 Jan.-Mar Vol. Visit Aspirantforum.com for guidance and study material for IAS Exam. aspirantforum.com Science and Tech. The Crux of The Hindu Vol. 09 News of Jan-Mar 17 About the ‘CRUX’ After the success of our monthly magazine The Crux of The Hindu and PIB, we are introducing a new and convenient product, to help the aspirants for various public services examinations. Today, the knowledge of the Current Affairs (Science and Technology) constitutes an indispensable tool for all the recruitment examinations. However, as per the examinations are concerned, it is quite tedious task to memorise each and every news. Moreover, every news as given in magazines and newspapers may or may not be relevant from exam perspective which forces the candidates to spend a quality time in extracting useful matter and framing notes. This problem of aspirants strikes our minds and made us to think for a sure shot solution as a result of which our experts have come out with the unique magazine of Science and Technology, Crux of Science and Technology. This trimonthly convenient product is going to save our aspirants’ time. The whole concept of the CRUX is to provide you with a summary of the important news and current affairs, from an exam point of view. By reading the CRUX, you will be able to save your precious time and effort, as you get all the relevant matter in a summarized and convenient form. The Crux is particularly helpful for the Civil Services, Banking, SSC and other exams that have a current affairs section. The material is being provided in such a manner that it is helpful for both- objective and descriptive sections. Our aim is to help the candidates in their effort to get through the examinations. Your efforts and dedication inspire us to keep going. It is our sincere effort to make your journey easier. Best Wishes Editorial Board Team Aspirant Forum Courtesy: The Hindu aspirantforum.com Vol. 09 Jan.-Mar Vol. Visit Aspirantforum.com for guidance and study material for IAS Exam. aspirantforum.com Science and Tech. The Crux of The Hindu Vol. 09 News of Jan-Mar 17 GPCRs, bind to the receptor and pull it inside the cell (a process called receptor endocytosis). This prevents the SPACE angiotensin from binding to the receptor, thereby help in NASA s Curiosity rover finds purple rocks controlling the blood pressure. on Red Planet In the case of people with high blood pressure, the pre- scribed drug binds to the receptor. So even if angiotensin Recent photographs taken by NASA’s Curiosity rover is present on the surface of the cell, it cannot bind to the have revealed purple rocks on the surface of Mars. NASA receptor and start the signaling process that increases officials have said this may suggest a greater degree of blood pressure. diversity in the geological composition of the region.. New approach Discovering new drugs that bind to G Protein-Coupled “We were interested in understanding how different re- Receptors (GPCRs), which are central to almost every ceptors interact with effectors and how the receptors rec- physiological process in our body such as vision, taste, ognise the stimuli,” says Dr. Shukla. “We looked at the immune response and cardiovascular regulation, has be- interaction of a receptor, which is a target for heart failure come easier, thanks to research by a team led by Dr. drugs, with its specific effectors, namely arrestins. When Arun K. Shukla from the Department of Biological Sci- arrestins bind to the receptor, they arrest or disrupt the ences and Bioengineering, Indian Institute of Technology receptor signaling.” (IIT) Kanpur. “The text book understanding is that arrestins have to si- Nearly 50 per cent of prescription drugs currently avail- multaneously bind at two sites — the tail of the receptor able in the market for the treatment of blood pressure, and the core of the receptor — for the drug to become heart failure, diabetes, obesity, cancer and many other effective in pulling the receptor inside the cell [to prevent human diseases target GPCR receptors. All these drugs the stimuli from binding to the receptor and start signal- bind to their respective receptors and either activate or ing],” says Dr. Shukla. stop their signalling. The work by Dr. Shukla’s team has “Through specific engineering of the receptor we basi- shown that the regulation of these receptors by these cally disrupted one of the two binding sites, namely the drugs can be simpler than generally thought — it can be core of receptor. We found that even without the second mediated by engaging only the end of the receptor, which site, the arrestin was able to pull the receptor inside the is called the tail of the receptor. cell by binding just to the tail of the receptor [which is the The results were published in the journal Nature Com- other binding site],” he says. munications. There is a key region in the core which the team geneti- Receptors found on the cell surface receive signals and cally deleted thereby making the core of the receptor inef- transmit them to inside the cells. A part of the receptor fective. is embedded in the cell membrane and the other part “Whenever researchers are designing a drug to stop protrudes outside the membrane and inside of the cell. GPCR signaling, they look for a drug that simultaneously The part of the receptor that protrudes outside the mem- triggers the binding of arrestins to both the sites in the brane changes its shape whenever a stimulus in the body receptor. Our work changes the way people will look at binds to itm. In response to this change in the outside drug discovery for GPCR signaling,” he says. “The drug part of the receptor, a corresponding change happens has to trigger binding of arrestin to just at the tail of the in the shape of the receptor that is positioned inside the receptor to arrest the signaling. Researchers can now cell. This change in the shape of the receptor positioned design simple drugs to accomplish this.” inside the cell allows it bind to other proteins called ef- fectors. These effectors cause specific effects in the cell, referred to as cell signaling, which leads to physiological ‘Leap second’ syncs Indian time with changes in our body. Earth’s spin A ‘leap second’ was added to the Indian clock at 5:29.59 For example, a hormone in the blood called angiotensin aspirantforum.comhours to synchronise with the Earth’s rotational clock. binds to its receptor and activates the effector protein in- As the atomic clock at the National Physical Laboratory Vol. 09 Jan.-Mar Vol. side the cell causing an increase in blood pressure. (NPL) here struck 23:59:59 last night, it was programmed The mechanism to add an extra second to 2017 to compensate for a slow- In people with normal blood pressure, a specific type of down in the Earth’s rotation. proteins called arrestins, which are effectors proteins of Visit Aspirantforum.com for guidance and study material for IAS Exam. aspirantforum.com Science and Tech. The Crux of The Hindu Vol. 09 News of Jan-Mar 17 Adding a second barely has an impact on the daily life, The Centre’s fiscal deficit remained high at Rs. 4.6 lakh but it does matter in the fields of satellite navigation, as- crore, which was 85.8 per cent of the budget estimates tronomy and communication. “The Earth and rotation for the entire financial year, till the end of November this around its own axis is not regular, as sometimes it speeds fiscal year. Till October, the deficit was slightly lower at up and sometimes it slows down due to various factors, 79.3 per cent of the full fiscal deficit target. The Union including earthquakes and moon’s gravitational forces. Budget had estimated fiscal deficit at Rs. 5.33 lakh crore As a result, astronomical time (UT1) gradually falls out of for 2016-17 which works out to 3.5 per cent of the GDP. sync with atomic time (UTC), and, as and when the dif- The fiscal deficit widened in November mainly due to ference between UTC and UT1 approaches 0.9 seconds, muted gross tax revenues.