Science Technology and 10.9

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SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY Table of Contents 1. BIOTECHNOLOGY ______3 4. IT & COMPUTER ______22 1.1. DNA Technology (Use and Application) 4.1. Data Protection ______22 Regulation Bill ______3 4.2. Net Neutrality ______22 1.2. Human Microbiome ______3 4.3. 5G ______23 1.3. Gene Editing ______4 4.4. Digital Initiatives ______23 1.4. Earth Biogenome Project ______4 4.4.1. National Digital Literacy Mission ______23 2. SPACE TECHNOLOGY ______6 4.4.2. Digital Village Programme ______23 2.1. ISRO ______6 4.4.3. Digital North-East Vision 2022 ______24 2.1.1. Gaganyaan Mission ______6 4.4.4. Digital Payment ______24 2.1.2. GSAT-11 ______6 4.5. Cryptocurrency ______25 2.1.3. Hyperspectral Imaging Satellite (HYSIS) __ 7 4.6. Artificial Intelligence ______26 2.1.4. Satellite Launch Vehicles by ISRO ______7 4.7. Supercomputer ______27 2.1.5. Young Scientist Programme (YUVIKA) ___ 8 4.8. Cyber-Physical Systems ______28 2.2. NASA Missions in News ______8 4.9. Paris Call ______29 2.3. Other Space Missions in News ______10 4.10. Gravityrat Malware ______29 2.4. Plan to Prevent Asteroid Attack ______12 5. HEALTH ______31 2.5. Other Space Related Development in 5.1. Food and Health ______31 India ______12 5.1.1. Food Fortification ______31 2.5.1. India-Based Neutrino Observatory _____ 12 5.1.2. Eat Right India Movement ______31 2.5.2. Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave 5.1.3. Repurpose Used Cooking Oil (RUCO) ___ 31 Observatory ______13 5.1.4. Trans Fat ______32 2.5.3. Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation 5.2. Pharmaceuticals ______33 (CMBR) ______13 5.2.1. Antimicrobial Resistance ______33 2.5.4. India’s First Robotic Telescope ______14 5.2.2. Fixed Dose Combinations (FDCs) ______34 2.5.5. Sunspot Cycle ______14 5.2.3. National Medical Devices Promotion 2.5.6. Exoplanet Discovered by India ______15 Council ______34 2.5.7. Particle Decay ______15 5.2.4. Animal-Free Testing for Drugs ______34 2.5.8. Earth’s Two Extra Hidden 'Moons' _____ 16 5.3. Viral Diseases ______35 3. DEFENCE TECHNOLOGY ______17 5.3.1. Nipah Virus ______35 3.1. Integrated Guided Missile Development 5.3.2. Zika Virus ______35 Plan (IGDMP) ______17 5.3.3. Polio Virus ______36 3.1.1. Agni ______17 5.3.4. Measles-Rubella ______36 3.1.2. PRITHVI ______17 5.3.5. National Action Plan for Viral Hepatitis 3.1.3. NAG ______17 Control ______36 3.1.4. Akash Missile ______17 5.3.6. Chikungunya Virus ______37 3.1.5. Trishul Missile ______17 5.3.7. Quadrivalent Influenza Vaccine ______37 3.2. INS Arihant ______18 5.4. Bacterial Diseases ______38 3.3. Project 75(I) ______18 5.4.1. WHO TB Report and Roadmap ______38 3.4. Smart Border Fence ______19 5.4.2. Leprosy in India ______39 5.4.3. Nepal Eliminates Trachoma ______40 3.5. Drone Regulations in India ______19 5.5. Other News ______40 3.6. Other Defence Projects in News ______20 5.5.1. Triple Drug Therapy for Lymphatic Filariasis 3.6.1. Solid Fuel Ducted Ramjet (SFDR) ______20 (ELEPHANTIASIS) ______40 3.6.2. Missile Prahaar ______20 5.5.2. Rare Diseases ______40 3.6.3. Milan-2t Anti-Tank Missiles ______20 5.5.3. ‘P Null’ Phenotype ______41 3.6.4. Barak-8 Missile ______20 5.5.4. Bacteria Wolbachia ______41 3.6.5. National Advance Surface to Air Missile 5.5.5. WHO Publishes Essential Diagnostics List 41 System-II (NASAMS) ______20 5.5.6. Celiac disease ______41 3.6.6. Avangard Hypersonic System ______21 3.6.7. Pinaka Rocket ______21 6. IPR ______43 3.6.8. LCA Tejas ______21 6.1. WIPO Treaties ______43 3.6.9. Chinook Helicopters ______21 6.2. IPrism ______44 3.6.10. Artillery Gun ‘Dhanush’ ______21 7. ALTERNATIVE ENERGY ______45

7.1. India’s First Lithium Ion (Li-Ion) Battery 10.2. Call for Two Time Zones in India _____ 55 Project ______45 10.3. Coloured X-Ray on Human ______56 7.2. Thermal Battery ______45 10.4. International Year of The Periodic Table 7.3. Hydrogen-CNG ______45 of Chemical Elements ______56 7.4. World’s First Hydrogen Fuel Cell Train _ 46 10.5. Science-Based Targets ______57 7.5. Apsara-U ______46 10.6. FASTag ______57 7.6. World’s First Floating Nuclear Plant ___ 47 10.7. Dry Sorbent Injection (DSI) ______57 8. RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT ______48 10.8. Artificial Leaf ______57 8.1. Prime Minister's Science Technology and 10.9. 106th Indian Science Congress ______58 Innovation Council (PM-STIAC) ______48 10.10. Other Important News ______58 8.2. Mission Innovation ______48 10.10.1. New Element with Magnetic Properties 8.3. Atal Tinkering Marathon ______48 Discovered ______58 8.4. Recent Initiatives Related to Research _ 49 10.10.2. Formalin ______58 10.10.3. Bisphenol A (BPA) ______59 9. AWARDS______52 10.10.4. Shifting North Magnetic Pole ______59 9.1. Noble Prizes 2018 ______52 10.10.5. Firecrackers Developed by CSIR _____ 59 9.1.1. Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine __ 52 10.10.6. Oneer ______59 9.1.2. Nobel Prize in Physics ______52 10.10.7. Ideate for India ______59 9.1.3. Nobel Prize in Chemistry ______53 10.10.8. Telerobotic Surgery ______59 9.2. Fields Medal ______54 10.10.9. CUSAT Stratosphere-Troposphere Radar 10. MISCELLANEOUS ______55 (CUSAT ST-205 Radar) ______59 10.1. Overhaul of SI Units ______55

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1. BIOTECHNOLOGY 1.1. DNA TECHNOLOGY (USE AND 1.2. HUMAN MICROBIOME

APPLICATION) REGULATION BILL Why in news? Why in news? Indian Human Microbiome Initiative, led by The Lok Sabha recently passed DNA Technology (Use National Centre for Microbial Resource (NCMR) - and Application) Regulation Bill, 2019. National Centre for Cell Science (NCCS) has been put up for approval. More on news More on news • The Bill regulates the use of DNA technology for establishing the identity of persons in • The project will include collection of saliva, respect of criminal matters and civil matters stool and skin swabs of 20,000 Indians across such as parentage disputes, transplantation of various ethnic groups from different human organs etc. geographical regions. • The bill also provides for: establishment of a • Scientists have found that Indian population, DNA Regulatory Board; accreditation of DNA particularly tribals, have distinct gut laboratories undertaking DNA testing, microbiota. Such tribal populations are analysing, etc.; establishment of the National largely unaffected by “modern” diet and and Regional DNA Data Banks. have lower prevalence of lifestyle diseases. • Written consent by individuals is required to What is Microbiome? collect DNA samples from them. Consent is • not required for offences with punishment of The collective genome of all micro-organisms more than seven years of imprisonment or contained within the human body, residing death. inside tissues & bio-fluids is called Human Microbiome. It includes DNA or deoxyribonucleic acid bacteria, archaea, fungi, protists and viruses. • It is the hereditary material in humans and almost • Most of them have either commensal (co- all other organisms. exist without harming humans) or mutualistic • Most DNA is located in the cell nucleus (where it is (each benefit from the other) relation. called nuclear DNA), but a small amount of DNA • can also be found in the mitochondria (where it is The composition of microbiome is shaped by called mitochondrial DNA or mtDNA). factors such as genetics, dietary habits, age, • DNA is made up of molecules called nucleotides. geographic location and ethnicity. Each nucleotide contains a phosphate group, a • Human microbiome makes up around 2% of sugar group & a nitrogen base. The four types of the body mass of the adult. There are 10 times nitrogen bases are adenine(A), thymine(T), as many outside organisms as there are guanine(G) & cytosine (C). human cells in human body. • DNA is a double helix formed by base pairs attached to a sugar-phosphate backbone. Importance of the Human Microbiome • Application: • Microbial communities play a key role in many o It can almost accurately ascertain the identity of a person, establish biological relationships aspects of host physiology: between individuals etc. Thus, useful in o Metabolism of otherwise complex investigations of crime, identification of indigestible carbohydrates and fats unidentified bodies, or in determining o Production of essential vitamins parentage. o Maintaining immune systems o It can also reveal person looks, eye colour, o Acting as a first line of defense against skin colour as well as more intrusive pathogens. information like their allergies or susceptibility o Determines how one responds to a to diseases. particular drug treatment o It can be used in biometric identification in addition to Iris scanning, Retinal scanning and About Human Microbiome Project (HMP) Voice recognition.

• It is a research initiative of US’s National Institute of Health with the mission to generate the resources and expertise needed

to characterize the human microbiome and o It is faster, cheaper, more accurate, and analyze its role in health and disease. more efficient than other existing • Launched in 2007, it is focused on identifying genome editing methods and characterizing human microbial fauna and o CRISPR is the DNA-targeting part of the elucidating their roles in health and diseases. system which consists of an RNA • Some methodologies used in HMP are: molecule, or ‘guide’, designed to bind to o Metagenomics, a sequence-based specific DNA bases through approach that allows the genetic material complementary base-pairing. from the complete collection of microbes o Cas9 is the nuclease part that cuts the to be analyzed in their natural DNA. environment without needing to cultivate Related information the microorganisms. • Gene: A gene is the basic physical and functional o Whole Genome Sequencing (WGS) to unit of heredity. Genes are made up of DNA. provide a "deep" genetic perspective on o Some genes act as instructions to make molecules called proteins. aspects of a given microbial o Every person has two copies of each gene, one community, i.e. individual bacterial inherited from each parent. species. o Alleles are forms of the same gene with small Related news differences in their sequence of DNA bases. SALSA o These small differences contribute to each • Recently, an international team of scientists began person’s unique physical features. a research named SALSA (SUBGLACIAL ANTARCTIC LAKES SCIENTIFIC ACCESS) for study 1.4. EARTH BIOGENOME PROJECT of microbes and living specimens in a Subglacial Lake Mercer of Antarctica. Why in News? • This project could add to understanding of the evolution of life in these extreme environments on International biologists have launched an earth and other celestial bodies such as habitats ambitious Earth BioGenome Project at an deep inside Mars or on the ice-covered moons of estimated cost of $4.7bn. Jupiter and Saturn. • A subglacial lake is a body of liquid water located in About Earth BioGenome Project between an ice sheet and the continental land • It aims to sequence, catalog and characterize mass. The water remains liquid because the ice the genomes of all of Earth’s eukaryotic sheet above the water acts as an insulator and biodiversity over a period of ten years. traps geothermal heat from the Earth’s crust. • It involves projects by various countries: 1.3. GENE EDITING o US-led project to sequence the genetic code of tens of thousands of vertebrates. Why in news? o Chinese project to sequence 10,000 plant genomes. Recently a Chinese scientist claimed that he o The Global Ant Genomes Alliance, which helped make the world’s first “genetically-edited” aims to sequence around 200 ant babies in whom a gene linked to HIV was remove genomes. using CRISPR technique. o UK participants, led by the Wellcome What is gene editing? Sanger Institute, will also sequence the genetic codes of all 66,000 species • Genome editing (also called gene editing) is a inhabiting Britain in a national effort group of technologies that give scientists the called the Darwin Tree of Life. ability to change an organism's DNA. • The initiative would produce a database of • These technologies allow genetic material to biological information (shared online for be added, removed, or altered at particular free), that provides a platform for scientific locations in the genome. research and supports environmental and • A recent approach to genome editing is conservation initiatives. known as CRISPR-Cas9, which is short for • The participating institutions would raise their clustered regularly interspaced short own funding as far as possible. However, the palindromic repeats and CRISPR-associated project has the backing of the World protein 9. Economic Forum. o It was adapted from a naturally occurring genome editing system in bacteria.

Related Information • Genome: It is an organism’s complete set of DNA, including all of its genes. In humans, it is contained in all cells that have a nucleus. What is Genome sequencing? • It is figuring out the order of DNA nucleotides, or bases, in a genome. • It may provide new information on the genetic basis of poorly understood diseases, with the potential to provide new therapies. Eukaryotes • These are organisms whose cells have a nucleus enclosed by membranes. • These are animals, plants, fungi and protozoa, which encompass all of life except simple microbes (bacteria and archaea, which are prokaryotes). Human Genome Project (HGP): HGP-Read: • This was an international and multi-institutional effort that took 13 years [1990-2003] to produce a blueprint of the human genome. • The HGP has revealed that there are probably about 20,500 human genes composed of over 3 billion base pairs. • India did not participate in HGP-read. HGP-Write: • This project was launched in 2016 to write or build an artificial human genome from scratch with sophisticated bioengineering tools. • Potential applications include growing transplantable human organs, engineering immunity to viruses in cell lines, engineering cancer resistance into new therapeutic cell lines, and accelerating high-productivity, cost-efficient vaccine etc. Genome India Project • It was launched in 2017 by the Centre for Brain Research at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) in collaboration with Institute of Bioresources and Sustainable Development (a national institute of the Department of Biotechnology). • It seeks to carry out Whole Genome Sequencing (WGS) of over 2,000 individuals spanning different ethnic, linguistic and socio-cultural sections of the northeastern states. • It would help in understanding the genetic origins of the different ethnic groups and also an increased understanding of the genetic disease burden which would help in the development of personalised medicine. 100k GenomeAsia Project: A group of Indian scientists and companies are involved with a 100k GenomeAsia project, led out of the Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore, to sequence the whole genomes of 100k Asians, including 50,000 Indians.

2. SPACE TECHNOLOGY 2.1. ISRO • ISRO Human Space Flight Centre (HSFC) at Bengaluru will be responsible for implementation of GAGANYAAN Project. 2.1.1. GAGANYAAN MISSION Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), 1969. Why in News? • It’s the pioneer space exploration agency of the GoI, with headquarters at Bengaluru. Prime Minister in his Independence Day speech • Vision: To develop and harness space technology announced that ISRO will be sending its first in national development, while pursuing planetary human spaceflight mission into the space by 2022. exploration and space science research. • ISRO replaced its predecessor, INCOSPAR (Indian Background National Committee for Space Research), • In 2004, the manned space mission was first established in 1962 by India’s first Prime Minister endorsed by the ISRO Policy Planning Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru and scientist Vikram Sarabhai. • It operates through a countrywide network of Committee. centre such as Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre in • ISRO has successfully demonstrated some of Thiruvananthapuram, ISRO Satellite Centre in the technologies required for the mission Bangalore, Satish Dhawan Space Centre on such as Space Capsule Recovery Experiment Sriharikota Island, near Chennai, Space (SRE-2007), Crew module Atmospheric Applications Centre in Ahmedabad, National Reentry Experiment (CARE-2014), GSLV Mk-III Remote Sensing Centre in Hyderabad etc. (2014), Reusable Launch Vehicle- Technology • ISRO’s commercial arm is Antrix Corporation, Demonstrator (RLV-TD), Crew Escape System which has its headquarters in Bangalore. (2018) and Pad Abort Test (2018). 2.1.2. GSAT-11 • ISRO also recently unveiled a space capsule (crew module) and Space suit prototype. Why in News? • ISRO has also finalized the layout and design GSAT-11, the heaviest satellite built by ISRO was of Environmental Control & Life Support launched from French Guiana by Ariane-V Rocket System (ECLSS). of Arianespace (a joint venture of Airbus and • A successful implementation of the mission Safran). could provide with multiple benefits such as: About GSAT-11 development of newer technologies, • It weighs around 5855 Kg, double the size of increased understanding of functioning of biggest satellite built by ISRO till now. ISRO’s human body, understanding of effects of most powerful launcher GSLV-Mk III can microgravity and cosmic radiation on bio- launch satellite weighing up to 4000 kg only. organisms ranging from bacteria and plants to • It is part of ISRO’s high-throughout large mammals etc. communication satellite (HTS) fleet that will drive the country’s Internet Broadband from Specifications space to untouched areas. It is built to provide • Launch Vehicle: GSLV Mk-III launch vehicle will throughput data rate of 16 gbps. be used to launch Gaganyaan. Two unmanned • It carries 40 transponders in Ku (32)/ Ka (8) Gaganyaan missions will be undertaken prior Band. For the First time use of Ka-Band is to sending humans, with first unmanned flight introduced in India through GSAT-11. within 30 months. • It will be placed in a circular geo-stationary • Cost: It’s expected to be less than Rs. 10,000 orbit almost 36,000 Km away and settle at 74° Crores. E in India. • Aim: To send a three-member crew to space • It has a lifespan of 15 years. for a period of five to seven days. The GSAT spacecraft will be placed in a low earth orbit • A GSAT is a series of geosynchronous satellite of 300-400km. placed in geosynchronous orbit, with an orbital period same as the Earth's rotation period. • This will be the first human mission • Such a satellite returns to the same position in the indigenously developed by ISRO. sky after each day. • It will comprise of a crew module and service • A special case of geosynchronous satellite is the module that constitute an orbital module. The geostationary satellite, which has a geostationary crew will do microgravity experiment during orbit – a circular orbit directly above the Earth's the mission. equator.

o Geosynchronous satellites have the advantage be used to characterize the objects in the of remaining permanently in the same area of scene with great precision and detail. the sky, as viewed from a particular location on • Hyperspectral images provide much more Earth. detailed information about the scene by o Geostationary satellites have the special dividing the spectrum into many more bands property of remaining permanently fixed in exactly the same position in the sky, meaning than a normal color camera, which only that ground-based antennas do not need to acquires three different spectral channels track them but can remain fixed in one corresponding to the visual primary colors direction. Such satellites are often used for red, green and blue. communication purposes. This orbit is present • It was first tried by ISRO in an experimental at an altitude of approx. 35,786 km in the satellite in May 2008 and later on equatorial plane. Chandrayaan-1 mission for mapping lunar Related information mineral resources. Sun Synchronous Orbits (or Low Earth Orbit): These • Application: Hyperspectral remote sensing is orbits allows a satellite to pass over a section of the used for a range of applications like Earth at the same time of day. These satellites orbit at agriculture, forestry, soil survey, geology, an altitude between 700 to 800 km. coastal zones, inland water studies, Geostationary Transfer Orbit (GTO) is an elliptical orbit, environmental studies, detection of pollution with an apogee (high point) of 35,784 kilometers and from industries and the military for an inclination roughly equal to the latitude of the surveillance or anti-terror operations. launch site, into which a spacecraft is initially placed Related Information before being transferred to a geosynchronous or Spectral Imaging geostationary orbit. • It is imaging that uses multiple bands across the Ku vs Ka Band electromagnetic spectrum like using infrared, the • Ku band ranges between 12-18 GHz while Ka Band visible spectrum, the ultraviolet, x-rays, or some ranges from 26.5-40 GHz. combination of the above. • Most satellites today use Ku Band Transponders Hyperspectal imaging vs multi spectral imaging because it is difficult to build hardware and • The main difference between multispectral and software for Ka Band Transponders. hyperspectral is the number of bands and how narrow the bands are. 2.1.3. HYPERSPECTRAL IMAGING • Hyperspectral imaging (HSI) uses continuous and SATELLITE (HYSIS) contiguous ranges of wavelengths (e.g. 400 - 1100 nm in steps of 0.1 nm) whilst multispectral imaging Why in News? (MSI) uses a subset of targeted wavelengths at chosen locations (e.g. 400 - 1100 nm in steps of 20 PSLV C43 recently launched India's first nm). Hyperspectral Imaging Satellite (HysIS) from • Hyperspectral imagery consists of much narrower Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota. bands (10-20 nm). A hyperspectral image could More on news have hundreds or thousands of bands. In general, • HysIS is an earth observation satellite built it comes from an imaging spectrometer. Related news around ISRO’s Mini Satellite-2 (IMS-2) bus. • The Indian Air Force (IAF) has commissioned the • It was placed into polar sun synchronous development of a Hyper Spectral Programme for orbit and has mission lifespan of 5 years. monitoring suspicious moments along the • One micro and 29 nano satellites from eight international border and some parts within the different countries including USA, Australia country. and Canada were also launched along Hysis by • This hyper spectral programme, a first for the PSLV- C43. nation, will help detect or identify the presence of a human below trees, dense foliage, shrubs or About the Hyperspectral Imaging Technology inside a structure, whether it is day or night. • • It combines the power of digital imaging and It can detect human presence from air even if there is clouds cover, dense fog or snow cover. spectroscopy to attain both spatial and spectral information from an object. 2.1.4. SATELLITE LAUNCH VEHICLES BY • This result can be then used to identify, ISRO measure and locate different materials and their chemical and physical properties. Every Why in news? pixel in the image contains a continuous • Recently, ISRO launched satellite-GSAT-29 spectrum (in radiance or reflectance) and can through the launcher GSLV-Mk III D2. 7 DELHI | JAIPUR | PUNE | HYDERABAD | AHMEDABAD | LUCKNOW 8468022022

• Recently, India's Polar Satellite Launch weighing about 10,000 kg to a Low Earth Orbit Vehicle (PSLV-C44) successfully injected (LEO). Microsat-R and Kalamsat-V2 satellites into o The indigenous cryogenic C25 engine helps to their designated orbits. keep fuel loads on the rocket relatively low. India is among six nations — apart from the More on news US, Russia, France, Japan and China — to possess cryogenic engine technology. • With a lift-off mass of 3423 kg, GSAT 29 is a multi-beam, multiband communication 2.1.5. YOUNG SCIENTIST PROGRAMME satellite of India and is the heaviest satellite (YUVIKA) launched from India. It will bridge the digital divide of users including those in Jammu & Why in News? Kashmir and North Eastern regions of India. Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) has • PS4 in PSLV C-44: Normally, the last stage of a recently launched Young Scientist Programme/ PSLV rocket after releasing the primary YUva VIgyani KAryakram (Yuvika) for school satellite in space becomes dead and students. categorised as debris. However, in PSLV-C44, the fourth stage (PS4) of the vehicle would be About the Young Scientist Programme moved to higher circular orbit so as to • It aims to inculcate and nurture space establish an orbital platform for carrying out research fervor in young minds experiments. • Under this 1-month program, 3 students from o Payload: Kalamsat (Nano-satellite), a each of the 29 States and 7 UTs will be student payload will be the first to use selected. PS4 as orbital platform. Microsat-R is a • Students mostly from class VIII will be given military imaging satellite. lectures and access to R&D labs and practical Satellite-Launch Vehicles Developed By ISRO experience of building a small satellite. PSLV (Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle): It is designed mainly to deliver the “earth-observation” or “remote- • Eligibility: Students who have just finished sensing” satellites with lift-off mass of up to about 1750 9th standard (in the academic year 2018-19) Kg to Sun-Synchronous circular polar orbits of 600-900 and waiting to join 10th standard (or those Km altitude. who have started 10th Std just now). • PSLV is a four-staged launch vehicle with • All the expenses of travelling and boarding alternating solid and liquid stages. will be funded entirely by ISRO. • PSLV is classified into its various versions like • Under this, six incubation centres will be corealone version (PSLV-CA), PSLV-G or PSLV-XL established in various parts of the country - variants depending on the number of these North, South, East, West, Centre and North- strapon boosters • PSLV is also used to launch the satellites of lower East, and the first such centre has been lift-off mass of up to about 1400 Kg to the elliptical established in Agartala in Tripura. Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO). GSLV (Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle): GSLV 2.2. NASA MISSIONS IN NEWS is designed mainly to deliver the communication satellites to the highly elliptical (typically 250 x 36000 Mission Details Km) Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO). Two Parker Solar • It is first to fly direct into the Sun’s versions of the GSLV: Probe atmosphere known as corona. The • GSLV Mk-II: is a three stage vehicle with four liquid Sun’s unstable corona produces: strap-ons. First stage using solid rocket motor, solar winds, flares, magnetic and second stage using Liquid fuel and Cryogenic plasma explosions. Upper Stage (CUS) forms the third stage of GSLV • It will take measurements of the Mk II. has the capability to launch satellites of lift- Sun’s electric fields and waves. off mass of up to 2,500 kg to the GTO and satellites InSight Mars • First spacecraft designed to of up to 5,000 kg lift-off mass to the LEO (low Lander explore the deep interior of the earth orbit). red planet. • GSLV MK-III: It is a three stage vehicle with an • The landing site is Elysium Planitia, indigenous cryogenic upper stage engine (C25) close to Mars’ equator. with two solid fuel strap-on engines in the first Opportunity • It has been recently declared as stage, a liquid propellant core as second stage. It Rover complete. It confirmed that water has been designed to carry heavier communication once flowed on the Mars. satellites weighing up to 4000 kg into the Cassini- • It was launched through Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit or satellites Huygens collaboration between NASA, ESA

Mission and the Italian space agency to present a remarkable similarity study Saturn and its system of with the ones recently obtained by rings and moons (Saturn’s largest the JAXA Hayabusa2 mission moon is Titan) (Japanese mission) of another • It was first spacecraft to orbit primitive asteroid, Ryugu. Saturn. Lucy Mission • To be launched in 2021, it will be Voyager 1 • Voyager 2 has become the second the first space mission to study and 2 human-made object in history to the Jupiter’s Trojan Asteroids and enter the interstellar space after will fly by six Trojans and one Main crossing the heliopause (region Belt asteroid. where the tenuous, hot solar wind • Trojan Asteroids are any one of a meets the cold, dense interstellar number of asteroids that occupy a medium). stable Lagrangian point in • Voyager 1 was the first spacecraft a planet’s orbit around the Sun. to have entered interstellar space Interstellar • It aims to learn more about the New • It recently completed the flyby of Mapping generation of cosmic rays in the Horizons the Kuiper Belt object nicknamed and heliosphere. It is too be launched probe Ultima Thule and set the record for Acceleration by 2024. the most distant object ever visited Probe by a spacecraft. (IMAP) • It is the first mission to the Pluto mission System and the Kuiper belt. Kepler • Kepler is a space observatory • The farthest ever trajectory Mission launched by NASA to discover correction maneuvers (TCM) or Earth-size planets orbiting other course correction has been stars. It was recently retired. performed on this spacecraft. • The Kepler telescope detects the • Ultima Thule is a contact binary i.e presence of planets by registering it’s a single object, with two lobes, minuscule drops in a star’s but the lobes are gently in contact. brightness that occurs when a NASA dubbed the larger lobe planet crosses in front of it, a Ultima, and the other, which is movement known as a transit. about three times smaller, Thule. • Transiting Exoplanet Survey • Kuiper Belt is a donut-shaped Satellite (TESS) is its successor. region of icy bodies beyond the Chandra X- It entered protective “safe mode” due orbit of Neptune. ray to a malfunction. It is one of NASA’s o The icy objects of the Kuiper Observatory original “Great Observatories” projects Belt are remnants left over along with Hubble, the Compton from the formation of the Gamma-Ray Observatory and the solar system. Spitzer Space Telescope. o Many Kuiper Belt objects have Hubble • It is a joint venture between NASA remained unchanged for Telescope and the European Space Agency billions of years, and could (ESA) — was launched in its orbit provide clues to the history of 552 km above Earth. the Solar System, and possibly • It is the first major optical the conditions that led to the telescope to be placed in space. evolution of a habitable world • It has the ability to see in multiple like Earth. wavelengths — near infrared, o Pluto also lies in the Kuiper visible light and near ultraviolet. belt. James Webb • It is a joint project of the NASA, Dawn • Only mission ever to orbit two Space the European Space Agency and mission extraterrestrial targets - giant the Canadian Space Agency. asteroid Vesta and the dwarf • It will be the successor of Hubble planet Ceres. Space Telescope and 100 times • Ceres is the largest body in the powerful than it. asteroid belt between Mars and Spectro- • It is space telescope scheduled to Jupiter. It is only dwarf planet Photometer be launched in 2023. It is part of located in the inner circle of the for the NASA's Explorer Program and is solar system, rest all are located History of planned as a two-year mission with on the outer edges. the a twofold aim: to understand the OSIRIS-REx • It is a space probe launched for a Universe, evolution of the universe and how near earth asteroid Bennu in 2016. Epoch of common the ingredients for life • These first images of Bennu 9 DELHI | JAIPUR | PUNE | HYDERABAD | AHMEDABAD | LUCKNOW 8468022022

Reionization are in our galaxy. the south. and Ices • It will survey the entire sky every 6 • It is the first of nine sounding Explorer months from low-Earth polar rockets to be launched over the (SPHEREx) orbit, in optical as well as near- next 14 months as part of the infrared light, creating the first Grand Challenge Initiative (GCI), spectral all-sky survey at infrared an international collaboration to wavelengths. explore the unusual portal • The mission will create a map of between Earth and space. the entire sky in 96 different colour bands, far exceeding the 2.3. OTHER SPACE MISSIONS IN colour resolution of previous all- sky maps. NEWS ICESat (Ice, • It is a recently launched Mission Details Cloud, and benchmark Earth Observing BepiColombo • It is Europe's first mission to land System mission for measuring ice Mission Mercury, set off in 2018 and Elevation sheet mass balance, cloud and reach there in 2025. Satellite)-2 aerosol heights, as well as land • It is a joint mission between topography and vegetation ESA and the Japan Aerospace characteristics. Exploration Agency (JAXA). Gravity • It's a joint mission by NASA and • Mercury is the smallest Recovery the German Research Centre for planet in our Solar System. and Climate Geosciences (GFZ) to map Earth's Till now only NASA’s Mariner Experiment gravitational fields and study 10 and US Space Agency’s Follow-On changes Earth’s gravitational pull Messenger have flown past (GRACE-FO) due to moving water. the planet. • It is a successor to the original Aeolus satellite • It’s an European Space GRACE Mission (2002-2017). It was Agency’s Earth Explorer the first mission to measure the satellite and world’s first amount of ice being lost from the space mission to map the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets. Earth’s wind on a global Visualizing • It is a sounding rocket mission to scale. Ion Outflow get a closer look at the how the • It is part of the ESA's Living via Neutral Earth’s atmosphere is slowly Planet Programme which Atom leaking into space. include various missions like: Sensing-2 o A sounding or probe rocket o Gravity field and steady- (VISIONS-2) makes brief, targeted flights state Ocean Circulation Mission into space before falling back Explorer (GOCE) to Earth just a few minutes o Soil Moisture and Ocean later and is designed to probe Salinity atmospheric conditions and o CryoSat mission structure at heights (80–160 o Swarm magnetic field km). mission • The aurora borealis is of keen European • European Southern interest to the VISIONS-2 team as Southern Observatory (ESO) recently they are fundamental drivers in the Observatory sighted hyperion the largest process of atmospheric escape. ever galaxy proto- o The auroras are formed when supercluster sighted till date. energetic electrons, • accelerated in the electric and ESO is an intergovernmental magnetic fields from sun in organisation with 16 near-Earth space, crash into Member States along with and excite atmospheric gases, the host state of Chile and which emit bright hues of red, with Australia as a strategic green, and yellow as they partner. relax back to a lower energy Chang’e-4 • It is part of the second phase state. spacecraft of China’s lunar programme. o The lights are seen above the • It is the first mission to land magnetic poles of the on the far side of the Moon. northern and southern It landed at the South Pole- hemispheres. They are known Aitken Basin. as 'Aurora borealis' in the • Far side is the hemisphere of north and 'Aurora Australis' in the Moon that always faces 10 8468022022 DELHI | JAIPUR | PUNE | HYDERABAD | AHMEDABAD | LUCKNOW

away from Earth. spacecraft carry people to • From Earth, only 59% of the ISS after USA retired its moon is visible over a period space shuttle in 2011. of time due to: Ibuki-2/ • Recently Japan launched o Tidal locking: Moon Greenhouse gases greenhouse gas observation takes nearly same time Observing satellite Ibuki-2. i.e. 27 days, to come one SATellite-2 • Japan also launched the orbit around the Earth United Arab Emirates’ first and also to rotate once locally made satellite, the on its own axis. Thus, KhalifaSat Earth observation same side of the moon is satellite. visible from Earth while • Other Environmental the farther remains Satellite dark. o Orbiting Carbon o Lunar vibrations: due to Observatory-2, or OCO-2 tidal locking, ideally 50% by NASA, is designed to of the moon should be monitor carbon dioxide in visible but we see 59% our planet’s atmosphere. because of north-south o Geostationary Carbon rocking and east-west Observatory (GeoCarb), wobbling of moon – will build on the success of called as lunar OCO-2 by NASA, will map vibrations. concentrations of key • There are more impact carbon gases above the craters on the far side of the Americas from Moon than the near side as geostationary orbit. near side has much thinner o Gaofen 5 environmental crust which has allowed monitoring satellite by volcanoes to erupt and fill in China, to survey global ancient large basins. land and water resources, • The Earth partially shields air pollutants, greenhouse the near side of the Moon gases and other from incoming asteroids. environmental Tiangong • Recently China presented parameters. replica of its first o Venus Satellite: It's Israel permanently crewed space first environmental station. research satellite, jointly • Tiangong (‘Heavenly Palace’) built by Israel and France. is a space station program of X-Calibur • Recently, Washington China to place the Chinese University launched telescope large modular space station named X-Calibur, from in Low Earth orbit by 2022. Antarctica. • International Space Station • It intends to measure the (ISS) is expected to be de- polarization of X-rays arriving commissioned in 2024 and from distant neutron stars, CSS will fill the vacuum in black holes, etc. Space Station based • The observations will also test research. two of the most important o ISS is a habitable theories in modern physics artificial satellite in low under extreme conditions: earth orbit operational quantum electrodynamics since 1998. It is and general relativity. collaborative effort • Quantum electrodynamics - is between space agencies a quantum field theory of of the United States, the electromagnetic force. Russia, Canada, Europe Taking the example of the and Japan. force between two electrons, Soyuz • The Soyuz is a Russian the classical theory of spacecraft which carries electromagnetism would people and supplies to and describe it as arising from from the space station. the electric field produced by • Currently only this Russian each electron at the position

of the other. The force can be streak of light in the sky (meteor shower). They are calculated from Coulomb's then called Meteors or shooting stars. law. • Meteorites – When the meteors do not vaporise o The quantum field theory completely after entering the Earth’s atmosphere, approach visualizes the they are called Meteorites. force between the • Comet – A chunk of ice and rock originating from the electrons as an exchange outer solar system, often accompanied by a coma force arising from the and tail. exchange of Related news virtual photons. Scientist found an asteroid known as 2015 BZ509 which • General Relativity - it explains is supposed to be the first interstellar body to stay in that what we perceive as the our solar system. force of gravity in fact arises • Its orbit is "retrograde," i.e. 2015 BZ509 moves from the curvature of space around the sun in the opposite direction (clockwise and time. if seen from Sun’s imaginary North Pole) of Jupiter, Earth and most other bodies in the solar system. 2.4. PLAN TO PREVENT ASTEROID • The orbit of the asteroid almost coincides with the ATTACK Jupiter.

Why in news? 2.5. OTHER SPACE RELATED NASA has released a document, titled "National DEVELOPMENT IN INDIA Near-Earth Object (NEO) Preparedness Strategy and Action Plan". 2.5.1. INDIA-BASED NEUTRINO More on news OBSERVATORY • It is a 10-year plan, to enhance NEO Detection, Why in News? Tracking, and Characterization Capabilities and develop Technologies for NEO Deflection The National Green Tribunal (NGT) upheld the and Disruption Missions. environmental clearance granted to the India- o Near-Earth Objects (NEOs) are comets and based Neutrino Observatory (INO). asteroids that have been nudged by the What is INO? gravitational attraction of nearby planets • into orbits that allow them to enter the The project includes: o Earth’s neighborhood. Construction of an underground laboratory at Pottipuram in Bodi West • It calls for increased international cooperation hills of Theni District of Tamil Nadu. to prepare for potential global impact threats. o Construction of an Iron Calorimeter Related information Asteroid Impact and Deflection Assessment (AIDA) (ICAL) detector for studying neutrinos, Mission which will include the world's largest • It a proposed first-ever mission that will deflect a magnet. near-Earth asteroid to protect the planet. o Setting up of National Centre for High • It is an international collaboration among the Energy Physics at Madurai, for the European Space Agency (ESA), NASA and others. operation and maintenance of the • AIDA involves two independent spacecraft: NASA’s underground laboratory, human resource Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) Mission development and detector R&D along and ESA’s Asteroid Impact Mission (AIM). with its applications. • Its target is the binary near- Earth asteroid Didymos. • NASA has also designed a spacecraft named • It is located within 5 km of Madhikettan Shola HAMMER (Hypervelocity Asteroid Mitigation National Park in Idukki district of Kerala and Mission for Emergency Response), which could hence also requires specific approval by the deflect a asteroids. National Board for Wild Life. Asteroids, Meteoroid, Meteors, Meteorites and Comet: What are Neutrinos? • Asteroids are small bodies of rocks which revolve • The neutrinos are second most abound particles in around the sun. The Asteroid belt in our Solar System the universe. is found between the Mars and Jupiter. • They interact very little with anything and pass • Meteoroids – When asteroids smash into each other, through everything that’s why it’s hard to detect small fragments break off. These fragments are them. called Meteoroids. • They carry no electrical charge and nearly • Meteors – When these meteoroids come closer to massless. Earth and enter its atmosphere they vaporize with a • It occurs in 3 different types/flavors, separated

based on mass (electron-neutrino, muon-neutrino, • It is planned as a collaborative project tau-neutrino). between a consortium of Indian research • It is produced in the core of the sun & millions of institutions and the LIGO Laboratory in the them roam around in the solar system. USA, along with its international partners

• Neutrinos can also be made artificially. They are Australia, Germany and the UK. produced in radioactive decays and in nuclear • The LIGO project operates three gravitational- reactors. • Benefits: understanding the particle, wave (GW) detectors. Two are at Hanford and understanding the evolution of the universe, Livingston in USA. understanding of dark matter (as they interact • The proposed LIGO-India project aims to with it), role in nuclear non-proliferation through move one Advanced LIGO detector from remote monitoring, study of Geoneutrinos might Hanford to India. It would be stationed at a help creating an earthquake warning system, map perpendicular direction to the detectors in natural resources inside the earth. USA.

• They are least harmful of elementary particles, as • LIGO-India is funded by the Department of they hardly interact with matter. In fact, trillions of Atomic Energy (DAE) & Department of solar neutrinos pass through our body every second without doing any harm to us. Science and Technology (DST). About Anti-neutrinos • It proposed to be built in Maharashtra’s • They are antiparticles of neutrinos and are Hingoli District. produced in the negative beta decay. What are Gravitational Waves? • Antineutrinos (as neutrinos) are very penetrating subatomic particles, capable of passing through • Gravitational waves are distortions or 'ripples' Earth without any interaction. in the fabric of spacetime caused by some of • Neutrinos and antineutrinos belong to the family the most violent and energetic processes in of leptons, which means they do not interact via the Universe such as such as the explosion of strong nuclear force. giant stars, the collision of ultradense dead Related news The IceCube observatory at the South Pole has ones, and the coming together of black holes. discovered that a “blazar”, a galaxy with a • Albert Einstein predicted the existence of supermassive black hole at its centre, also produces gravitational waves in 1916 in his general neutrinos. theory of relativity. • It is a cubic kilometre in size and uses deep • The effect is very weak, however, and only the antarctic ice as a target for the neutrinos. biggest masses, moving under the greatest • Neutrinos can produce a charged particle when accelerations, are expected to warp their they occasionally do interact with the fundamental surroundings to any appreciable degree. particles that make up ice. • The LIGO detectors discovered the first Other neutrino study projects • LAGUNA (Large Apparatus studying Grand gravitational waves produced by two giant Unification & Neutrino Astrophysics) in Europe. merging blackholes in 2017. • Hyper Kamiokande Detector at Kamioka • Nobel Prize for Physics, 2017 was awarded to Observatory in Hida (Japan). Scientists Rainer Weiss, Barry Barish and Kip • DUNE (Deep Underground Neutrino) project in Thorne for contributions to the LIGO detector South Dakota (US). and the observation of gravitational waves. • China proposed Neutrino Observatory in Jianmeng Province 2.5.3. COSMIC MICROWAVE BACKGROUND RADIATION (CMBR) 2.5.2. LASER INTERFEROMETER GRAVITATIONAL-WAVE Why in news? OBSERVATORY Scientists from the Raman Research Institute in Bengaluru have conducted an experiment for Why in News? detection of Cosmic Microwave back ground LIGO-India (INDIGO) Observatory is scheduled to radiation in Timbaktu in Andhra Pradesh. be operational in 2024. More about news Details • Timbaktu was chosen as it is described as Radio Quiet — an area where there is virtually • It is a planned advanced gravitational-wave no interference from signals produced by observatory to be located in India as part of modern technology like mobile, TV etc. which the worldwide network. makes it most suitable place to detect even faint electromagnetic signals from the sky. 13 DELHI | JAIPUR | PUNE | HYDERABAD | AHMEDABAD | LUCKNOW 8468022022

Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation cosmic explosions (supernova), small near- (CMBR) earth asteroids and the electromagnetic • It is an all-pervasive, but weak, identification of gravitational wave sources. electromagnetic radiation from the early • It is a fully robotic optical research telescope universe, about 3,80,000 years after the Big which has been designed to capture cosmic Bang when matter was still to be formed. events occurring in timescales much shorter Most cosmologists consider this radiation to than light years like years, days and even be the best evidence for the hot big bang hours. model of the universe. • Partners: Universities and research institutes • This radiation does not come from any of the from the US, the UK, Japan, India, Germany, objects that we see in the universe, like stars Taiwan and Israel are part of the initiative. or galaxies but from a time when matter and What are transient events? radiation were in thermodynamic • These are short lived burst of energy in a system equilibrium. caused by a sudden change of state. • The events are caused due to several factors such • The spectrum produced by CMBR is very as relatively benign flares of stars, accretion of smooth. It does, however, contain small matter on compact objects, stellar merger and wiggles, or deformities, in its shape. explosions. • Each of these wiggles has valuable encoded • All these result in a flash in the sky for a period and information about specific events that took then slowly fade away. place as the first stars were born. • Through these electromagnetic signatures, astronomers try to gain an insight into the cosmic 2.5.4. INDIA’S FIRST ROBOTIC objects as well as physical processes that govern TELESCOPE their evolution. What is Time Domain Astronomy? Why in news? It is the study of how astronomical objects change with time. Changes may be due to movement or physical Recently, India’s first robotic telescope – Global changes in the object itself. Examples include pulsar Relay of Observatories Watching Transients variability, and the variability of accreting black holes, Happen (GROWTH)-India, began its operation at variable stars, and the Sun. the Indian Astronomical Observatory (IAO) in Himalayan Chandra Telescope Hanle in Ladakh. • It is a 2-m Telescope at IAO, Hanule, ladakh. GROWTH-India • It is remotely operated using dedicated satellite communication link from the Centre of Research & • It is a joint project of Indian Institute of Education in Science and Technology. Astrophysics, Bangalore and the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IITB). 2.5.5. SUNSPOT CYCLE • It is fully funded by the Science and Engineering Board (SERB) of the Department Why in news? of Science and Technology, under the PIRE Recently, scientists from Indian Institute of project, administered by the Indo-US Science Science Education and Research have developed a and Technology Forum. way of predicting the intensity of activity in the • It is a 70cm telescope and the primary next solar cycle (approximately from 2020 to objective of the project is the time domain 2031). astronomy. • It is mainly an imaging telescope. What is Sun-spot Cycle? • The first targets for the telescope were • The amount of magnetic flux that rises up to chosen from the Messier catalogue (a the Sun's surface varies with time in a cycle catalogue of nearby, bright astronomical called the solar cycle. This cycle which lasts 11 sources accessible from the northern years on average is referred to as the sunspot hemisphere). cycle. About GROWTH Initiative • Sun spots are darker, magnetically strong, cooler areas on the surface of the sun in a • It is a part of multi-country collaborative region called the photosphere. initiative to observe transient events in the • It will help in understanding of the long-term universe. variations of the Sun and its impact on earth • The initiative focus on three scientific themes climate which is one of the objectives of in the field of time-domain astronomy – India’s first solar probe – ‘Aditya L-1 Mission’.

About Aditya L1 2.5.7. PARTICLE DECAY • It will be placed in a halo orbit around a vantage point in space known as L1 Lagrange point. Why in News? o Halo Orbit is periodic, three-dimensional orbit near the L1, L2 and L3 lagrange point Recently, Scientist at CERN observed the Higgs (unstable) in a three body system. boson decaying to fundamental particles known o Lagrange Point is the point where the as bottom quarks. combined gravitational force of two large More on news bodies is equal to the centrifugal force that is • Higgs bosons decay into pairs of the following felt by a third body which is relatively smaller. There are about 5 such points in a two body particles in the following percentages: bottom system. quarks (58 percent), W bosons (21 percent), Z o The point L1 has the major advantage of bosons (6 percent), tau leptons (2.6 percent) viewing the sun without any occultation/ and photons (0.2 percent). eclipses. • Significance: It validates the theory of • The mission will carry seven payloads including the Standard Physics which states that about 60% main payload the Visible Emission Line of the time a Higgs boson will decay to a pair Coronagraph (VLEC). of bottom quarks. • Aditya L1 is to be the first satellite to study the o Standard Model: It’s built upon the idea magnetic field of the sun’s corona. that the Higgs field endows quarks and • It is expected to help study that why the photosphere, the deeper layer of the sun is at other fundamental particles with mass. much lower temperature than the corona. o Standard Model doesn't include dark • It will also study aspects that affect space weather, matter that makes up 85 percent of mass the origin of solar wind ions, their reaction to in the universe—or a description of how coronal mass ejections, the distribution of these in gravity works at the quantum level. the heliosphere- the space around the sun that • A quark is one of the fundamental particles in extends up to Pluto. physics. They join to form hadrons, such as protons and neutrons. 2.5.6. EXOPLANET DISCOVERED BY • The study of quarks and the interactions INDIA between them through the strong force is Why in news? called particle physics. • The antiparticle of a quark is the antiquark. Recently Indian scientists discovered a sub-Saturn Quarks and antiquarks are the only two or super-Neptune sized exoplanet. fundamental particles that interact through More about the news all four fundamental forces of physics: gravitation, electromagnetism, and the strong • The discovery was made by measuring the interaction and weak interactions. mass of the planet using the indigenously • A quark exhibits confinement, which means designed PARAS (PRL Advance Radial- that the quarks are not observed velocity Abu-Sky Search) spectrograph independently but always in combination with integrated with a 1.2m telescope at other quarks. This makes determining the Gurushikar Observatory in Mount Abu. properties (mass, spin, and parity) impossible • The name of the host star is EPIC 211945201 or to measure directly. K2-236 and the planet will be known as EPIC • There are six flavors of quarks: up, down, 211945201b or K2-236b. strange, charm, bottom, and top. The flavor About Exoplanet of the quark determines its properties. • An exoplanet or extrasolar planet is a planet outside our solar system around a different host About Higgs Boson star than sun. • It is popularly known as the God particle and • Around 3500 exoplanets have been discovered. Some of the exoplanetary system are Trappist-1 is responsible for giving mass to fundamental planetary system, kepler-11 planetary system, subatomic particles. TrES-4. • It was discovered by Large Hadron Collider • Kepler 90 is the first star system to have as many (LHC) at CERN, the European Organization for planets as our solar system. Nuclear Research. • CERN is the world’s largest nuclear and particle physics laboratory. At CERN, scientists and engineers are probing the fundamental structure of the Universe. 15 DELHI | JAIPUR | PUNE | HYDERABAD | AHMEDABAD | LUCKNOW 8468022022

• LHC accelerator hosts two large-particle • It is essentially an illuminated satellite which will physics detectors capable of observing Higgs bear a reflective coating to cast sunlight back to bosons — the Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS) Earth at night. and A Toroidal LHC Apparatus (ATLAS). • It would orbit at about 500km around the Earth, compared to the moon’s 380,000 km. 2.5.8. EARTH’S TWO EXTRA HIDDEN • It would be eight times brighter than the Earth’s 'MOONS' moon. • The satellites' brightness and service time are both Why in news? adjustable, and the accuracy of the lighting can be controlled. Recently, a group of Hungarian scientists • However, China is not the first country to try confirmed a long-standing astronomical beaming sunlight back to Earth. In the 1990s, speculation—the Earth has three natural Russian scientists used giant mirrors to reflect light satellites or moons. from space. The International Astronomical Union (IAU) has • The new moons are entirely made up of assigned the name Hippocamp to Neptune’s smallest extremely tiny dust particles of less than one moon S/2004 N1 discovered in 2013 through Hubble millimetre size and reflect light rather faintly Space Telescope. making them difficult to observe and study • IAU is an International Association of Professional even when they are located at around the astronomers active in professional research and same distance as the Moon from the Earth— education in astronomy. 400,000 kilometres. • With the exception of Earth, all of the planets in our solar system have names from Greek or Roman • They were observed for the first time in 1961 mythology. by Kazimierz Kordylewski, a Polish scientist • Similarly, the natural satellites of planets are and they were later named after him as mostly given names based on Greek or Roman Kordylewski Dust Clouds (KDCs). mythology. Satellites of Uranus are an exception as • These were found close to Lagrange point L5 they are named after literary characters and not of the Earth-Moon gravitational system. mythological characters. Related news China is planning to launch its own ‘artificial moon’ by 2020 to replace streetlamps and lower electricity costs in urban areas.

3. DEFENCE TECHNOLOGY Agni-IV • Two-stage solid propellant engine 3.1. INTEGRATED GUIDED • Intermediate range ballistic missile MISSILE DEVELOPMENT PLAN • Coverage: 4000 km (IGDMP) Agni-V • Powered by 3 stage solid, all composite rocket motors Why in news? • It is an Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) Recently several missiles, such as Agni V, • Coverage: 5000 km Dhanush, Prithvi-II and Nag, being developed • Maximim speed: 24 times speed of under IGDMP were successfully test fired at sound various locations. • Canister-launch for quick-response, higher reliability, longer shelf-life, less Integrated Guided Missile Development Plan maintenance and enhanced road • It was envisioned in 1983 by former President Dr. A mobility P J Abdul Kalam to help India attain self-sufficiency in the field of missile technology. 3.1.2. PRITHVI • Five missile systems have been developed under this programme namely Agni, Akash, Trishul, • Both Prithvi-I and Prithvi-II are short range Prithvi and Nag. surface-to-surface ballistic missile. • In 2008 DRDO announced the successful • While Prithvi I has a range of 150km (used by completion of the program. Army), Prithvi II has a range of 350 km (used Defence Research & Development Organisation by Airforce). (DRDO) • Dhanush (also known as Prithvi III), a naval • It was formed in 1958 by the merger of the Technical Development Establishment and the variant of this Prithvi missile, has a range of Directorate of Technical Development & 350 km. Production with the Defence Science Organisation. 3.1.3. NAG • It is under the administrative control of the Ministry of Defence. • It is a third generation “fire and forget” anti- • It works for enhancing self-reliance in defence tank guided missile. systems and production of world class weapon • It can be launched from land and air-based systems and equipment in accordance with the expressed needs and the qualitative requirements platforms. laid down by the three services. • The helicopter-launched configuration, designated as helicopter-launched NAG 3.1.1. AGNI (HELINA), can be fired from Dhruv advanced light helicopter (ALH) and HAL Rudra attack • It is an intercontinental surface-to-surface, nuclear capable ballistic missile. helicopter. • At present, US, China, Russia, UK, France and Israel • The land based version (NAMICA) has are known to have ICBMs. maximum range of 4 km while air based • It has been equipped with very high accuracy Ring version has a maximum range of 7 km. Laser Gyro based Inertial Navigation System (RINS) and Micro Navigation System (MINS). 3.1.4. AKASH MISSILE • India has reportedly also been working on multiple • It is a supersonic surface-to-air missile. independently targetable reentry vehicles (MIRV) for the Agni-V in order to ensure a credible second • It has a strike range of about 30 km and can strike capability or credible minimum deterrence. carry a 55- kg fragmentation warhead. Missile Details • It's designed to neutralise multiple aerial Agni-I • Single-stage engine powered by solid targets attacking from several directions fuel simultaneously. • Short-range ballistic missile. • The system is autonomous and its operation is • Coverage: 700 km fully automated. Agni-II • Two stage solid propellant engine. • Medium-range ballistic missile 3.1.5. TRISHUL MISSILE • Coverage: 2000 km • Agni-III • Two-stage solid propellant engine It is a Quick Reaction Surface to Air Missile. • Intermediate range ballistic missile • It can be used as an anti-sea skimmer from a • Coverage: 3000 km ship against low flying attacking missiles.

• It employs dual thrust propulsion stage using Nuclear Triad high-energy solid propellant. • A nuclear triad refers to the three components of atomic weapons delivery: strategic bombers, Related information intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) and Types of missile submarine launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs). • Cruise Missile: A cruise missile is an unmanned self- • A nuclear triad gives a country the ability to launch propelled guided vehicle that sustains flight nukes from land, air and sea. India’s nuclear triad through aerodynamic lift for most of its flight path. consists of multiple deterrants such as Agni and They fly within the Earth’s atmosphere and use jet Prithivi missiles for Army, Sukhoi-30MKI and engine technology. Classification on the basis of Mirage-2000 for Airforce, INS Arighat for Navy. speed o Subsonic cruise missile flies at a speed lesser than that of sound. It travels at a speed of 3.3. PROJECT 75(I) around 0.8 Mach. Why in news? o Supersonic cruise missile travels at a speed of around 2-3 Mach. The combination of Recently the Defence Acquisition Council supersonic speed and warhead mass provides approved indigenous construction of Six Project high kinetic energy ensuring tremendous 75(I) submarines under strategic partnership lethal effect. model. o Hypersonic cruise missile travels at a speed of more than 5 Mach. Many countries are More on news working to develop hypersonic cruise missiles. • Project 75 India (P-75I) is follow-on of the • Ballistic Missile: A ballistic missile is a missile that has a ballistic trajectory over most of its flight path, Project 75 Kalvari-class submarines for the regardless of whether or not it is a weapon- Indian Navy. delivery vehicle. • Under this project, the Indian Navy intends to acquire six diesel-electric submarines, which 3.2. INS ARIHANT will also feature advanced Air-independent propulsion (AIP) systems to enable them to Why in news? stay submerged for longer duration and The indigenous INS Arihant, India’s first nuclear- substantially increase their operational range. powered submarine successfully completed its first • Six Scorpene-class submarines are currently deterrence patrol. With the completion of the being built under 'Project 75' of the Indian patrol, India have finally achieved the Navy. longstanding ambition to have a nuclear triad. o The submarines, designed by French firm About INS Arihant Naval Group are being built by Mazagon Dock Limited in Mumbai. • INS Arihant is a part of Indian Navy's secretive o The first of these, INS Kalvari was Advanced Technology Vessel (ATV) project commissioned in Dec 2017 and INS operated under the supervision of the Prime Khanderi and INS Karanj are undergoing Minister's Office and closely monitored by sea trials. agencies such as the Department of Atomic • The P75I project is part of a 30-year submarine Energy and the Submarine Design Group of the building plan that ends in 2030. According to Directorate of Naval Design. this, India has to build 24 submarines — 18 • The INS Arihant was built at the Ship Building conventional submarines and six nuclear- Centre at Visakhapatnam. powered submarines (SSNs). • It is capable of carrying nuclear-tipped ballistic Strategic Partnership (SP) Model missiles. • Under this policy an Indian private company would • The vessel will be able to carry 12 Sagarika K 15 be selected in each segment which would tie up submarine launched ballistic missiles that with shortlisted global Original Equipment have a range of 750 km. It can also be armed Manufacturer (OEM) to manufacture the with four K-4 submarine launched ballistic platforms in India under technology transfer. missile with a range of 3,500 km. • The SP model has four segments — submarines, • There is also provision to launch non- single engine fighter aircraft, helicopters and armoured carriers/main battle tanks — which nuclear tipped BrahMos supersonic cruise would be specifically opened up for the private missile as well as the 1,000-km sub-sonic sector. cruise missile Nirbhay, which can be • It was first suggested in 2015 by Dhirendra Singh configured for both nuclear and non-nuclear Committee and was introduced by Defence warheads. Procurement Procedure 2016.

• A 49 per cent FDI cap has been kept for setting up What are drones? ventures under this for the production of defence • platforms and the companies have to be in control Drones or unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) of Indian entities. have been defined as “Powered, aerial vehicles that do not carry a human operator, 3.4. SMART BORDER FENCE use aerodynamic forces to provide vehicle lift, can fly autonomously or be piloted remotely, Why in news? can be expendable or recoverable, and can Recently Union Home Minister inaugurated the carry a lethal or nonlethal payload”. smart border fencing pilot projects under the • They can be used for: damage assessment in Comprehensive Integrated Border Management areas affected with natural calamities, System (CIBMS) programme. surveillance and crowd management, monitoring of wildlife etc. What is CIBMS? Various Defence UAV developed by DRDO • It is a robust and integrated system that is • Nishant: It was designed for battlefield surveillance capable of addressing the gaps in the present and reconnaissance. system of border security by seamlessly • Panchi: It wheeled version of UAV Nishant. integrating human resources, weapons, and • Lakshya: It is a surface/ship launched reusable high-tech surveillance equipment. aerial target system. • It has three main components: new high-tech • Rustom-2: It's used by all three services of Indian surveillance devices, an efficient and armed forces, primarily for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) operations. dedicated communication network and a o It can fly missions on manual as well as command and control centre. autonomous modes. Related news BOLD-QIT Key features of the Regulations for Civil Use of • Government inaugurated BOLD-QIT (Border Remotely Piloted Aircraft System (RPAS) Electronically Dominated QRT Interception • The Digital Sky Platform is the first-of-its-kind Technique) under CIBMS on India-Bangladesh national unmanned traffic management border in Dhubri District of Assam. (UTM) platform that implements “no • It enables BSF to equip Indo-Bangla borders with permission, no takeoff”. different kind of sensors in unfenced riverine area • All civil RPA, shall require to obtain Unique of Brahmaputra and its tributaries. Identification Number (UIN) from DGCA. Project Network for Spectrum (NFS) • As per the regulation, there are 5 categories The Cabinet Committee on Infrastructure approved substantial hike in the budget for the Network for of Remotely Piloted Aircraft System (RPAS) Spectrum (NFS) project. categorized by weight. • It was launched to establish the alternative • Operators of civil drones will need to get an communication network for exclusive use by Unmanned Aircraft Operator Permit (UAOP) defence services to boost the communication from the DGCA with certain exceptions. capabilities of defence forces. • RPAS shall be flown only by someone over 18 • The project is result of an agreement reached in years of age, having passed 10th exam in 2010 between Defence ministry and Dept. of English, and undergone ground/ practical Telecom (DoT) in which DoT agreed to vacate 25 training as approved by DGCA. MHz of 3G spectrum and 20 MHz of 2G spectrum in phases solely for defence communication purpose • DGCA has also clarified that no remote pilot • The project is being implemented by state-run can operate more than one RPA at any time. Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL). • The basic operating procedure will restrict drone flights to the daytime only and that too 3.5. DRONE REGULATIONS IN within “Visual Line of Sight (VLOS)”. INDIA • An insurance will be mandatory to cover third-party damage. Why in News? • Restrictions placed such as: o RPAS cannot be flown within 5km of the Ministry of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has for the first perimeters of the airports in Mumbai, time released a set of rules regulating the civil use Delhi, Chennai, Kolkata, Bengaluru and st of drones in India which will be effective from 1 Hyderabad and within 3km from the December, 2018. perimeter of any other airport. o It cannot fly within “permanent or temporary Prohibited, Restricted and

Danger Areas” and within 25km from 3.6.2. MISSILE PRAHAAR international border which includes the Line of Control (LoC), Line of Actual • India recently successfully test-fired missile Control (LAC) and Actual Ground Position Prahaar off Odisha coast. Line (AGPL). • It is a surface-to-surface short-range tactical o It cannot fly beyond 500 m into sea from ballistic missile developed by DRDO with a the coast line and within 3 km from strike range is 150 km. perimeter of military installations. • It can carry warhead up to 200 kg. It uses o It also cannot be operated from a mobile solid propellant and travels at a speed of platform such as a moving vehicle, ship or Mach 2. aircraft. o Eco-sensitive zones around National Parks 3.6.3. MILAN-2T ANTI-TANK MISSILES and Wildlife Sanctuaries are off-limits • The Defence Acquisition Council gave without prior permission. approval for acquisition of 5,000 Milan 2T anti- Related news tank guided missiles (ATGM) with a range of 2 • Government has setup the Drone Task Force under Km. the chairmanship Jayant Sinha which will provide • Milan-2 is a French 2nd-generation man-portable draft recommendations for Drone Regulations 2.0. ATGM which is produced in India by Bharat 3.6. OTHER DEFENCE PROJECTS Dynamics Limited in partnership with a French firm. IN NEWS • Some of the indigenous anti-tank missiles include: NAG, HELINA, SANT (Stand-off Anti- 3.6.1. SOLID FUEL DUCTED RAMJET Tank) Missile, Cannon-launched Laser Guided (SFDR) Missile (CLGM), SAMHO, AMOGHA-1, AMOGHA-2, AMOGHA-3. • Recently, DRDO successfully flight tested the second indigenously developed ‘Solid Fuel 3.6.4. BARAK-8 MISSILE Ducted Ramjet (SFDR)’ propulsion-based • The Barak 8 missile defence system will be missile system. procured by the Israeli Navy to protect its • Started in 2013, it’s an Indo-Russian R&D economic zones and strategic facilities. project which has been established to • Barak 8 (the Hebrew word for Lightning), develop a long-range air-to-air missile and a jointly developed by India and Israel, is a long- surface-to-air missile system in near future. range surface-to-air missile (LRSAM). • SFDR technology, based on the ramjet • It is designed to defend against any type of propulsion system depends only on its airborne threat including aircraft, helicopters, forward motion at supersonic speed to anti-ship missiles, and UAVs as well as cruise compress intake air missiles and combat jets. • Unlike solid rocket propellant whose • Its main features include: formulation is approximately 20% fuel and 80% o Capability to take down an incoming oxidizer, the solid ramjet fuel is 100% fuel and missile as close as 500 meters away; obtains oxidizer from air, with the result o Maximum speed – Mach 2 being approximately four times the specific o Operational range - 70 Km (which has impulse (the product of thrust and time been increased to 100 Km) divided by propellant weight) as compared to o Simultaneous Engagements on multiple solid rocket propellant. targets in all weather conditions. • Hence, this air breathing ramjet propulsion technology helps propel the missile at high 3.6.5. NATIONAL ADVANCE SURFACE supersonic speeds (above Mach 2) for TO AIR MISSILE SYSTEM-II (NASAMS) engaging targets at long ranges. • Recently, Defence Acquisitions Council (DAC) • Consequently, it has inherent simplicity, approved the acquisition of National Advance reliability, lightweight, and high-speed flight Surface to Air Missile System-II (NASAMA) for capability not possible with other air- the security of Delhi. breathing engines. • NASAMS was developed by Raytheon in partnership with KONGSBERG Defence and Aerospace of Norway.

• It quickly detects, tracks & shoots down refueling. It is pegged as world’s smallest and multiple airborne threats such as cruise lightest supersonic fighter aircraft in its class. missiles, aircraft and drones. • It has limited reach of little over 400-km and • It consists of a radar, short and medium range will be mainly used for close air-to-ground missile launchers and fire distribution centres, operations (unlike Russian-origin Sukhoi- • It is deployed in US, Israel, Russia and various 30MKIs or Rafale which have deep strike NATO countries. capability into enemy territory due to their long range). 3.6.6. AVANGARD HYPERSONIC • It is equipped with state-of-the-art Satellite SYSTEM aided Inertial Navigation System. • It is not the first indigenous fighter to be • Recently, Russia successfully test fired inducted into the IAF. In April 1967, IAF had Avangard Missile. formed the first operational squadron with • It’s liquid-fueled intercontinental-range the indigenous HF-24 Marut fighter. ballistic missile (ICBM), with the ability to fly as fast as Mach 20 (more than 15,000 miles 3.6.9. CHINOOK HELICOPTERS per hour), and can carry nuclear and conventional warheads. • India received Boeing Co.’s Chinook • Avangard deployment by 2019 will make it the helicopters that are expected to bolster the first operational hypersonic glide vehicle heavy-lift capabilities of its air force and system deployed anywhere in world. further strengthen the fast-expanding defence ties with the US. 3.6.7. PINAKA ROCKET • It is a multi-role, vertical-lift platform, which is used for transporting troops, artillery, • An upgraded version of Pinaka rocket was equipment and fuel. It is also used for recently successfully test-fired from humanitarian and disaster relief operations Chandipur in Odisha. and in missions such as transportation of • The upgraded Pinaka system, Pinaka mark-II, relief supplies and mass evacuation of is a guided one unlike the earlier version and refugees. has navigation, guidance and control kit. • It is also expected to give a significant boost • The range of new version is more than 70 to infrastructure development along India’s kilometre which was earlier only 40km. borders given the Chinook has the capability • It is a multi-barrel rocket launcher which can to ferry heavy cargo like road construction fire a salvo of 12 rockets in 44 seconds. equipment over difficult terrain. 3.6.8. LCA TEJAS 3.6.10. ARTILLERY GUN ‘DHANUSH’

• Recently, India's Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) • It is the first long-range artillery gun to be Tejas has received the final operational produced in India. clearance for induction into the Indian Air • It is an upgraded version, based on the Force (IAF) as a weaponised fighter jet. original design of the Swedish 155-mm Bofors • It is indigenously built fighter aircraft and has howitzers, which India procured in the mid- been designed by Aeronautical Development 1980s. Agency (ADA) and produced by Hindustan • It is the product of joint efforts by the Aeronautics Limited (HAL). Ordinance Factory Board and the Army with • It is single-seat multi-role jet fighter, powered contributions from the DRDO, DGQA etc. and by single engine and can also carry out mid-air several private enterprises.

4. IT & COMPUTER 4.1. DATA PROTECTION 4.2. NET NEUTRALITY

Why in news? Why in News? Recently, B. N. Srikrishna committee submitted its The Telecom Commission, the highest decision- report on a Data Protection Framework and also a making body in the Department of Telecom has draft bill on data protection. recently approved the principles of net neutrality recommended by TRAI last year. Key features of Data protection framework as provided by Sri Krishna Committee What is Net Neutrality? • Fiduciary relationship: The relationship • The basic principles of net neutrality is that between the individual and the service nobody owns the internet and it is free and provider must be viewed as a fiduciary open to all and that Internet Service Providers relationship. (ISPs) must treat all internet traffic equally • Defined personal data: as data from which an without any regard to the type, origin or individual may be identified or identifiable, destination of the content or the means of its either directly or indirectly. transmission. • Consent-based data processing except in • According to TRAI net neutrality principles, certain cases. any form of discrimination or interference in • Ownership of personal data: Through rights the treatment of content, including practices such as right to access, confirm & correct like blocking, degrading, slowing down or data, right to object data processing and right granting preferential speeds or treatment to to be forgotten. any content is prohibited. • Regulatory authority: to inquire into and take • Other recommendations include: action against any violations of the data o Specialised Service: are exempted from protection regime. neutrality framework such as tele-surgery, • Amendments to other laws: Minimum data Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) and protection standards should be adhered to for IPTV services etc. all data processing in the country authorized o Content delivery Network (CDN) under various laws such as Information platform: should not be included within Technology Act, Census Act etc. the scope of any restrictions on non- • The Draft Personal Data Protection Bill 2018 discriminatory treatment. follows the recommendation of the o Regulatory Body: TRAI suggested DoT committee and also provides for may establish a multi-stakeholder body establishment of a data protection authority, with framework for collaborative mandates data localization, offences and mechanism among the stakeholders for penalties, recognition of privacy as a monitoring the net-neutrality. fundamental right etc. Related news Data Protection in India Inclusive Internet Index 2019 th • India does not have any dedicated legal • Recently, India ranked 47 in Inclusive Internet framework for data protection. Presently some Index 2019. acts cover the data protection in general • It is the third edition of Inclusive Internet Index, o Sec 43 A of Information technology act 2000 prepared by The Economist Intelligence Unit. protects user data from misuse but it is applicable • It covers 100 countries, representing 94 per cent of to only corporate entities and not on government the world's population and 96 per cent of global agency. Also the rules are restricted to sensitive GDP. Sweden has topped the ranking and Congo is personal data only — medical history, biometric on the last spot. information among other things. • It measures inclusiveness based on four categories: o Other acts like consumer protection Act 2015, Accessibility (network coverage), Affordability copyrights act 1957 among others also attempt to (pricing), Relevance (availability of local-language protect the personal information. content) and Readiness (capability to access Related news internet). Recently European Union has adopted General Data Protection Regulation 2018 which mandates that every EU citizen’s data be stored within the EU. GDPR also regulates exportation of this data outside the EU. 22 8468022022 DELHI | JAIPUR | PUNE | HYDERABAD | AHMEDABAD | LUCKNOW

4.3. 5G Parliamentary Standing Committee on Information Technology. Why in news? Background of Government Initiatives The Steering Committee, headed by AJ Paulraj, • National Digital Literacy Mission (NDLM) was for identifying the 5G deployment roadmap for launched to realize the vision of ‘Digital India recently submitted report titled 'Making India’, which aims for transforming India into India 5G Ready'. a digitally empowered society and economy. What is 5G? • Under the mission, beneficiaries undergo a • 5G is a wireless communication technology 20-hour training programme in using using radio waves or radio frequency (RF) computers and other digital devices, browsing energy to transmit and receive data. the Internet and sending and receiving emails. • 5G technologies will enter services gradually, • The original deadline for the NDLM was 18 beginning in 2019 and advance to a full range months but it was extended to 27 months of services by 2024. before it was scrapped in June 2016. While the • The final standard for 5G will be set up by the programme was still running, the government International Telecommunications Union introduced the Digital Saksharta Abhiyan, or (ITU). DISHA, in January 2015. • Technical specification for 5G – • In 2017, the government launched the o high data rates: While 4G tops out at a Pradhan Mantri Gramin Digital Saksharta theoretical 100 megabits per second Abhiyan by improving upon previous two (Mbps), 5G tops out at 10 gigabits per schemes. second (Gbps). Related Information o massive connectivity of 1 million Pradhan Mantri Gramin Digital Saksharta Abhiyan' connections per square kilometer (4G- 100 (PMGDISHA) thousand conncetions/km2). • It was launched in 2017 to make 6 crore rural o ultra-low latency of 1 millisecond (4G has households digitally literate by March 2019. a latency of 10 ms). • It is expected to be one of the largest Digital o high reliability (99.999% for mission Literacy Programmes in the world.

critical ‘ultra-reliable’ communications), • Under the scheme, 25 lakh candidates will be trained in the FY 2016-17; 275 lakh in the FY 2017-18; and and 300 lakh in the FY 2018-19. o Mobility at high speeds (up to 500 km/h • To ensure equitable geographical reach, each of i.e. high-speed trains). the 250,000 Gram Panchayats would be expected o 30 Ghz of available spectrum in to register an average of 200-300 candidates. comparison to 3Ghz of 4G. Related information 4.4.2. DIGITAL VILLAGE PROGRAMME • The Government has launched a program titled ‘Building an End-to-End 5G Test Bed’. The program Why in news? envisages close collaboration between the Recently, it has been decided to expand Common universities and small technology companies to Service Centres (CSC) to 2.50 lakh gram build broadly compliant with the third generation partnership projects (3GPP) standards. panchayats. • Ericsson has installed the first public access 5G test More on news bed at IIT Delhi. 5G in World • The CSC model has adopted six villages in the • South Korea has become the world's first country country in the pilot phase to be developed as to launch 5th-Generation (5G) networks. Digital Villages. • Shanghai Becomes World's First City With 5G o Common Service Centres (CSC) scheme is Network Coverage. one of the mission mode projects under the Digital India Programme. 4.4. DIGITAL INITIATIVES o CSCs are the access points for delivery of essential public utility services, social 4.4.1. NATIONAL DIGITAL LITERACY welfare schemes, healthcare, financial, MISSION education and agriculture services, apart from host of B2C services to citizens in Why in News? rural and remote areas of the country. Recently a report on review of National Digital • DigiGaon or Digital Village is conceptualized Literacy Mission was laid in Parliament by the as a connected place in a rural and remote 23 DELHI | JAIPUR | PUNE | HYDERABAD | AHMEDABAD | LUCKNOW 8468022022

part of the country where citizens can avail various e-Services of the Central Government, state Governments and private players. • Aim: Promoting rural entrepreneurship and building rural capacities and livelihoods through community participation and collective action. • The digital villages have been equipped with solar lighting facility in their community center, LED assembly unit, sanitary napkin unit (with active participation on Asha and Anganwadi workers) and Wi-fi choupal. 4.4.3. DIGITAL NORTH-EAST VISION 2022 Why in News? Recently government released 'Digital North East: Vision 2022', that aims to leverage digital technologies to transform lives of people of the northeastern states and enhance the ease of living. More on news • The Vision document aims to consolidate all the disparate digital initiatives with a view to restructure, refocus, and fast track implementation in a synchronised manner. • Launched under the Digital India programme it will be coordinated by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology and will be implemented by various central government ministries and governments of north eastern states, • The document identifies eight digital thrust areas -digital infrastructure, digital services, digital empowerment, promotion of electronics manufacturing, promotion of IT and IT enabled services including BPOs, digital payments, innovation & startups, and cyber 4.4.4. DIGITAL PAYMENT security. Why in news? NITI Aayog recently pointed out that the digital payments market in India is set to become a trillion-dollar industry in the next five years, led by growth in mobile payments which are slated to rise to $190 billion by 2023 from $10 billion in 2017- 18. About Digital Payment in India • The Payment and Settlement Act, 2007 defines Digital Payments/electronic funds transfer as any transfer of funds which is initiated by a person by way of instruction, authorization or order to a bank to debit or credit an account maintained with that bank

through electronic means and includes point spearheading the development of the retail of sale transfers; automated teller machine payments system. transactions, direct deposits or withdrawal of • Initiatives by the NPCI: Launching of grid-wise funds, transfers initiated by telephone, operations of CTS, RuPay (a domestic card internet and, card payment. payment network), Aadhaar Payments Bridge • The payment system can be bifurcated into System and Aadhaar Enabled Payment two main segments: System, National Unified USSD Platform o The first segment consists of instruments (NUUP), UPI and the BHIM application. which are covered under Systemically • Settlement at half-hourly intervals was Important Financial Market introduced in the National Electronic Funds Infrastructure (SIFMIs) and the second Transfer (NEFT) system. segment consist of Retail Payments. • Rationalisation of Merchant Discount Rate o Financial Market Infrastructure (FMI) is (Rate charged to a merchant for payment defined as a multilateral system among processing services on debit and credit card participating institutions, including the transactions) was undertaken to provide a operator of the system, used for the boost to digital payments. purposes of clearing, settling, or • Furthermore, non-bank entities have been recording payments, securities, introduced in the issuance of pre-paid derivatives, or other financial instruments (PPI), including mobile and digital transactions. Under this segment there wallets. are four instruments of payments: Real • DigiShala: Free Doordarshan DTH educational Time Gross Settlement (RTGS), channel for creating awareness regarding Collateralized Borrowing and Lending various forms of electronic payment. Obligation, Forex Clearing and • Vittiya Saksharta Abhiyan of Ministry of Government Securities. Human Resource Development aims to o Under the Retail Payments segment actively engage the youth/ students of Higher which has a large user base, there are Education Institutions to encourage and three broad categories of instruments. motivate all payers and payees to use a They are Paper Clearing, Retail Electronic digitally enabled cashless economic system Clearing and Card Payments which for transfer of funds. includes Cheque Truncation System (CTS), National Electronic Funds Transfer, 4.5. CRYPTOCURRENCY Unified Payments Interface, Immediate Payment Service etc. Why in news? Benefits The Reserve Bank of India released a statement • It reduces cost of transactions: Digital directing all regulated entities, including banks, to payment is faster, easier, more convenient stop dealing with individuals and businesses and enables financial participation and involved in virtual currencies. inclusion. What is Cryptocurrency? • It promotes more transparency and accountability as it helps to keep black money • Cryptocurrency is a type of digital currency under control and increases tax compliance. that uses cryptography for security and anti- • It hinders the terror financing network and counterfeiting measures. circulation of counterfeit notes. • It is normally not issued by any central Challenges authority, making it immune to government interference or manipulation. • Low internet penetration and Low levels of • The control of each cryptocurrency works digital literacy leads to unbanked population: through distributed ledger technology called About 19 percent of the Indian population is blockchain. still outside the banking net. • Examples include Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ripple • Cyber threats: It cost the global economy 1% etc. of annual GDP. Initiatives taken to promote digital payments: • The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) was established in 2008 to

the status of transactions in real time. Even NITI Aayog is reportedly building a platform called 'IndiaChain' — a shared, India-specific blockchain infrastructure to leverage the trinity of Jan-Dhan- Yojana, Aadhaar and the mobile. • Healthcare and pharmaceuticals: It involves a lot of sensitive clinical data which demands a secure and reliable system. • Insurance sector: It may play a crucial part in health or agriculture insurance claims management by reducing the risk of insurance claim frauds. • Education sector to ensure time-stamped repository of pass-outs and job records of students to enable easier verification of candidates by the employees. 4.6. ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

Why in News? Recently NITI Aayog released a ‘national strategy for artificial intelligence’, to suggest ways to promote adoption of machine learning in key areas of the economy. Artificial Intelligence (AI) • It refers to the ability of machines to perform cognitive tasks like thinking, perceiving, learning, problem solving and decision making. • It enables computer system to carry out task on their own that otherwise requires human intelligence. Importance of AI • AI has the potential to overcome the physical limitations of capital and labour and open up new sources of value and growth. • AI has the potential to drive growth by enabling: Use of blockchain beyond cryptocurrency o Intelligent automation i.e. ability to It has the power to transform business processes and automate complex physical world tasks. applications across sectors — from financial services to For e.g.: A recent study found that a agriculture, from healthcare to education, among Google neural network correctly others. Some examples include: • Blockchain-powered smart contracts where every identified cancerous skin lesions more piece of information is recorded in a traceable and often than expert dermatologists did. irreversible manner would enhance ease of doing o Labour and capital augmentation: business, augment the credibility, accuracy and enabling humans to focus on parts of efficiency of a contract and reduce the risk of their role that add the most value, frauds substantially. complementing human capabilities and • Property deals which are still carried out on paper improving capital efficiency. making them prone to disputes, can be benefitted o Innovation diffusion i.e. propelling through in-built transparency, traceability and innovations through the economy. efficiency in this system • Role in social development and inclusive • Financial services: For example, Yes Bank adopted this technology to fully digitise vendor financing growth: access to quality health facilities, for one of its clients which enables timely addressing location barriers, providing real- processing of vendor payments without physical time advisory to farmers and help in documents and manual intervention while tracking increasing productivity, building smart and

efficient cities and infrastructure to meet the • Recently an Indian version of humanoid robot demands of rapidly urbanising population are Sophia (Hong Kong) was made and is named as some of the examples that can be effectively Rashmi. solved through AI. • Rashmi can speak Hindi, Bhojpuri and Marathi along with English. • It is claimed to be as world’s first Hindi speaking realistic humanoid robot and India’s first lip- synching robot. • Rashmi uses linguistic interpretation (LI), artificial intelligence (AI), visual data and facial recognition systems. 4.7. SUPERCOMPUTER Why in News? Recently PARAM Shivay, the first super computer designed & built under the National Supercomputing Mission by C-DAC (Center for Development of Advanced Computing) at IIT-BHU was launched. About National Supercomputing Mission • The Mission, launched in 2015, envisages empowering our national academic and R&D institutions spread over the country by installing a vast supercomputing grid

comprising of more than 70 high- 2-Tier Research Architecture proposed by NITI Aayog performance computing facilities. to address India’s AI Aspirations • These supercomputers will also be networked It is focused on It is entrusted with a developing better mandate of developing and on the National Supercomputing grid over understanding of deploying application- the National Knowledge Network (NKN). existing core research based research. Private • The Mission would be implemented jointly by and pushing technology sector collaboration is the Department of Science and Technology frontiers through envisioned to be a key (DST) and Department of Electronics and creation of new aspect of ICTAIs. Information Technology (DeitY) for over a knowledge. period of seven years, through the C-DAC and Also, it has proposed setting up AIRAWAT (AI Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru. Research, Analytics and knowledge Assimilation • The Mission also includes development of platform) to be utilised effectively to support advancement of AI-based developments. highly professional High Performance Computing (HPC) aware human resource for Related News meeting challenges of development of these National Informatics Centre’s (NIC) Command & applications. Control Centre (CCC) and Center of Excellence in o PARAM Shavak has been deployed to Artificial Intelligence (CoE in AI) provide training. • The Government of India has setup Command and • Application areas: Climate Modelling, Control Centre (CCC) at NIC with the aim to Computational Biology, Atomic Energy provide single window solution for monitoring, Simulations, National Security/ Defence troubleshooting and technical support for Cloud Applications, Disaster Simulations and and Data Centre Infrastructure. Management, Computational Material Science • In addition, Centre of Excellence in Artificial and Nanomaterials, Cyber Physical Systems, Intelligence (CoE in AI) by NIC, was inaugurated. Big Data Analytics etc. • CoE in AI by NIC has been established with the motto of ‘Inclusive AI' for responsive governance, Related Information to work towards improving Government service Top-500 Project delivery to citizens. • Started in 1993, it ranks the 500 most powerful • CoE in AI will be a platform for innovative new non-distributed computers in the world. solutions in AI space. • It publishes an updated list of the supercomputers Rashmi twice a year. • Currently, China dominates the list with 229 27 DELHI | JAIPUR | PUNE | HYDERABAD | AHMEDABAD | LUCKNOW 8468022022

supercomputers, leading the second place (United ‘Parashakti’ which is an advanced States) by a record margin of 121. microprocessor for super computers. It can be • Since June 2018, the American “Summit” is the used in desktops and if 32 such world's most powerful supercomputer, based on microprocessors are attached together then it the LINPACK benchmarks. could be used in supercomputer. • LINPACK benchmark are a measure of a system’s floating point computer power. It measures how 4.8. CYBER-PHYSICAL SYSTEMS far a computer solves a system of linear equations. • India has 4 supercomputers in the Top-500 list of Why in News? the world’s top 500 supercomputers with Pratyush Recently cabinet approved the launching of and Mihir being the fastest supercomputers in National Mission on Interdisciplinary Cyber- India. About C-DAC Physical Systems (NM-ICPS) which is to be • It is the premier R&D organization of the Ministry implemented by Department of Science of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) &Technology for a period of five years. for carrying out R&D in IT, Electronics and What is Cyber-physical system (CPS)? associated areas. • CPS is an interdisciplinary field that deals with • PARAM 8000, first supercomputer of India, was built by CDAC. the deployment of computer-based systems • C-DAC has also signed an agreement with ATOS that do things in the physical world. It (France based Company) for designing, building integrates sensing, computation, control and and installing BullSequana – the supercomputer in networking into physical objects and India. infrastructure, connecting them to the o ATOS will supply BullSequana XH200 super Internet and to each other. computer to India to create a network of over • Examples of cyber physical systems are Smart 70 high-performance supercomputing Grid Networks, Smart Transportation System, facilities with a cumulative computing power Enterprise Cloud Infrastructure, Utility Service of more than 10 petaflops, for various Infrastructure for Smart Cities, etc. academic and research institutions across India. • CPS and its associated technologies, like o BullSequana will be set up in India under the Artificial Intelligence (Al), Internet of Things National Supercomputing Mission (NSM). (loT), Machine Learning (ML), Deep Learning (DP), Big Data Analytics, Robotics, Quantum Related news Computing, Quantum Communication, • Spiking Neural Network Architecture Machine Quantum encryption (Quantum Key o Recently world’s largest brain like Distribution), Data Science & Predictive supercomputer called Spiking Neural analytics, Cyber Security for physical Network Architecture (SpiNNaker) was infrastructure and other infrastructure plays a turned on for the first time. transformative role in almost every field of o SpiNNaker mimics the working of human human endeavor in all sectors. brain with the help of about thousand About National Mission on Interdisciplinary Cyber- interconnected circuit boards. Physical Systems o It has computational capability of more than • It is a comprehensive mission which would address 200 million actions per second. However even technology development, application at this rate it has achieved only 1 percent of development, human resource development, skill scale of human brain and that too with lots of enhancement, entrepreneurship and start-up simplifications. development in CPS and associated technologies. • Shakti Microprocessor Implementation: o It’s India’s first microprocessor developed by • It aims at establishment of Technology Innovation IIT Madras. Hubs, Application Innovation Hubs and o Shakti is an open-source initiative by the Technology Translation Research Parks (TTRP). Reconfigurable Intelligent Systems • These Hubs & TTRPs will connect to Academics, Engineering (RISE) laboratory at IIT Madras Industry, Central Ministries and State Government with funding by Union Ministry of Electronics in developing solutions at reputed academic, R&D and Information Technology. and other organizations across the country in a o Earlier, an initial batch of 300 chips named hub and spoke model. RISECREEK was fabricated free at Intel’s • They mainly focus on four areas: Technology facility at USA to run on the Linux System. But Development, HRD & Skill Development, now fabrication also in the country has made Innovation, Entrepreneurship & Start-ups the microprocessor completely indigenous. Ecosystem Development and International o The Shakti team is also almost ready with Collaborations.

CPS Internet of things • Multilateral Model (supported by Russia and • They are physical and • It is the network of China) engineered systems devices such as o Governance model based on agreements whose operations are vehicles, and home between multiple governments with monitored, appliances that limited involvement of non-state actors. coordinated, contain electronics, o controlled and software, actuators, Holds sovereignty of nation state in integrated by a and connectivity managing cyberspace and provides the computing and which allows these scope for the exercise of inherent right of communication core. things to connect, self-defense and the law of state • CPS engineering has a interact and responsibility, including countermeasures strong emphasis on exchange data. in the cyberspace. the relationship • IoT has a strong between emphasis on uniquely 4.10. GRAVITYRAT MALWARE computation and the identifiable and physical world. internet-connected Why in news? • They are not devices and Maharashtra Cybercrime department has necessarily connected embedded systems. with internet. • They are connected reported the malware “GravityRAT”. Ex: It may be to internet. Background individual system • IoT forms a • The ‘RAT’ in the name stands for Remote which integrates the foundation for the Access Trojan, which is a program capable of physical and cyber cyber-physical being controlled remotely and thus difficult to technology like smart systems revolution. electricity meters. Ex: Smart Home in trace. which all appliances • It was first detected by Indian Computer are connected to Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) in 2017. each other through • Malware, or malicious software, is any internet like TV is program or file that is harmful to a computer connected to mobile, user. It includes computer viruses, worms, lights are connected Trojan horses and spyware. to mobile etc. • These malicious programs can perform a 4.9. PARIS CALL variety of functions, including stealing, encrypting or deleting sensitive data, altering Why in news? or hijacking core computing functions and monitoring users' computer activity without At UNESCO Internet Governance Forum (IGF) their permission. meeting convened in Paris, “The Paris Call for CERT-In Trust and Security in Cyberspace” was • It is the national nodal agency under Ministry of commenced, aimed at developing common Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) principles for securing cyberspace. for responding to computer security incidents as and when they occur, operational since January Details 2004. • Participants: More than 190 signatures were • In the IT Amendment Act 2008, it has been obtained on the Paris Call, including 130 from designated to serve following functions- o private sector and more than 50 member Collection, analysis and dissemination of information on cyber incidents. nations. Prominent countries like India, US, o Forecast and alerts of cyber security incidents. China, Russia did not sign the agreement. o Emergency measures for handling cyber security Prominent Models of Internet Governance incidents. o Coordination of cyber incident response • Multi-stakeholder Model (supported by activities. western nations like US) o Issue guidelines, advisories, vulnerability notes o Decentralized governance institutions and whitepapers relating to information security where non-state actors like corporates, practices, procedures, prevention, response and reporting of cyber incidents. NGOs & civil society have a say in making globally acceptable norms regulating Additional Information cyberspace. • Bot: Bots are software programs created to o Gives recognition to technical expertise of automatically perform specific operations. While corporates. some bots are created for relatively harmless

purposes (video gaming, internet auctions, online malware. A Trojan can give a malicious party contests, etc), it is becoming increasingly common remote access to an infected computer. to see bots being used maliciously. • Virus: A virus is a form of malware that is capable • Ransomware: It is a form of malware that of copying itself and spreading to other essentially holds a computer system captive while computers. Viruses can be used to steal demanding a ransom. The malware restricts user information, harm host computers and networks, access to the computer either by encrypting files create botnets, steal money, render on the hard drive or locking down the system and advertisements, and more. displaying messages that are intended to force the • Worm: Computer worms are among the most user to pay the malware creator to remove the common types of malware. They spread over restrictions and regain access to their computer. computer networks by exploiting operating • Spyware: Spyware is a type of malware that system vulnerabilities. Worms typically cause harm functions by spying on user activity without their to their host networks by consuming bandwidth knowledge. Spyware spreads by exploiting and overloading web servers. Worms often spread software vulnerabilities, bundling itself with by sending mass emails with infected attachments legitimate software, or in Trojans. to users’ contacts. • Trojan Horse: A Trojan horse, is a type of malware that disguises itself as a normal file or program to trick users into downloading and installing

5. HEALTH • Quality assurance: 5.1. FOOD AND HEALTH o Every manufacturer and packer of fortified food shall give an undertaking on quality 5.1.1. FOOD FORTIFICATION assurance o random testing of fortificants and fortified Why in news? food The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India • Every package of fortified food shall carry name of (FSSAI) has recently released a report on food the fortificant and the logo to indicate. fortification. • The Food Authority shall take steps to encourage the production, manufacture, distribution, sale, What is food fortification? and consumption of fortified food. • Food fortification is the deliberate addition of one or more micronutrients to food so as to 5.1.2. EAT RIGHT INDIA MOVEMENT correct or prevent a deficiency (Hidden Hunger: Deficiency of Micronutrients). Why in News? • Food fortification is a “complementary The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India strategy” and not a replacement of a (FSSAI) recently organised the Swasth Bharat balanced & diversified diet to address Yatra, a key element of the ‘Eat Right India malnutrition. Movement’. Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) • FSSAI, under the Ministry of Health & Family Eat Right India movement Welfare, has been established under Food Safety • It is multi-sectoral effort with primary focus and Standards Act, 2006. on daily intake of salt, sugar, fat, phasing-out • It has responsibility of laying down scientific trans-fats from diets and promoting healthier standards for articles of food and to regulate their food options. manufacture, storage, distribution, sale and import to ensure availability of safe and wholesome food • It is built on two broad pillars of Eat Healthy for human consumption. and Eat Safe. • It brings together three ongoing initiatives of Food Fortification in India FSSAI that target citizens: • Fortification is being promoted through both open o The Safe and Nutritious Food (SNF) market and government schemes like ICDS, MDMS, Initiative, focused on social and PDS,etc. behavioral change around food safety and • In National Nutrition Strategy (Kuposhan Mukt nutrition at home, school, workplace and Bharat), food fortification has been given a major on-the-go. thrust. o The Eat Healthy Campaign focused on • FSSAI has operationalised standards for daily intake of salt, sugar, fat, phasing-out fortification of: o wheat- flour-rice (with iron, Vitamin B12 and trans-fats. folic acid) o Food fortification, focused on promoting o milk & edible oil (with Vitamins A and D) five staple foods- wheat flour, rice, oil, o double-fortified salt (with iodine and iron). milk and salt, with key vitamins and • It has also introduced the +F logo to identify minerals added to improve their fortified foods. nutritional content. • It has also launched the Food Fortification • Under the movement, “Aaj se thoda kam Resource Centre (FFRC) to promote large-scale campaign” was launched to encourage fortification of food across India. citizens to adopt healthy food habits through • Indian Food Laboratory Network system social media and mass media. (INFoLNET): It’s an initiative with bringing all the stakeholders to a common platform for the 5.1.3. REPURPOSE USED COOKING OIL establishment of a transparent food testing network by FSSAI. (RUCO) Food Safety and Standards (Fortification of Foods) Why in news? Regulations, 2018 • It has prescribed standards for fortification of Recently, FSSAI launched Repurpose Used various food products such as All fortified foods cooking Oil (RUCO) initiative. must not fall below the minimum level of micro nutrients.

About RUCO Initiative About Trans-Fat • Aim: To enable collection and conversion of • Also known as Trans Fatty Acids (TFA), they used cooking oil to bio-diesel. are of 2 types- • Under this around 64 companies at 101 o Natural Trans-Fat- Occur naturally in the locations have been identified to enable dairy and some meat products. collection of used cooking oil. o Artificial Trans-Fat- They are created • Significance: when the oil goes through hydrogenation, o India has the potential to recover 220 which involves adding hydrogen to the crore litres of used cooking oil for the liquid oil to make it more solid. production of biodiesel by 2022 if co- • They help to increase the shelf life of oils and ordinated actions are taken. foods and stabilise their flavours. o It is environment friendly because as of • In India, Vanaspati, desi ghee, butter and now cooking oil is either not discarded or margarine are the main sources of trans fat. disposed in an environmentally hazardous Vanaspati is favoured by the industry as it manner, thereby, choking drains and prolongs a food product’s shelf life and is sewerage systems. cheap. o It would promote public health as the • The current permitted level of trans fat is 5 initiative would prevent diversion of UCO per cent (by weight) in India. FSSAI has to smaller restaurants, dhaabas and further proposed to limit the maximum street-vendors. amount of trans fat in vegetable oils, About Used Cooking Oil (UCO) standards vegetable fat and hydrogenated vegetable oil • According to FSSAI regulations, the maximum to 2 per cent to make India trans-fat free by permissible limits for Total Polar Compounds (TPC) 2022, a year ahead of the global target by the in cooking oil have been set at 25 per cent. WHO for complete elimination of trans fat. • TPC is formed due to repeated frying and usage of edible oil which changes its physiochemical and Health Hazards due to Trans-Fat nutrition properties making it unfit for human • consumption. According to various studies, a 2% increase in • TPCs above the set level cause hypertension, energy intake from trans-fat has been atherosclerosis, Alzheimer’s disease, liver disease associated with a 23 % increase in the risk of etc. heart disease and according to another • FSSAI is working in partnership with Biodiesel estimate by WHO. Association of India (BDAI) and the food industry o Its consumption increases the risk of to ensure effective compliance of UCO standards. heart disease by raising the level of low- • FSSAI is also implementing a ‘Triple E strategy’ - density lipoprotein (LDL), also known as Education, Enforcement and Ecosystem to divert the “bad” cholesterol and at the same UCO from the food value chain and curb current time it reduces the level of high-density illegal practices. lipoprotein (HDL) which is the “good” Related information • Cooking oil may have saturated fatty acids (palm cholesterol. oil) or unsaturated fatty acids (soyabean). • They are supposed to be the main cause of • The saturated fatty acids such as in palm oil are Type-2 Diabetes and linked to insulin more stable that the unsaturated fatty acids which resistance, that is why WHO recommends that decompose easily at high temperature forming no more than one per cent of a person's polar compounds. calories come from trans fats. • Thus, it makes oils with saturated fatty acids fit for “REPLACE” by WHO frying. However, oils with unsaturated fatty acids • WHO has released a step by step guide for the are healthier provided they are used just once for industry to eliminate trans fats from the food by frying. 2023. • The guide, called REPLACE, has six actions, which 5.1.4. TRANS FAT include o Review of dietary sources of trans fats, Why in News? o Promoting replacement with healthier fats, World Health Organization has urged developing o Legislation and Setting up a regulatory nations to eliminate man-made trans fatty acids framework, o Assessing and monitoring trans fats content in from their food supplies. food, o Creating awareness and o Enforcing regulation.

Related News • Inadequate public sector diagnostic • Heart Attack Rewind: It's a mass media campaign by laboratory and Unaffordability of private labs FSSAI, calling for the elimination of industrially- • Mass bathing as part of religious occasions produced trans fat in the food supply. • Antibiotics as growth promoters in food • Denmark was the first country to restrict animals and poultry industrially-produced trans fats in food and it has witnessed a sharp decline in deaths due to • Effluents from the antibiotic manufacturing cardiovascular diseases. units leading to contamination of rivers and lakes 5.2. PHARMACEUTICALS • Disposal of untreated sewage into water bodies 5.2.1. ANTIMICROBIAL RESISTANCE • Prevalence of various Hospital Associated Infections (also called nosocomial infections). Why in news? Policy/Initiatives of Government Government has proposed a ban on the use of antibiotic colistin that is widely for non- • National Policy for Containment of AMR 2011 therapeutic purposes such as growth promotion provided regulations for use of antibiotics for and disease prevention in poultry, farming and humans as also for veterinary use along with a aquaculture in India which increases antibiotic hospital based surveillance system for resistance in humans. monitoring antibiotic resistance. Details • Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has set up a National Anti-Microbial Resistance • Colistin belongs to a group of antibiotics Research and Surveillance Network called polymixins which are termed “critically (AMRRSN) to enable compilation of National important by WHO. It is used when no other Data of AMR at different levels of Health Care. antibiotic works • FSSAI has set certain guidelines limiting the • Other countries that do not permit the use of antibiotics in food products such as fish and the antibiotic, both for therapeutic and honey. growth promotion in animals are European • Ministry Of Health has notified an amendment Union (banned colistin in 2006), while to the Food Safety & Standards Malaysia and China banned it in 2018. (Contaminants, Toxins & Residues) Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) Regulations, 2011, to set maximum permissible limits for the presence of • It occurs when microorganisms such as antibiotics and other drugs in meat and meat bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites change products, including chicken. in ways that render the medications used to • Red Line Campaign on Antibiotics 2016, was cure the infections and causing them launched to create awareness regarding ineffective. rational usage and limiting the practice of self- • It is the broader term for resistance in medication of antibiotics among the general different types of microorganisms and public. encompasses resistance to antibacterial, • National Health Policy 2017 envisions a holistic antiviral, antiparasitic and antifungal drugs. framework against AMR. It occurs naturally but is also facilitated by the • The National Action Plan on Antimicrobial inappropriate use of medicines. Resistance (NAP-AMR) 2017 has assigned • Microorganisms that become resistant to coordinated tasks to multiple government most antimicrobials are often referred to as agencies involving health, education, “superbugs”. environment, and livestock to change • It affects the, medical procedures such as prescription practices and consumer organ transplantation, cancer chemotherapy, behaviour and to scale up infection control major surgeries etc. making them very risky. and antimicrobial surveillance. o Factors responsible for antibiotic resistance in The strategic objectives of NAP-AMR are India aligned with the WHO’s Global Action Plan on AMR (GAP-AMR). • Self-medication (to avoid financial burden) WHO “Global action plan on antimicrobial • Access to antibiotics without prescription resistance” 2015: it has 5 strategic objectives: • Use of pharmacies and informal healthcare • To improve awareness and understanding of providers as sources of healthcare. antimicrobial resistance.

• To strengthen surveillance and research. Drug regime in India • To reduce the incidence of infection. • Drugs are regulated by the Drugs and Cosmetics • To optimize the use of antimicrobial Act, 1940 and Drugs and Cosmetic Rules, 1945. medicines. • Central Drugs Standard Control Organization • To ensure sustainable investment in (CDSCO), under the MoHFW, is the authority that countering antimicrobial resistance. approves new drugs for manufacture and import. • State Drug Authorities are the licensing authorities 5.2.2. FIXED DOSE COMBINATIONS for marketing drugs. (FDCS) • Drugs Technical Advisory Body (DTAB): It is the highest statutory decision-making body under the Why in news? Union Health ministry on technical matters related to drugs. It is constituted as per the Drugs and Recently, the Ministry of Health and Family Cosmetics Act, 1940. Welfare (MoHFW) in exercise of powers conferred by the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940 5.2.3. NATIONAL MEDICAL DEVICES has prohibited the manufacture for sale, sale or PROMOTION COUNCIL distribution for human use of 328 FDCs and restricted the manufacture, sale or distribution of Why in News? six FDCs subject to certain conditions. To give a fillip to the medical device sector, a About FDC National Medical Devices Promotion Council will be set up under the Department for Promotion of • An FDC is a combination of two or more Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT). therapeutic drugs packed in a single dose. About National Medical Devices Promotion Several cough syrups, painkillers and Council dermatological drugs in India are FDCs. • • Benefits: They are known to offer specific The Council will be headed by Secretary, DPIIT advantages over the single entity and will have representatives from concerned preparations, such as increased efficacy, departments, health care industry and quality and/or a reduced incidence of adverse effects, control institutions. possibly reduced cost and simpler logistics of • It will act as a facilitating and promotion & distribution relevant to situations of limited developmental body for the Indian Medical resources Devices Industry (MDI). It will give a boost to • Cheaper for consumer: Patient can buy just domestic manufacturing and for exports. one FDC medicine to treat multiple illness • It will identify redundant processes and symptoms. render technical assistance to the agencies and departments concerned to simplify the Brief Background approval processes involved in medical device industry. • In 2016, the health ministry had banned 349 FDCs, claiming they were "unsafe" and 5.2.4. ANIMAL-FREE TESTING FOR "irrational" for consumption on the DRUGS recommendation of Chandrakant Kokate committee (2015). Why in News? • Later, Drugs Technical Advisory Board Indian Pharmacopoeia Commission (IPC) has (DTAB) on a direction from Supreme Court, approved modern, animal-free tests for drug formed Nilima Shirsagar committee to review manufacturers. the safety, efficacy and therapeutic New Guidelines justification of 344 fixed dose combination • In the 2018 edition of Indian Pharmacopoeia, (FDC) drugs. The committee also the IPC has replaced the pyrogen test carried recommended the continuation of the ban out on rabbits and the abnormal toxicity test along with other observations such as: carried out on guinea pigs and mice. o FDCs were formulated without due • Pyrogen test will be replaced by a bacterial diligence, with dosing mismatches that endotoxin test or a monocyte activation test could result in toxicity. which can be carried out in test tubes. o Over the years, India has become a "dumping ground" for irrational FDCs • Abnormal toxicity test can be waived by that are not approved in other countries getting a compliance certificate from the for consumption. National Control Laboratory.

Pyrogen Test • Transmission of Nipah virus also takes place through direct contact with other NiV- • A pyrogen is a foreign substance that causes infected people. a fever (temperature elevation) in an animal’s Related Information body. Vaccines and other injectable drugs What are Zoonotic diseases? must be confirmed to be pyrogen free • A zoonotic disease is a disease that spreads according to regulatory requirements. between animals and people. • For the test, the drug is injected into a rabbit • They can be caused by viruses, bacteria, parasites, (Food and water is withheld to rabbit and fungi. overnight) and the animal is closely observed • Important Zoonotic diseases in India are: Nipah for feverish symptoms. virus, avian influenza, rabies, Japanese encephalitis, leptospirosis, Hanta virus, SARS, Abnormal Toxicity Test cysticercosis, anthrax, plague, echinococcosis and schistosomosis, Kyasanur forest disease (KFD) etc. • This test is carried out to check potential Why is there an increase in Zoonotic diseases? hazardous biological contamination in vaccine • Due to dramatic increase in population, mobility formulations i.e. the degree to which a and the associated social and environmental substance can damage living or non-living changes like habitat destruction in the past 70 entity. years. • The scientists observe if there is death of any Way forward: We need to adopt “one health” animal during the tests. approach particularly to fight zoonotic diseases. The Indian Pharmacopoeia Commission (IPC) One Health Initiative defines One Health as ‘the • It is an autonomous institution of the Ministry of collaborative efforts of multiple disciplines working Health and Family Welfare. locally, nationally and globally to attain optimal health for people, animals, plants and our environment’. • It is created to set standards of drugs in the country. 5.3.2. ZIKA VIRUS • It publishes official documents for improving Quality of Medicines by way of adding new and Why in News? updating existing articles in the form of Indian Pharmacopoeia (IP). Few cases of Zika virus disease have been • It also promotes rational use of generic medicines reported in Bihar. by publishing National Formulary of India. About Zika Indian Pharmacopoeia (IP) • First identified in Uganda in 1947 in monkeys, • It contains a collection of authoritative procedures of analysis and specifications for Drugs. Zika was detected in humans five years later. • It has got legal status under the Second Sporadic cases have been reported Schedule of the Drugs & Cosmetics Act, 1940. throughout the world since the 1960s, but the first outbreak happened in 2007 in the Island 5.3. VIRAL DISEASES of Yap in the Pacific. • In 2015, a major outbreak in Brazil led to the 5.3.1. NIPAH VIRUS revelation that Zika can be associated with microcephaly, a condition in which babies are Why in news? born with small and underdeveloped brain. Recently, there were several cases of deaths due • Some countries that have had a Zika outbreak, to 'Nipah' (NiV) virus in Kerala. including Brazil, reported a steep increase in Guillain-Barré syndrome — a neurological Nipah virus disorder that could lead to paralysis and • Nipah virus was first identified in Kampung death, according to WHO. Sungai Nipah, Malaysia in 1998. • In India, the first outbreak was reported in • The first outbreak in India was reported from Ahmedabad in January 2017 and second Siliguri, West Bengal in 2001. outbreak in July, 2017 from Krishnagiri District • The natural host of the virus is the fruit bat in Tamilnadu. but it can also infect pigs or any domesticated • Vulnerability of India to Zika due to: animals. o Poor health facilities. • The virus is present in bat urine, faeces, saliva, o Lack of effective vaccination against Zika and birthing fluids which then transmits it to virus. Humans climbing trees or drinking raw palm o Lack of awareness. sap covered in it. o Lack of after care in case of microcephaly occurrence. 35 DELHI | JAIPUR | PUNE | HYDERABAD | AHMEDABAD | LUCKNOW 8468022022

• However, samples from some states showed the presence of Type 2 vaccine derived polio virus (VDVP), which had undergone ten nucleotide changes. • If six or more nucleotide changes happen then it is called vaccine-derived poliovirus (VDVP). • VDVP is extremely rare and found in children with immune-deficiency and among populations with low immunity levels. 5.3.4. MEASLES-RUBELLA Why in news? Recently, Global Measles and Rubella Update stated that India had 56,399 confirmed measles cases and 1,066 confirmed rubella cases in 2018. About Measles-Rubella • Measles and Rubella are highly contagious viral diseases that are spread by contact with an infected person through coughing and sneezing. o Measles weakens the immune system and opens the door to secondary health 5.3.3. POLIO VIRUS problems, such as pneumonia, blindness, diarrhoea etc. This virus is an exclusive Why in news? human pathogen and has no animal Recently, the Union Health Ministry has ordered reservoirs or vectors. It occurs only in an inquiry into the type-2 polio virus humans. contamination detected in the vials used for o Rubella, also known as German Measles, immunisation in Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra and is generally a mild disease but can have Telangana. serious consequences for pregnant Polio women and their children as it may cause • Polio (or Poliomyelitis) is a highly-infectious congenital rubella syndrome in the viral disease which mainly affects young foetus. children and can result in permanent paralysis. • Measles-rubella (MR) vaccine is given at 9-12 • The virus is transmitted by person-to-person months and 16-24 months of age for spread mainly through the faecal-oral route preventing both measles and rubella diseases or, less frequently, by a common vehicle (e.g. in the child as no specific treatment is contaminated water or food) and multiplies in available for the disease. the intestine, from where it can invade the • To eliminate measles and control rubella, over nervous system and can cause paralysis. 95% immunisation of children or • There is no cure and it can only be prevented strengthening of Herd Immunity is required. through immunisation. • It is a form of immunity that occurs when the • Types: Of the 3 strains of wild poliovirus (type vaccination of a significant portion of a 1, type 2, and type 3), wild poliovirus type 2 population (or herd) provides a measure of was eradicated in 1999 and no case of wild protection for individuals who have not poliovirus type 3 has been found since 2012. developed immunity. • Difference between Oral Polio Vaccine (OPV) and IPV: OPV is made up of attenuated or 5.3.5. NATIONAL ACTION PLAN FOR weakened poliovirus and there is a risk of VIRAL HEPATITIS CONTROL vaccine derived polio. IPV is made up of inactivated (killed) polio virus and will provide Why in News? immunity from all three strains of polio. Recently, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare • India status: India was officially declared Polio launched National Action Plan for Viral Hepatitis. free by WHO in 2014.

About National Action Plan for Viral Hepatitis hepatitis B &C through standardized testing and management protocols with • The Plan provides a strategic framework, focus on treatment of hepatitis B and C. based on which National Viral Hepatitis Control Program was launched in 2018 under 5.3.6. CHIKUNGUNYA VIRUS National Health Mission. Why in News? About Hepatitis Recently, Indian scientists have developed a • It is an inflammation of the liver often cause biosensor technique to detect chikungunya virus. by virus and other infections, toxic substances (e.g. alcohol, certain drugs). About Chikungunya • There are 5 main hepatitis viruses, referred to • Chikungunya is a viral disease (genus as types A, B, C, D and E. Alphavirus) which is transmitted to humans by o Viral hepatitis types B and C can cause infected mosquitoes – including Aedes chronic hepatitis and are responsible for aegypti (also transmit dengue and zika) and 96% of overall hepatitis mortality while Aedes albopictus. Hepatitis A and E usually cause acute • There is no cure for the disease. Treatment is hepatitis. focused on relieving the symptoms. o Hepatitis A and E are typically caused by • Current Detection Techniques: It’s detected ingestion of contaminated food or water. through RT-PCR (Real-time polymerase chain o Hepatitis B, C and D usually occur as a reaction) from serum samples and by result of contact with infected body fluids determination of serum anti-bodies which are such as during receiving blood, invasive time consuming and cumbersome. medical procedures using contaminated equipment, transmission from mother to About the Biosensor technology baby at birth, sexual contact etc. • Scientist made a Molybdenum disulphide o Also, Hepatitis D virus (HDV) infections nanosheet which is absorbed onto the screen- occur only in those who are infected with printed gold electrodes and then used in the Hepatitis B Virus. detection of chikungunya virus DNA using o There are vaccines to prevent hepatitis A, electrochemical voltammetric techniques. B and E. However, there is no vaccine for • Advantages: Used to develop a point of care hepatitis C. device for rapid identification of disease. It is • The challenge in eliminating chronic viral suitable for mass production, has low cost, hepatitis is due to the infected person being higher disposability and design flexibility as unaware of their chronic carrier status and to compared to traditional electrode materials. the potential for them to continue to infect others for decades. 5.3.7. QUADRIVALENT INFLUENZA National Viral Hepatitis Control Program VACCINE • It aims to reduce morbidity and mortality due Why in news? to viral hepatitis. WHO recently for the first time recommended the • Goal: Ending viral hepatitis as a public health use of quadrivalent influenza vaccine. threat by 2030 in the country • Key strategies under the programme are: More on news o Preventive and Promotive interventions • Sanofi Pasteur’s injectable influenza vaccine with focus on awareness generation. (FluQuadri) has been recommended for use in o Safe injection practices and socio-cultural the 2018-2019 northern hemisphere influenza practices. season. o Sanitation and hygiene like safe drinking • The quadrivalent vaccine will contain four water supply, infection control and influenza virus strains (two A subtypes and immunization. two B subtypes — H1N1 and H3N2, and o Co-ordination and collaboration with Victoria and Yamagata respectively), while different Ministries and departments. trivalent influenza vaccine used to contain o Increasing access to testing and both A subtype viruses but only one of the B management of viral hepatitis. subtype virus. o Promoting diagnosis and providing • Quadrilateral vaccine was approved for active treatment support for patients of immunisation of adults of age 18 to 64 years

in 2017 by the Drug Controller General of Related News India (DCGI). New Influenza Research Programme Influenza Recently, Indian and European Union (EU) collaborated • Influenza (flu) is a contagious respiratory for new influenza research programme to develop Next Generation Influenza Vaccine. illness caused by influenza viruses, About the programme transmitted from person to person via • The programme will get fund of EUR 15 million droplets. under EU funding programme for research and • It is characterized by sudden onset of high innovation called 'Horizon 2020'. fever, aching muscles, headache and severe • It aims at further advancing the next generation malaise, non-productive cough and sore influenza vaccine with improved efficacy and throat. safety, duration of immunity, and reactivity against • There are four types of influenza viruses: an increased breadth of influenza strains. types A, B, C and D: Horizon 2020

o Influenza A viruses infect humans and • It is the biggest EU Research and Innovation programme with nearly €80 billion of funding many different animals. The emergence of available over 7 years (2014 to 2020). a new and very different influenza A virus • It is helping to achieve research and innovation on with the ability infect people and have excellent science, industrial leadership and tackling sustained human to human transmission, societal challenges. can cause an influenza pandemic. ✓ Subtype: They are classified 5.4. BACTERIAL DISEASES according to the combinations of different virus surface proteins 5.4.1. WHO TB REPORT AND Haemagglutinin (H) and ROADMAP Neuraminidase (N). Avian influenza virus subtypes A(H5N1), A(H7N9), and Why in news? A(H9N2) and swine influenza virus Recently, World Health Organisation (WHO) subtypes A(H1N1), A(H1N2) and released World TB Report 2018, with collaboration A(H3N2). of UN’s first high-level meeting (HLM) on TB. ✓ Tamiflu/ Oseltamivir Drug to treat influenza A (including H1N1) and Findings of the World TB report 2018 influenza B. th o Influenza B viruses circulates among • TB is the 10 leading cause of death humans and cause seasonal epidemics. worldwide, and since 2011, it has been the o Influenza C viruses can infect both leading cause of death from a single infectious humans and pigs but infections are agent, ranking above HIV/AIDS. generally mild and are rarely reported. • India accounted for 27% of the total new o Influenza D viruses primarily affect cattle infections of TB in 2017, which is the highest and are not known to infect or cause among the top 30 high TB burden countries in illness in people. the world. Vaccines • Concept Notes from report • Vaccines are substances that stimulate the body’s o Triple-Billion Goals: It is associated with own immune system to protect the person against WHO General Programme of Work 2019- subsequent infection or disease. 2023 linked to SGDs health goals. This • Vaccines contain antigen (which generates the stressed the need of: protective immune response) that may be a ✓ 1 billion more people are benefiting weakened or killed form of the disease-causing from Universal Health Coverage. organism, or fragments of the organism. ✓ 1 billion more people are better • They can be broadly classified as live or protected from health emergencies. inactivated. ✓ o Live vaccines are made using ‘wild’ viruses or 1 billion more people are enjoying bacteria that have been attenuated, or better health and well-being. weakened, before being included in the Related Information vaccine and create a strong and long-lasting Facts about TB immune response. • TB is communicable infectious disease caused by o Inactivated vaccines use the killed version of the bacillus Mycobacterium Tuberculosis. the germ that causes a disease and usually • It typically affects the lungs (pulmonary TB) but don’t provide immunity (protection) that’s as can also affect other organs (extrapulmonary TB). strong as live vaccines.

Drug Resistant TB studied showed gene mutations conferring • Multidrug Resistance TB (MDR): It is TB that does resistance towards drugs such as rifampicin, not respond to at least isoniazid and rifampicin (2 dapsone and ofloxacin. of the most powerful first line drugs). • Non-adherence to drugs: Due to various

• Extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis (XDR-TB): It reasons a significant number of patients is resistant to at least four of the core anti-TB become irregular and default from MDT. drugs. It involves multidrug-resistance (MDR-TB), in addition to resistance to any of the • Issues with 2005 declaration of Leprosy fluoroquinolones (such as levofloxacin or elimination: It led to the diversion fund, moxifloxacin) and to at least one of the three leading to poor research and the frontline injectable second-line drugs (amikacin, workers stopped making household visits to capreomycin or kanamycin). identify undetected cases. • Totally drug-resistant tuberculosis (TDR-TB): TB • Stigma about leprosy: Fear of stigma, and the which is resistant to all the first- and second-line TB resulting discrimination, discourages drugs. individuals and their families from seeking the Global Efforts for TB help they need. • Moscow Declaration to End TB: It is the outcome of first global ministerial conference on ending TB, Leprosy in 2017. • It is a Neglected Tropical Disease, caused by • WHO- End TB Strategy: A world free of TB with Mycobacterium leprae bacteria. zero deaths, disease and suffering due to TB. It has • Affects the skin and peripheral nerves. three high-level, overarching indicators and related • Long incubation period generally 5-7 years. targets: • Timely diagnosis and treatment of cases, before o 95% reduction by 2035 in number of TB deaths nerve damage has occurred, is the most effective compared with 2015. way of preventing disability. o 90% reduction by 2035 in TB incidence rate • Mycobacterium Indicus Pranii (MIP), is an compared with 2015. indigenous vaccine for leprosy. o Zero the level of catastrophic costs for TB- • India has the highest burden of leprosy with about affected families by 2035. 60% of the world's new leprosy cases reported each year. 5.4.2. LEPROSY IN INDIA India’s National Leprosy Eradication Programme • It is a centrally sponsored Health Scheme of the Why in News? Ministry of Health and Family Welfare which aims Initial reports of Leprosy Case Detection to eradicate leprosy from India.

Campaign of the National Leprosy Eradication • Strategies for Leprosy elimination: o Decentralized integrated leprosy services Programme (NLEP) indicated an all-time high of through General Health Care system. nearly 50,000 new leprosy cases in Bihar. o Early detection & complete treatment of new Current scenario leprosy cases. o Carrying out house hold contact survey in • India was officially declared to have detection of Multibacillary (MB) & child cases. eliminated leprosy in 2005, yet India still o Early diagnosis & prompt MDT, through accounts for the largest number of leprosy routine and special efforts affected people in the world (58 per cent). o Involvement of Accredited Social Health o According to WHO, ‘elimination’ implies a Activists (ASHAs) in the detection & complete prevalence rate of less than one case per treatment of Leprosy cases for leprosy work What are Neglected Tropical Diseases? 10,000; whereas 'eradication' means to • WHO defines NTDs as a diverse group of reach zero level — a condition where no communicable diseases that prevail in tropical and infection remains, and there is no subtropical conditions in 149 countries. possibility of further transmission. • Vulnerability: Populations living in poverty, • Indian research contributed to the without adequate sanitation and in close contact development of Multi-Drug Therapy (MDT), with infectious vectors and domestic animals and now recommended by WHO, which led to the livestock are those worst affected. shortening of treatment and higher cure • Situation in India: Diseases that are most prevalent rates. in India include lymphatic filariasis, soil transmitted helminthiases, trachoma, visceral leishmaniasis, Challenges in eradicating leprosy dengue, rabies, cysticercosis, Japanese encephalitis and intestinal worm infections • Antimicrobial resistance in leprosy: Global (hookworms, whipworms and Ascaris worms). data shows that a total of 8% of the • Uniting to Combat NTDs: Leaders of several Mycobacterium leprae bacterial strains prominent global health and development 39 DELHI | JAIPUR | PUNE | HYDERABAD | AHMEDABAD | LUCKNOW 8468022022

organizations, together with industry partners, Trachoma also known as Alliance for Global met in London in 2012 and pledged to unite in their Elimination of Trachoma by 2020. efforts to support the achievement of the WHO • Vision 2020 of WHO and IAPB (International 2020 goals in respect to 10 NTDs. Agency for the Prevention of Blindness) - includes o Pledge is known as London Declaration on Trachoma as a priority under its disease control NTDs. component. • 10 NTDs are: Guinea worm disease, lymphatic filariasis, blinding trachoma, sleeping sickness, 5.5. OTHER NEWS leprosy, helminthes, schistosomiasis, river blindness, Chagas disease and visceral 5.5.1. TRIPLE DRUG THERAPY FOR leishmaniasis (Kala Azar). LYMPHATIC FILARIASIS 5.4.3. NEPAL ELIMINATES TRACHOMA (ELEPHANTIASIS) Why in news? Why in news? Recently, WHO has announced that Nepal has Recently Triple Drug Therapy regime for eliminated Trachoma and became the first eradication of Lymphatic Filariasis was launched. country in South East Asia to do so. What is Trachoma? Details • It is a chronic infective eye disease caused by • Triple Drug Therapy involves combination of infection with the bacterium Chlamydia three drugs Ivermectin, Diethylcarbamazine trachomatis which is transmitted through Citrate and Albendazol (Known as IDA). contact with eye and nose discharge of • Lymphatic filariasis, a neglected tropical infected people, particularly young children disease caused by three species of thread-like who are most vulnerable to the infection. nematode worms, known as filariae – • It is also spread by flies which come in contact Wuchereria bancrofti (responsible for 90% with the infected person and is most common cases), Brugia malayi and Brugia timori. under poor environment, low personal • It’s transmitted to humans through hygiene and inadequate access to water. mosquitoes. • It is one of the causes of the avoidable • The larval stages of the parasite (microfilaria) blindness and one of the 18 Neglected circulate in the blood and are transmitted Tropical Diseases (NTD). from person to person by mosquitoes. • During 1950s, India was a hyperendemic to • Manifestation of the disease after infection Trachoma. About 50%-80% children from takes time and can result in an altered North-west India were affected by it. lymphatic system, causing abnormal • Ministry of Health and Family Welfare of India enlargement of body parts (like feet, arms, had recently National Trachoma Survey breasts, genitals) leading to severe disability Report (2014-17) and declared India infective and social stigmatization and poverty of those Trachoma free under WHO GET2020 affected. program, however it has not been yet announced by WHO. 5.5.2. RARE DISEASES Criteria used by WHO for assessing a country’s claim for having eliminated trachoma as a public health Why in News? problem. After withdrawing the National Policy for

• less than 5% of children aged 1–9 years have signs Treatment of Rare Diseases (NPTRD), the Minister of active trachoma which can be treated with of Health and Family Welfare has approved a antibiotics, in each previously-endemic district; • less than 0.2% of people aged 15 years and older proposal for adding a sub-component under the have trachomatous trichiasis, which requires eyelid umbrella scheme of Rashtriya Arogya Nidhi surgery, in each previously-endemic district; and (RAN) for provision of one-time financial • A health system which can identify and manage assistance to those below threshold poverty line new cases of trachomatous trichiasis. for specified rare diseases which require one-time Global Initiatives for Trachoma treatment. • WHO’s SAFE (Surgery, Antibodies, Facial cleanliness, Environmental improvement) strategy About Rare Diseases (1997) and Global Elimination of Blinding Trachoma • There is no universally accepted definition of by 2020 to eliminate Trachoma. rare diseases and the definitions usually vary • GET2020- a WHO International Alliance of across different countries. However, generally interested parties who work for elimination of

rare diseases are defined as a health 5.5.4. BACTERIA WOLBACHIA condition of low prevalence that affects a small number of people compared with other Why in news? prevalent diseases in the general population. Recently successful experiments were conducted • WHO defines rare disease as often in Australia, which demonstrated the positive debilitating lifelong disease or disorder correlation between presence of Wolbachia condition with a prevalence of 1 or less, per bacteria in mosquitoes and reduced spread of 1000 population. diseases such as Malaria and Dengue. • 80% of rare diseases are genetic in origin and Details hence disproportionately impact children. • Wolbachia is a tiny bacterium that is present • These are also called ‘orphan diseases’ in up to 60% of all species of insects, including because drug companies are not interested in several mosquito species (except Aedes adopting them to develop treatments due to aegypti mosquito: responsible for low profitability. transmitting dengue, chikungunya and Zika). • The most common rare diseases include • The World Mosquito Program introduces Haemophilia, Thalassemia, Sickle-cell Wolbachia into Aedes aegypti mosquitoes. Anaemia, auto-immune diseases, etc. Once Wolbachia carrying mosquitoes are • Karnataka is the first state to release a Rare released, they breed with wild mosquitoes Diseases and Orphan Drugs Policy. and over time, the majority of mosquitoes 5.5.3. ‘P NULL’ PHENOTYPE carry Wolbachia. • This new method provides bio-control Why in news? approach to handle these diseases. A team of doctors from Mangaluru's Kasturba Medical College (KMC) has identified a rare blood 5.5.5. WHO PUBLISHES ESSENTIAL group called “pp” or “P null” phenotype for the DIAGNOSTICS LIST first time in India. More about the news Why in news? • ABO and Rh are the common types of blood World Health Organization (WHO) published its group systems. However, there are more than first Essential Diagnostics List (EDL) – which 200 minor blood group antigens known catalogues tests to diagnose the most common besides A, B and Rh. conditions and a number of global priority • A blood type is considered rare if fewer than diseases. one in 1,000 people have it. A person is said to Details have rare blood group when he lacks the high • frequency antigen or multiple common EDL consists of 113 products – 58 tests for a antigens. range of common conditions and the rest 55 • The ‘P null’ blood group has anti-PP1Pk test for “priority” diseases such as HIV, TB, antibody that has the potential to cause acute HPV, syphilis, malaria and hepatitis B and C. intravascular haemolytic reaction to • It is intended to serve as a template for incompatible blood transfusion. This antibody countries to develop their own list. WHO will is also known to cause recurrent abortions in support the countries for its local adaptation. women. 5.5.6. CELIAC DISEASE • Finding compatible unit for such case is a near impossible task without a well-established Why in news? rare donor panel, hence Rare donor registry Recently there have been calls to raise awareness should be maintained for managing such regarding celiac disease. cases. Details • Celiac disease also called sprue or coeliac, is an immune reaction to eating gluten, a protein found in wheat, barley and rye. • It is a kind of an autoimmune disorder (where the immune system mistakes healthy cells and substances for harmful ones and produces antibodies against them (antibodies usually fight off bacteria and viruses) occurring in people who are genetically predisposed. 41 DELHI | JAIPUR | PUNE | HYDERABAD | AHMEDABAD | LUCKNOW 8468022022

• In celiac patient, eating gluten triggers an weight loss, bloating and anemia, and can immune response in small intestine. Over lead to serious complications. time, this reaction damages small intestine's • There's no cure for celiac disease. lining and prevents absorption of some • India has many Gluten free grains grown nutrients (malabsorption). The intestinal locally- Jowar, Bajra, Makki, Ragi, Kuttu. damage often causes diarrhea, fatigue,

6. IPR World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) 6.1. WIPO TREATIES • It is a specialised self-funding United Nations agency which acts as global forum for intellectual Why in news? property services, policy, information and GOI has approved accession to the World cooperation. Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) • It was established under the WIPO Convention in Copyright Treaty and WIPO Performers and 1967 and currently has 191 member states. India Phonograms Treaty. joined WIPO in 1975. • About WIPO Copyright Treaty The importance of IPR was first recognized in the Paris Convention for the protection of Industrial • It is a special agreement under the Berne Property (1883) and Berne Convention for the Convention (for protection of literary and Protection of Literary and Artistic Works (1886) artistic works) that deals with the protection (both administered by WIPO). of works and the rights of their authors in the o The Paris Convention covers: Inventions digital environment. (patents), trademarks and industrial designs. o • It grants following rights: Works protected under Berne Convention include novels, short stories, songs, musicals o the right of distribution and drawings, paintings and sculptures. o the right of rental o a broader right of communication to the Other IPRs public Patent • Any Contracting Party must comply with the • A patent is granted for an invention which is a new substantive provisions the Protection of product or process that meets conditions of Literary and Artistic Works. novelty, non-obviousness and industrial use. • The WCT mentions two subject matters to be • Novelty means inventive step is the feature(s) of protected by copyright: computer programs the invention that involves technical advance as and compilations of data which constitute compared to existing knowledge. intellectual creations. • Non-obviousness means the invention is not • The term of protection must be at least 50 obvious to a person skilled in the art. • Industrial use means that the invention is capable years for any kind of work. of being made or used in an industry. About WIPO Performances and Phonograms • Patents in India are governed by “The patent Act Treaty 1970” which was amended in 2005 to make it • It deals with the rights of two kinds of compliant with TRIPS. Trademark beneficiaries, particularly in the digital • It refers to graphical representation of goods or environment: services to make it distinguishable from the others o performers (actors, singers, musicians, • It can be words, symbols, sound, colours, shape of etc.); and goods, graphics representation or packaging etc. o producers of phonograms (persons or • They are governed under Trademarks Act, 1999 legal entities that take the initiative and (amended in 2010) under aegis of DIPP. have the responsibility for the fixation of • The ‘fair usage’ of certain trademarks for the sounds) purpose of education, research etc. is not available • It grants them these economic rights: the under the Trademarks Act. Therefore the third right of reproduction; the right of distribution; party is required to seek permission from the the right of rental and the right of making owner every time. Design available. • An industrial design consists of the creation of a • The term of protection must be at least 50 shape, configuration or composition of pattern or years. color, or combination of pattern and color in three- Related Information dimensional form containing aesthetic value. Copyright • An industrial design can be a two- or three- • Copyright is a right given by the law to creators of dimensional pattern used to produce a product, literary, dramatic, musical and artistic works and industrial commodity or handicraft. producers of cinematograph films and sound • Designs in India are governed by “The Designs Act recordings. 2000”. • This right allows its creator the rights of Plant Variety Protection reproduction, communication to the public, • It refers to the protection granted for plant adaptation and translation of the work. varieties. These rights are given to the farmers and 43 DELHI | JAIPUR | PUNE | HYDERABAD | AHMEDABAD | LUCKNOW 8468022022

plant breeders to encourage the development of National Intellectual Property Rights Policy new varieties of plants. Main objectives of the policy are – • Plant variety protection in India is governed by • IPR Awareness and outreach “The Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers’ • Stimulate the generation of IPR Rights (PPV&FR) Act, 2001”. • Strong legal and legislative framework NOTE: GI has been covered in Culture booklet. • Modernize and strengthen service-oriented IPR Administration 6.2. IPRISM • Commercialisation of IPR • Enforcement and Adjustment for combating IPR Why in news? adjustment Recently, Cell for IPR Promotion and Management • Human Capital Development for teaching, training, (CIPAM) in collaboration with ASSOCHAM and research and skill building in IPRs. ERICSSON India, launched the second edition of Adoption of this has led to following achievements- • Strengthening of Institutional Mechanism – ‘IPrism’. Except for Plant variety Protection (which is Details administered by Ministry of Agriculture), other • IPrism is an Intellectual Property (IP) IPRs are now administered by DIPP. competition for students of schools, • Creating Awareness - Recently, Ministry of polytechnic institutes, colleges and Commerce and Industry launched Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) Mascot - IP Nani to create universities. This competition is for residents awareness among people specially children. of India only. • Technology and Innovation Support Centres About CIPAM (TISCs) - In conjunction with WIPO, 6 TISCs have • It has been created under the aegis of been established in various institutions across different states. Department for Promotion of Industry and • Global Innovation Index (GII) - India’s rank in the Internal Trade to take forward the GII Report issued by WIPO has improved from implementation of the National IPR Policy 81st in 2015 to 57th place in 2018. 2016. • IPR Enforcement Toolkit for Police - to assist • It assists in simplifying and streamlining of IP police officials in dealing with IP crimes, in processes, apart from undertaking steps for particular, Trademark counterfeiting and Copyright furthering IPR awareness, commercialization piracy. and enforcement. • ‘Institution Innovation Councils’ (IICs) - set up in Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) through the Innovation Cell at AICTE under the Ministry of HRD. • IP Process Re-engineering, clearing backlog, reducing pendency and increase in fillings.

7. ALTERNATIVE ENERGY Related Information 7.1. INDIA’S FIRST LITHIUM ION Graphene Based Supercapacitors (LI-ION) BATTERY PROJECT • It is being produced by the waste/discarded lithium ion battery. Why in News? • Graphene oxide collected form lithium ion battery Recently, Central Electro Chemical Research showed high specific capacity at low current and it is novel energy storage system that combined high Institute (CECRI), under Council of Scientific & energy and power density. Industrial Research (CSIR) and RAASI Solar Power • The process involves conversion of graphite into Pvt Ltd have signed a Memorandum of graphene oxide by oxidation and subsequent Agreement for transfer of technology for India’s exfoliation which is then further converted into first Lithium Ion (Li-ion) Battery project. reduced graphene oxide.

About Lithium Ion Battery • Supercapacitor are now being used explicitly, in wind turbine pitch control, rail, automobile, heavy • These are rechargeable batteries having high industry, telecom system and memory backup. energy density and commonly used in consumer electronics. 7.2. THERMAL BATTERY • It uses intercalated lithium compound instead of metallic lithium as its electrode and is able Why in News? to store 150 watt-hours electricity per kg of World’s first-ever thermal battery plant was battery. inaugurated in Andhra Pradesh. • Rechargeable lithium-ion batteries cycle 5000 Thermal Battery times or more compared to just 400-500 cycles in lead acid. • Conventional battery technology is based on • When a LIB is discharging, lithium ions move the system of charging/discharging cycles that from the negative electrode (anode) to the are driven by electricity while thermal positive electrode (cathode). When a LIB is batteries, uses thermal energy to operate, i.e., charging, lithium ions move in the opposite the energy created by temperature direction, and the negative electrode differences. becomes the cathode, while the positive • A thermal battery consists of two parts: a cool electrode becomes the anode. zone known as sink, and a hot source called source. • Both these sides consist of compounds known as phase-changing materials (PCMs), which can change their state of matter on the basis of a physical/chemical reaction. • When the sink of a thermal battery receives heat, it transforms physically or chemically, thereby storing energy, while the source cools down. • During operation, the sink is cooled down, so it releases the stored energy, while the source heats up. Depending on the nature of the battery, the system can derive heat from any source, which makes a thermal battery very versatile. 7.3. HYDROGEN-CNG

Why in News? Delhi is set to be India’s first city to launch hydrogen-enriched CNG (HCNG) buses in 2019.

What is HCNG? • At the cathode, the protons, electrons, and oxygen combine to produce water molecules. • HCNG is a vehicle fuel which is a blend of • Unlike traditional combustion technologies compressed natural gas and hydrogen, that burn fuel, fuel cells undergo a chemical typically 8-50% hydrogen by volume. process to convert hydrogen-rich fuel into Advantages of HCNG electricity. • No retrofitment required- It does not need • Fuel cells do not need to be periodically any modification of the engine or recharged like batteries, but instead continue retrofitment. to produce electricity as long as a fuel source • Lower pollutant emissions- It has potential to is provided. reduce nitrous oxide (NOx), carbon dioxide (CO2), carbon monoxide (appx 70%) and hydrocarbon emissions (appx 15%) vehicle emissions compared to traditional CNG. o Hydrogen addition to natural gas can decrease engine’s unburned hydrocarbons and speed up the combustion process. • Improves fuel economy- It improves the engine efficiency, lowers fuel consumption upto 5 per cent as compared to a CNG bus. • The thermal efficiency of both Natural gas and HCNG increases with increase in load which makes it an ideal fuel for high load applications and heavy-duty vehicles. 7.4. WORLD’S FIRST HYDROGEN FUEL CELL TRAIN

Why in News? 7.5. APSARA-U Germany has rolled out world’s first hydrogen fuel Why in news? cell powered trains called Coradia iLint. A research reactor “Apsara-upgraded” has About Hydrogen fuel cell become operational at Bhabha Atomic Research • It is a fuel cell that combines hydrogen and Centre (BARC), Trombay. oxygen to produce electricity with water and steam as the only biproducts. Research reactors • The excess energy can be stored on board in • Research reactors are simpler nuclear ion lithium batteries. reactors used for research, radioisotope • It is a climate friendly fuel as it does not emit production, education, training etc, operating carbon dioxide or particulate matter as the at low temperature. case with conventional fuels like diesel, coal • Like power reactors, the core needs cooling etc. and usually a moderator is used to slow down How the hydrogen fuel cell works? the neutrons. • They produce neutrons for use in industry, • A fuel cell is composed of an anode, a medicine, agriculture, forensics, etc which is cathode, and an electrolyte membrane. their main function. Hence most research • A fuel cell works by passing hydrogen reactors also need a reflector to reduce through the anode of a fuel cell and oxygen neutron loss from the core. through the cathode. More about Apsara-U • At the anode, the hydrogen molecules are split into electrons and protons. • It has been made indigenously. • The protons pass through the electrolyte • It is the upgraded version of “Apsara”, the membrane, while the electrons are forced first research reactor in Asia which had through a circuit, generating an electric became operational in 1956 and was shut current and excess heat. down in 2009. 46 8468022022 DELHI | JAIPUR | PUNE | HYDERABAD | AHMEDABAD | LUCKNOW

• It uses plate type dispersion fuel elements o This would be a thermal breeder reactor, which made of Low Enriched Uranium (LEU). in principle can be refueled after its initial fuel • Owing to higher neutron flux, this reactor will charge using only naturally occurring thorium. increase indigenous production of radio- PHWR FBR Purpose Electricity, Electricity, isotopes for medical application by about 50%. plutonium plutonium Related Information production production Other Research reactors Coolant Heavy water Molten, liquid • Kamini (Kalpakkam Mini) (D2O) sodium o KAMINI is the only reactor in the world Moderator Heavy water Not required operating with 233U fuel which is produced by (D2O) the thorium fuel cycle harnessed by the Fuel UO2 or metal Plutonium dioxide neighboring Fast Breeder Test Reactor. and UO2 in different • Dhruva (at BARC in Trombay) combinations o It is India's largest research reactor. Enrichment Not-enriched Various mixtures of India’s three-stage Nuclear Power Programme level P-239 and U-235

• Stage 1: Pressurised Heavy Water Reactor o In this natural uranium (0.7 % fissile U-235 and the rest is U-238) fuelled pressurised heavy 7.6. WORLD’S FIRST FLOATING water reactors (PHWR) which produce NUCLEAR PLANT electricity while generating plutonium-239 as by-product. Why in News? • Stage 2 – Fast Breeder Reactor o In the second stage, fast breeder reactors Russia has created world’s first floating nuclear (FBRs) would use a mixed oxide (MOX) fuel plant (FNPP) named as Academik Lomonosov. made from plutonium-239, recovered by reprocessing spent fuel from the first stage, and About the Plant natural uranium. • It is owned by the state-run nuclear energy o In FBRs, plutonium-239 undergoes fission to corporation Rosatom, which is also the produce energy, while the uranium-238 present equipment suppliers and consultants for the in the mixed oxide fuel transmutes to additional plutonium-239. Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project in Tamil o Thus, the Stage II FBRs are designed to "breed" Nadu. more fuel than they consume. • Upon its connection to the Power grid, o Recently, India’s first indigenously developed Akademik Lomonosov will become the prototype FBR at Kalpakkam achieved northernmost nuclear installation in the criticality, which means reactor is fully world and it is expected to be put into service operational and safe. in early 2019. • Stage 3 – Thorium Based Reactors o A Stage III reactor or an advanced nuclear power system involves a self-sustaining series of thorium-232- uranium-233 fuelled reactors.

8. RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT 8.1. PRIME MINISTER'S SCIENCE Initiatives taken TECHNOLOGY AND INNOVATION • Mission Innovation Champions Programme was launched by MI countries to felicitate COUNCIL (PM-STIAC) clean energy innovators. • Why in news? Hydrogen Innovation Challenge was announced to reduce costs along the value Union Government recently constituted new 21- chain and further expand the deployment of member advisory panel on science, technology hydrogen. and innovation called Prime Minister’s Science, • India announced setting up of First Technology and Innovation Advisory Council (PM- International Incubator for clean energy in STIAC). public-private partnership at a total More on news investment of around US $ 5 million in Delhi. • It will be chaired by the government’s Mission Innovation Principal Scientific Advisor, Dr K. Vijay • It was launched at COP21 of UNFCCC in Paris in Raghavan. November 2015. It is a global platform of 23 • It will replace two scientific advisory countries and European Union aimed at committees for the prime minister and the accelerating clean energy innovations cabinet, and is aimed to streamline as well as through- cut down the number of committees and o Enhanced Government funding, councils. o Greater public-private sector partnership • The council includes secretaries from various and departments/ministries and is expected to act o Enhanced global cooperation. as a high level advisory body to several • It seeks to double investments in clean ministries and execute mission-oriented energy innovation over five years. programmes. The new panel will advise the • India is founding member of Mission PM on all matters related to science, Innovation and part of the Steering technology and innovation, and would also Committee besides co-lead of innovation monitor the implementation of the PM's challenges on smart grids, off grids and vision. sustainable bio-fuels. • It will also advise government on developing • Department of Biotechnology (DBT) is nodal ‘Clusters of Excellence’ in science including agency of this mission in India. city-based R&D clusters. It will work to bring • The first Ministerial meeting was held in June together all science and technology partners 2016 in San Francisco. 4th MI Ministerial will be from academia and institutes to industries hosted by Canada, Vancouver in May 2019. near such centres or cities. The eight Innovation Challenges under Mission • Recently, it has identified nine national Innovation are the following: science missions aim to address major • Smart Grids scientific challenges to ensure India’s • Off-Grid Access to Electricity sustainable development - Natural Language • Carbon Capture Translation, Quantum Frontiers, Artificial • Sustainable Biofuels Intelligence (AI), National Biodiversity • Converting Sunlight Mission, Electric vehicles, Bioscience for • Clean Energy Materials Human Health, Waste to Wealth, Deep Ocean • Affordable Heating and Cooling of Buildings exploration, AGNIi (Accelerating Growth of • Renewable and Clean Hydrogen (recently added) New India's Innovations) 8.3. ATAL TINKERING MARATHON 8.2. MISSION INNOVATION Why in news? Why in News? A six-month long Atal Tinkering Marathon has India recently participated in the 3rd Mission been organized by Atal Tinkering Lab of Atal Innovation Ministerial Meeting held in Sweden. Innovation Mission (AIM) of NITI Ayog.

Details of the Atal Tinkering Marathon: • Employment Skills and Rural Transformation. • Its aim is to find out the best student • Governance, Innovation and Public Policy. innovators of India. • Growth, Macro Trade and Economic Policy. • The marathon puts nation-wide challenge in 6 • Agriculture and Rural Development. thematic areas namely Clean Energy, Water • Health and Environment. resources, Waste management, Healthcare, • Science and Education. • Smart mobility, and Agri-tech. Social Media and Technology. • Politics, Law and Economics. • The Top 30 teams selected for their innovation, were being awarded with several SPARC — Scheme for Promotion of Academic prizes including a three month-long ATL and Research Collaboration Student Innovator Program (ATL SIP) in • Aim: To boost joint research with global partnership with industry and start-up universities from 28 countries and get incubator. international expertise to solve major national Atal Innovation Mission problems, train Indian students in the best • It is a flagship initiative set up by the NITI Aayog to promote innovation and entrepreneurship across laboratories, deepen academic engagement the length and breadth of the country, based on a and improve the international ranking of detailed study and deliberations on innovation and Indian Institutes. entrepreneurial needs of India in the years ahead. • Eligibility: All Indian institutions ranked in top • It shall have two core functions: 100 of National Institutional Ranking o Entrepreneurship promotion through Self- Framework will be eligible for this scheme Employment and Talent Utilization (SETU), that targets PhD and postdoctoral wherein innovators would be supported and researchers. Foreign institutions in top 100 to mentored to become successful top 200 of global academic rankings from the entrepreneurs. o Innovation promotion: To provide a platform 28 target countries will be eligible. where innovative ideas are generated • A set of Nodal Institutions (NI), from India, through- for each participating foreign country has ✓ Atal Tinkering Labs been identified to help, handhold and ✓ Atal Incubation Centers coordinate with willing Participating Indian ✓ Scale-up support to Established (PI) Institutions to forge alliance with the Incubators Institutions of concerned participating foreign ATL Student Innovator Program country, for academic and research • It is an effort to institutionalize a mechanism, collaboration. where high school students can work with • university incubators to pursue their innovative Implementing Agency: IIT Kharagpur will be and entrepreneurial ideas along with their the National Coordinating (NC) Institution. education. Thrust Areas under SPARC Scheme • Fundamental Research: Those which attempt to 8.4. RECENT INITIATIVES provide new knowledge and understanding or address open unsolved problems of international RELATED TO RESEARCH importance. • Emergent Areas of Impact: Those which look at IMPRESS — Impactful Policy Research in Social new and emerging areas like Artificial & Machine Sciences Learning, Cognitive Science, Human Signal Processing, Digital Humanities, etc, that can • Aim: To identify and fund research proposals potentially bring about a major impact cutting in social sciences with maximum impact on across disciplines and domains. the governance and society. • Convergence: Those which bring together multiple • Eligibility: To provide opportunity for social disciplines of basic, engineering, economic, social science researchers in any institution in the science and humanities to solve critical problems country, including all Universities (Central and of today in a holistic integrated manner. State), private institutions and ICSSR • Other areas like Action Oriented Research, funded/recognised research institutes. Innovation-Driven and other proposal of high • Implementing Agency: Indian Council of potential. Social Science Research (ICSSR). Augmenting Writing Skills for Articulating Identified domains under IMPRESS are: Research (AWSAR) • State and Democracy. • Urban Transformation. • The scheme has been initiated by National • Media, Culture and Society. Council of Science and Technology

Communication (NCSTC), Department of innovations and start-ups. The policy aims at Science & Technology (DST) to encourage, identifying the innovative and entrepreneurial empower and endow popular science writing potential of students and transforming them through newspapers, magazines, blogs, social into start-up entrepreneurs. This can be done media etc. by young PhD scholars and post- by developing an ideal entrepreneurial doctoral fellows during the course of their ecosystem and promoting strong inter- higher studies. institutional partnerships among technical • Under the scheme best articles which would institutions, other ecosystem enablers, be selected would be provided monetary different stakeholders, programs, market and incentives. society. • Significance: IMPRINT – II o Increase supply of informed science writing • Impacting Research, Innovation and o Encourage the students to write about Technology or IMPRINT is a national initiative their work and help them secure the of Ministry of Human Resource Development resources (MHRD) which aims to address engineering o tap the potential of young scholars challenges in 10 technology domains relevant o Inculcate scientific temperament in the to India through an inclusive and sustainable masses. mode. o Improve the future science • The 10 domains include: (i) Health care (ii) communication and popularize science in Information and Communication Technology India. (iii) Energy (iv) Sustainable Habitat (v) Nano- technology Hardware (vi) Water Resources Innovation Cell at All India Council of Technical and River systems (vii) Advanced Materials Education (AICTE) (viii) Manufacturing (ix) Security and Defense • Aim: to encourage, inspire and nurture young (x) Environmental Science and Climate students by exposing them to new ideas and Change processes resulting in innovative activities in • IMPRINT was launched in 2015 as a joint their formative years fostered through initiative of IITs and IISc. Network of Innovation clubs in Higher • The round two of IMPRINT – IMPRINT II, will Educational Institutions. Major Program under be jointly funded and steered by MHRD and it are: Department of Science and Technology. • • Atal Ranking of Institutions on Innovation Key features of IMPRINT-II include– o Achievements (ARIIA) - to systematically rank Principle objective is to translate education institutions and universities knowledge into viable technology o primarily on innovation related indicators. It MHRD and DST will be equal partners in will primarily focus on 5 main parameters - the scheme o o Budget expenses and revenue generated It will be open to all MHRD funded Higher through innovation and entrepreneurship Education Institute (HEI)/Centrally Funded o Facilitating access to advance Technical Institution (CFTI). Its scope has centres/facilities and entrepreneurial been extended to private institutions as support system well. o o Idea to entrepreneurship Projects with industry support will be o Development of innovation ecosystems preferred supported through teaching and learning Startup Academia Alliance Program o Best innovative solutions developed in- • house for improving governance of your It is a unique mentorship opportunity institution between academic scholars and start-ups to • Smart India Hackathon (SIH) 2019 - to provide promote the spirit of entrepreneurship in the students a platform to solve some of pressing country. • problems we face in our daily lives, and thus It aims to reduce the gap between scientific inculcate a culture of product innovation and research and its industrial application in order a mindset of problem solving. to increase the efficacy of technology and • National Student Startup Policy (NSSP) - widen its impact. launched in 2016 to guide AICTE approved • It strives to implement the third pillar on institutions to promote student driven which the Startup India Action Plan is based - 50 8468022022 DELHI | JAIPUR | PUNE | HYDERABAD | AHMEDABAD | LUCKNOW

Industry Academia Partnerships and communities in the coastal and ocean sectors, Incubation. The other two being namely, fisheries, offshore industry, coastal Simplification and Handholding & Funding states, Defence, Shipping, Ports etc. This Support and Incentives scheme also provides necessary scientific and • It has been partnered by Regional Centre for technological background required for Biotechnology, The Energy and Resources implementation of various aspects of Blue Institute (TERI), Council on Energy, Economy. Environment and Water, and TERI School of Stars Scheme Advanced Studies to provide mentorship and guidance to relevant start-ups in the field of • Recently, Ministry of Human Resource renewable energy, biotechnology, healthcare Development launched STARS Scheme etc. (Scheme for Translational and Advanced Research in Science) on National Science Day. Ocean Services, Technology, Observations, • Under this, 500 science projects would be Resources Modelling and Science (O-SMART) funded. Scheme • The project will be coordinated by the Indian • It's an Umbrella scheme under Ministry of Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore. Earth Sciences and encompasses a total of 16 Related Information sub-projects addressing ocean development National Science Day activities such as Services, Technology, • It is celebrated every year on February 28 to mark Resources, Observations and Science. the discovery of Raman Effect by physicist • Key missions under O-SMART: Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman (honoured with Bharat Ratna, Nobel Price and Lenin Peace Prize). It encompasses a total of 16 sub-projects • Theme: This year theme was ‘Science for the addressing ocean development activities such People and the People for Science’. as Services, Technology, Resources,

Observations and Science. The services rendered under the O-SMART will provide economic benefits to a number of user

9. AWARDS 9.1. NOBLE PRIZES 2018 9.1.2. NOBEL PRIZE IN PHYSICS • Nobel Prize in Physics 2018 was awarded for 9.1.1. NOBEL PRIZE IN PHYSIOLOGY OR groundbreaking inventions in the field of MEDICINE laser physics with one half to Arthur Ashkin • It has been jointly awarded to James P. for the optical tweezers and their application Allison and Tasuku Honjo for their discovery to biological systems, the other half jointly to of ‘immune checkpoint therapy,’ a cancer Gérard Mourou and Donna Strickland for treatment. their method of generating high-intensity, ultra-short optical pulses. Donna Strickland is • Working: By stimulating the inherent ability third women to win Physics Nobel. of our immune system to attack tumor cells by releasing the brakes on immune cells. • James P. Allison studied a known protein that functions as a brake on the immune system. He realized the potential of releasing the brake and thereby unleashing our immune cells to attack tumors. He then developed this concept into a brand new approach for treating patients. • Tasuku Honjo discovered a protein on immune cells and, after careful exploration of its function, eventually revealed that it also operates as a brake, but with a different mechanism of action. Therapies based on his discovery proved to be strikingly effective in the fight against cancer.

Human immune system • The Immune system is a complex network of cells and organs that work together to defend against foreign substances (antigens-bacteria, virus etc.). Various cells associated are: o B-cell – It is a type of white blood cell that makes antibodies. Antibodies are large Y- shaped proteins which bind to specific antigens. This signals the other cells of the immune system to get rid of the invading microbes. o T-cell – These are designed to recognise the molecular signatures of particular proteins, such as those from bacteria, in order to activate an immune response. o Macrophage – It is the first cell to recognize • Application: and engulf foreign substances. It may break o Optical Tweezers have been used to trap down these substances and present the dielectric spheres, viruses, bacteria, living smaller proteins to the T lymphocytes . cells, organelles, small metal particles,

and even strands of DNA. Applications Sir Gregory P. Winter for the Phage Display of include confinement and organization peptides and antibodies. Ms. Arnold, only the (e.g. for cell sorting), tracking of fifth woman to win a chemistry Nobel. movement (e.g. of bacteria), application • Application: and measurement of small forces, and o First directed evolution of enzymes, altering of larger structures (such as cell which are proteins that catalyse chemical membranes). reactions, has been used in manufacturing o Chirped Pulse Amplification (CPA) for of chemical substances, such as subsequent high-intensity lasers. Its uses pharmaceuticals, and the production of include the millions of corrective eye renewable fuels for a greener transport surgeries that are conducted every year sector. using the sharpest of laser beams. o Phage Display, where a bacteriophage – a virus that infects bacteria – can be used to evolve new proteins. It has produced antibodies that can neutralise toxins, counteract autoimmune diseases and cure metastatic cancer. Adalimumab, a first protein evolved through phage display, is used for rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis and inflammatory bowel diseases. ✓ Phage display allows scientists to study protein interactions on a large- scale and select proteins with the highest affinity for specific targets. It provides a means to identify target- binding proteins from a library of millions of different proteins without the need to screen each molecule individually.

9.1.3. NOBEL PRIZE IN CHEMISTRY

9.2. FIELDS MEDAL • The prize was inaugurated in 1932. Each winner is awarded with a cash of 15000 Why in news? Canadian dollars cash prize. • The medals and cash prizes are funded by a Recently, Indian- Australian mathematician trust established by John Charles Fields at the Akshay Venkatesh was awarded Fields Medal, University of Toronto, which has been also known as the Nobel prize for math. supplemented periodically. About Fields Award • Venkatesh was recognised for his use of dynamics theory, which studies the equations • It is awarded every four years on the occasion of moving objects to solve problems in of International Congress of Mathematicians number theory, which is the study of whole to recognise the outstanding mathematical numbers, integers and prime numbers. achievements for existing work to the mathematicians under the age of 40 years.

10. MISCELLANEOUS International System of Units (SI Units) 10.1. OVERHAUL OF SI UNITS • The SI system was adopted in 1960. • There are seven fundamental units. Every other unit Why in News? of measurement can be derived from one or more of The 26th General Conference on Weights & these seven units: the unit for speed, for instance, Measures (CGPM) in a historic decision unanimously factors in the units for distance and time. redefined World’s standard definition of kilogram, Ampere, Kelvin, and Mole. 10.2. CALL FOR TWO TIME ZONES Impact of Change IN INDIA • It will result in uniform and worldwide Why in news? accessible SI system for high- technology Council of Scientific & Industrial Research’s National manufacturing, basic science, etc. For example Physical Laboratory (CSIR-NPL), which maintains earlier the scientific definition of the “second” Indian Standard Time (IST), has published a research had helped ease communication across the article describing the necessity of two time zones. world via technologies like GPS and the Internet. Need for two time zones • The units shall be stable in the long term,

internally self-consistent and practically • At present, the country observes a single time realisable being based on the present zone based on the longitude passing through ′ theoretical description of nature at the highest 82°30 E.

level. • India extends from 68°7’E to 97°25’E, with the spread of 29° representing almost two hours • It will not be bound by the limitations of objects from the geographic perspective. Early sunrise in our measurement of the world, but have in the easternmost parts- (as early as 4AM in universality accessible units that can pave the June) in the Northeast - causes the loss of many way to even greater accuracy and accelerate daylight hours by the time offices or educational scientific advancement. institutions open, and that early sunset (4PM in • It will not change measurements in our day to winters), for its part, leads to higher day life like in kitchen, trade & transport etc. consumption of electricity. Thus for most people, everyday life will carry on • The researchers estimated energy savings at 20 as normal despite the redefinitions. million kWh if we follow two time zones. This will have ecological and environmental benefits too. • It will have an impact on circadian rhythm of the body and thus would have health benefits due to better leisure time and sleep. This, in turn, would enhance the productivity of people. Proposal for new time zone • The proposed line of demarcation is at 89°52’E, the narrow border between Assam and West Bengal. States west of the line would continue to follow IST (to be called IST-I). States east of the line — Assam, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Arunanchal Pradesh, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura, Andaman & Nicobar Islands —would follow IST- II. Related Facts • Since independence in 1947, the IST has been the official time for the whole country. General Conference on Weights and Measures (CGPM) • India’s time zones were first established in 1884. Pre- • CGPM is the highest international body of the world independence India had two time zones. In the East, for accurate and precise measurements. Calcutta Time was 5:30:21 hours ahead of GMT, while • India became a signatory in 1957. Bombay Time in the West was 4:51:00 hours ahead of • The CGPM meets usually once every four years GMT. • The International Bureau of Weights and Measures • Calcutta Time was abandoned in 1948 and Bombay (BIPM), the main executive body of CGPM has the Time in 1955. responsibility of defining the International System of • Assam already has a Bagaan (tea garden) Time, set an Units (SI). hour ahead of Indian Standard Time (IST). 55 DELHI | JAIPUR | PUNE | HYDERABAD | AHMEDABAD | LUCKNOW 8468022022

Related Information o Future version may enable complete image • Circadian rhythm of a human, which may help in 3D printing a o It is a pattern that guides our bodies when to lost limb or a malfunctioning organ sleep, rise, eat and regulating many physiological o Customised medical care to individual processes. needs as it would not just show fractures, o Biological clocks produce circadian rhythms and surrounding tissues, blood and nerve supply regulate their timing. o It is affected by environmental cues, like sunlight but also structures exactly as they are. and temperature. o It regulates the periods of tiredness and 10.4. INTERNATIONAL YEAR OF wakefulness during the 24-hour cycle. o The biological clock is generated by a structure THE PERIODIC TABLE OF of neurons, which is found in the hypothalamus CHEMICAL ELEMENTS in the brain. o Biological clock associated factors include High Why in News? alertness, Fastest increase in blood pressure. Deep Sleep, Fastest reaction times etc. The United Nations General Assembly has • Countries with most number of time zones proclaimed 2019 as the International Year of the o France: 12 Periodic Table of Chemical Elements to celebrate its o United States of America: 11 150 years. o Russia: 11 o United Kingdom: 9 About the Periodic Table of Chemical Elements • Russian scientist Dmitry Mendeleev published 10.3. COLOURED X-RAY ON the first periodic table in 1869. He organized all HUMAN chemical elements by the atomic mass (number of protons & neutrons) and other chemical Why in news? properties. o Mendeleev’s Periodic Law: The Properties New Zealand scientists have performed the first-ever of elements are periodic functions of their 3-D, colour X-ray on a human. atomic masses. About Colour X-ray • However, the shortcomings of Mendeleev’s Periodic Table were uncertain position of • The device is based on the traditional black-and- Hydrogen and no place for isotopes (similar white X-ray and incorporates particle-tracking chemical properties but different atomic technology developed for CERN’s Large Hadron masses) which were discovered later. Collider. • Thus, Modern periodic table, managed by the • The CERN technology called Medipix is like a International Union for Pure and Applied camera detecting and counting individual sub- Chemistry (IUPAC) is arranged on the basis of atomic particles as they collide with pixels while atomic number rather than atomic mass. its shutter is open. This allows for high- o It is a tabular arrangement of the chemical resolution, high-contrast pictures. elements, arranged by atomic number, • When X-rays travel through your body, they're electron configuration, and recurring absorbed by denser materials (bones) and pass chemical properties, whose structure right through softer ones (muscles and other shows periodic trends. tissues). The places where the X-rays couldn't o The Seven rows of the table, called periods, pass through appear solid white. generally have metals on the left and non- • Instead of recording the X-rays as either passing metals on the right. right through the body or getting absorbed by o The columns, called groups, contain the bone, this scanner is better as it records the elements with similar chemical behaviours. precise energy levels of the X-rays as they hit o The elements from atomic numbers 1 each particle in your body. It then translates (hydrogen) through 118 (oganesson) have those measurements into different colours been discovered or synthesized, completing representing your bones, muscles, and other seven full rows of the periodic table. tissues. o It is an exceptional tool for scientists to • Thus, it clearly shows the difference between understand, and even predict, the bone, muscle and cartilage and also the position properties of all the elements and elements and size of cancerous tumours as well. that are yet to be discovered. • Other benefits include: o More accurate diagnosis as it would produce clearer and more accurate pictures.

o It is capable of 360 degrees (omnidirectional), 10.5. SCIENCE-BASED TARGETS high speed reading. o QR Code can store up to 7089 digits as compared Why in news? to conventional bar codes which can store max Sixteen Indian companies have recently committed 20 digits. to set science-based targets. • Bluetooth technology o It is a high speed low powered wireless More on news technology which uses radio waves to link phones, computers and other network devices • The science-based targets initiative is a global over short distance. team comprised of people from all partner o Wireless signals transmitted with Bluetooth organisations – the United Nations Global cover short distances, typically up to 30 feet (10 Compact, CDP, WWF and World Resources meters). Institute. o Bluetooth sends and receives radio waves in a • Targets adopted by companies to reduce band (frequency band of 2.45GHz ) of 79 different frequencies and can connect up to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are considered “eight devices” simultaneously “science-based” if they are in line with the level o It overcomes the constraints of line of sight and of decarbonization required to keep global one to one communication as in other mode of temperature increase below 2 degrees Celsius wireless communications like infrared. compared to pre- industrial temperatures. o It guarantees security at bit level. When a group • In March 2018, Mahindra Sanyo Steel became of two or more Bluetooth devices are sharing the first Indian company to set its science-based information together, they form a kind of ad-hoc, target. Globally, it is also the first steel company mini computer network called a piconet. o to set a target. It removes the problem of radio interference by using a technique called Speed Frequency Hopping. This ensures that the interference 10.6. FASTAG won’t take place as each transmitter will be on different frequencies. Why in news? Centre is proposing to make FASTag compulsory for 10.7. DRY SORBENT INJECTION all commercial vehicles -- trucks, taxis and buses. (DSI) Details Why in News? • FASTag is a device which uses RFID technology for making toll-payment directly from the NTPC is opting for dry Sorbent Injection (DSI) system prepaid account. for controlling sulphur dioxide (SO2) emissions. About RFID About DSI • • Radio-Frequency Identification (RFID) is the use Dry Sorbent Injection (DSI) system is a pollution of radio waves to read and capture information control system for the reduction of SOx (SO2, stored on a tag attached to an object. A tag can SO3), HCI and heavy metals like mercury. be read from up to several feet away and does • It is a dry process in which a sorbent (a material not need to be within direct line-of-sight of the used to absorb or adsorb liquids or gases) is reader to be tracked. It is applied for tracking injected into the coal fired boiler where it items or as a pass. interacts with various pollutants like SOx, HCl Other related technologies and the resultant dry waste is removed via • Near Field Communication (NFC) is a shortrange high either an electrostatic precipitator (ESP) or a frequency wireless communication technology that fabric filter baghouse. enables the exchange of data between devices over • It offers various advantages in comparison to about a 10 cm distance. It is used in credit card related traditional acid gas scrubber technology such as: payments, e-booking etc. lower capital cost, wide range of favourable • Barcode scanner detects the light reflected from the operation conditions, and much lesser time for barcode. This needs to be kept in range of several completing installation and commissioning. inches to several feet to read the code. • QR code (Quick Response code) o It’s a two-dimensional (matrix) machine 10.8. ARTIFICIAL LEAF readable bar code made up of black and white square. Why in news? o It carries information both horizontally and Indian Institute of Sciences’ researchers have vertically. It has error correction capability and developed an artificial leaf recently. data stored in it can be restored even if it is partially damaged or dirty.

About Artificial Leaf or Quantum Leaf tradition has been carried on by successive PMs for the last 70 years. • It will help in reducing carbon footprint as it • The theme this year was “Future India: Science absorbs carbon dioxide in the atmosphere to and Technology”. PM emphasized on generate fuel and oxygen in the process, connecting science, technology and innovation simulating the process of photosynthesis. with the people, in his address. • While most plants convert less than one per cent of the available solar energy into chemical energy, the leaf can convert about 20 per cent 10.10. OTHER IMPORTANT NEWS of the incident solar energy into chemical energy. Also, it is 100 times more efficient than 10.10.1. NEW ELEMENT WITH a natural leaf in absorbing carbon dioxide during MAGNETIC PROPERTIES DISCOVERED the process. • • It is composed of completely biocompatible, Researchers at the University of Minnesota (US) earth abundant, semiconductor nano crystals have discovered magnetic properties in called Quantum dots which act as catalyst to chemical element Ruthenium (Ru). • Ru belongs to the platinum group, has atomic convert absorbed CO2 into bicarbonate and then ‘formate’ (derivative of formic acid) that number 44 and is mostly used in the electronics can be used as bio fuel. industry for chip resistors and electrical • It uses copper aluminium sulphate and zinc contacts. • sulphide as semiconductors. It is the fourth element to have unique • The bio fuel generated is not only 100% magnetic properties at room temperature. combustible but the carbon dioxide emitted in Other than this only three elements have been the combustion of the fuel can be recycled by found to be ferromagnetic at room temperature the quantum leaves too. - iron (Fe), cobalt (Co), and nickel (Ni). Quantum Dot • It is one of the rarest metals on the earth, • It is a semiconductor nano crystal which is made of resistant to oxidation, and additional theoretical specific materials. predictions claim it has a high thermal stability. • It has a discrete quantized energy spectrum. Related Information • It contains a small finite number of conduction band Ferromagnetism electrons, valence band holes, or excitons. • It is the property of material by which certain • They are typically between 10 and 50 nm in size materials (such as iron) form permanent magnets or • They glow a particular color after being illuminated by are attracted to magnets. light. • The magnetism in ferromagnetic materials is caused • The color they glow depends on the size of the by the alignment patterns of their constituent atoms, nanoparticle. The smaller the nanoparticle, the higher which act as elementary electromagnets. the energy difference between valence band and • Ferromagnetism is explained by the concept that conduction band, which results in a deeper blue color. some species of atoms possess a magnetic moment— For a larger nanoparticle, the energy difference is that is, that such an atom itself is an lower, which shifts the glow toward red. elementary electromagnet produced by the motion of • It has many applications in several areas such as solar electrons about its nucleus and by the spin of its cells, transistors, LEDs, medical imaging electrons on their own axes. and quantum computing. 10.10.2. FORMALIN

10.9. 106TH INDIAN SCIENCE • Formalin is being used in the fishing industry to CONGRESS increase the shelf-life of fish. • Formalin (formaldehyde) is colorless flammable Why in news? chemical, used as an anti-decomposition agent. The 106th session of the Indian Science Congress was • Usage: In pressed wood products, fabrics, held recently at Jalandhar. insulation materials and as fungicide, germicide & disinfectant and as a preservative for bodies Details and organs to ensure the specimen doesn’t • It is conducted annually by the Indian Science decompose. Congress Association (ISCA), under Department • Impact: International agency for research on of Science and Technology. cancer and US FDA both classify formaldehyde • Its first session was held in Kolkata under the as a human carcinogen. It increases risk of General Presidentship of Ashutosh Mukherjee in leukaemia, blood cancer etc. 1914. In 1947, Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime • Short term damages for formaldehyde are Minister, was the General President. The watery eyes, coughing, wheezing, nausea and skin irritation.

10.10.3. BISPHENOL A (BPA) releaser (SWAS), safe minimal aluminium (SAFAL) and safe thermite cracker (STAR). • Scientists have created tiny spheres of Titanium • It has unique property of releasing water dioxide that can catch and destroy BPA. BPA vapour and /or air as dust suppressant and being hydrophobic is attracted to the cavity diluent for gaseous emissions and matching where it is degraded into harmless chemicals. performance in sound with conventional • Bisphenol A (BPA) is a chemical produced in crackers. large quantities for use primarily in the 10.10.6. ONEER production of polycarbonate plastics and epoxy resins. • Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, • Polycarbonate plastics have many applications Indian Institute of Toxicology Research (CSIR- including use in some food and drink packaging, IITR), Lucknow has developed an innovative e.g., water and infant bottles, compact discs, technology for “Drinking Water Disinfection impact-resistant safety equipment, and medical System” with Trade name “OneerTM”. devices. 10.10.7. IDEATE FOR INDIA • BPA can leach into food from the protective internal epoxy resin coatings of canned foods • Recently, Minister of Electronics & IT launched a and from consumer. National Challenge for Youths, “Ideate for India • BPA is an endocrine system disruptor and it can - Creative Solutions using Technology” with an interfere with the production, and function of aim to give school students (class 6-12) an natural hormones. It also contributes to high opportunity to become solution creators for the blood pressure. problems. • BPA can also be found in breast milk. Its • The Challenge has been designed by the Prolonged exposure is suspected of affecting National e-Governance Division, Ministry of the health of children. Electronics & IT in collaboration with Intel India, with support from the Department of School 10.10.4. SHIFTING NORTH MAGNETIC Education and Literacy. POLE • Top 50 students will be declared Tech Creation Champions. • Recently, World Magentic Model was updated and the location of the Earth’s magnetic north 10.10.8. TELEROBOTIC SURGERY pole was changed. • India became the world's first to successfully • It is estimated that this wandering point is perform a telerobotic heart surgery. moving away from the Canadian Arctic and • Some other application of Tele-robotics include: towards Russia. Therefore, the magnetic o Space and marine exploration declination, or the difference between the o Use in Agriculture: Robinsects/ Nova- magnetic north and the true north, is said to be Crafters which are GPS and Artificial changing with time. Intelligence enabled small robotics drones • The location of the poles, especially the programmed to carry out the pollination. magnetic north, is important for individuals They are based on the concept of using GPS systems and compasses on their ‘Biomimetics’ which is the use and smartphones. In addition, several technological implementation of concepts and principles inventions in the field of communications also from nature to creating new materials, rely on Earth’s magnetic poles. devices and systems. • World Magnetic Model was initially developed by the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric 10.10.9. CUSAT STRATOSPHERE- Administration and the British Geological Survey developed to keep track of the changes of the TROPOSPHERE RADAR (CUSAT ST-205 shifting poles. RADAR) • The wandering pole is driven by unpredictable • The indigenously built CUSAT ST-205 Radar changes in liquid iron deep inside the Earth. recently became operational. • It is designed to scan the stratosphere over the 10.10.5. FIRECRACKERS DEVELOPED Indian ocean for movement of air for precision BY CSIR of weather, especially the monsoon. It uses radio waves to detect the atmospheric • CSIR scientists have developed Less Polluting perturbations. Firecrackers which are environment friendly • It is situated at the Cochin University. and 15-20 % cheaper than the conventional ones. • The project was financially supported by the These crackers have been named as safe water Department of Science and Technology (DST). 59 DELHI | JAIPUR | PUNE | HYDERABAD | AHMEDABAD | LUCKNOW 8468022022