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  • Indian Sat: Another satellite made by students

    An experimental satellite developed by three students of Karur (TN) has been selected for launch in sub-orbital space by NASA.

    Try this PYQ:

    Q.The term ‘IndARC’, sometimes seen in the news, is the name of:

    (a) An indigenously developed radar system inducted into Indian Defence

    (b) India’s satellite to provide services to the countries of Indian Ocean Rim

    (c) A scientific establishment set up by India in Antarctic region

    (d) India’s underwater observatory to scientifically study the Arctic region

    Indian Sat

    • The Indian Sat is made of reinforced graphene polymer. It is 3 cm in size and weighs 64 gm.
    • It has its own radio frequency communication to transmit and receive a signal from earth to outer space. The solar cells attached to the satellite generate power for it.
    • The photographic film will absorb and measure the cosmic radiation inside the rocket.
    • It would study the effect of reinforced graphene polymers in microgravity. It would be in sub-orbital space flight for a few minutes before landing in the ocean.

    What is micro-gravity?

    • The term micro-g environment is more or less synonymous with the terms weightlessness and zero-g, but with an emphasis on the fact that g-forces are never exactly zero—it is just very small.
    • On the ISS, for example, the small g-forces come from tidal effects, gravity from objects other than the Earth, such as astronauts, the spacecraft, and the Sun, and, occasionally, air resistance.

    Back2Basics: Femto-satellites

    • Femto-satellites are satellites with a mass lower than 100 grams.
    • These new categories of satellites are, by concept, low cost devices if they are based on Commercial-of-the-Shelf (COTS) components.
    • Some examples of applications are related to low-cost missions with a short time of development.

     Kalamsat

    • Kalamsat was a communication satellite with a life span of two months launched in 2017.
    • The nanosatellite is a 10cm cube weighing 1.2 kg.
    • It will be the first to use the rocket’s fourth stage as an orbital platform.
    • The fourth stage will be moved to higher circular orbit so as to establish an orbital platform for carrying out experiments.
    • It is named after former Indian president Dr APJ Abdul Kalam and was built by an Indian high school student team, led by Rifath Sharook, an 18-year-old from the Tamil Nadu town of Pallapatti.
    • It is the world’s lightest and first-ever 3D-printed satellite.

  • [pib] Rashtriya Kamdhenu Aayog

    Rashtriya Kamdhenu Aayog (RKA) has started a nationwide campaign to celebrate “Kamdhenu Deepawali Abhiyan” this year on the occasion of Deepawali festival.

    Try this PYQ:

    Q.Consider the following statements:

    1. Agricultural soils release nitrogen oxides into the environment.
    2. Cattle release ammonia into the environment.
    3. Poultry industry releases reactive nitrogen compounds into the environment.

    Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

    (a) 1 and 3 only

    (b) 2 and 3 only

    (c) 2 only

    (d) 1, 2 and 3

    Rashtriya Kamdhenu Aayog (RKA)

    • RKA has been constituted by PM for the conservation, protection and development of cows and their progeny and for giving direction to the cattle development programmes.
    • It is a high powered permanent body to formulate policy and to provide direction to the implementation of schemes related to cattle so as to give more emphasis on livelihood generation.

    Why need RKA?

    • Livestock economy sustains nearly 73 million households in rural areas.
    • Even though, the country is the largest producer of milk, the average milk yield in India is only 50% of the world average.
    • The low productivity is largely due to deterioration in genetic stock, poor nutrition and unscientific management.

  • What is Raychaudhuri Equation?

    The Raychaudhuri Equation in General Relativity, derived by Raychaudhuri is in the spotlight after 2020 Physics Nobel was awarded to Penrose for throwing light on Black Holes.

    Try this MCQ:

    Q.The Raychaudhuri Equation is sometimes seen in news is related to:

    Artificial Intelligence/Cloud Computing/Quantum Mechanics/Space Sciences

    What is Raychaudhuri Equation?

    • Raychaudhuri (1923–2005) was an Indian physicist, known for his research in general relativity and cosmology.
    • In general relativity, the Raychaudhuri equation is a fundamental result describing the motion of nearby bits of matter.
    • It was discovered independently by the Indian physicist Amal Kumar Raychaudhuri and the Soviet physicist Lev Landau.
    • The equation offers a simple and general validation of our intuitive expectation that gravitation should be a universal attractive force between any two bits of mass-energy in general relativity, as it is in Newton’s theory of gravitation.

  • [pib] Bharatmala Pariyojana

    A total of 322 projects in a length of 12,413 km have been awarded under Bharatmala Pariyojana. Further, 2921 Km has been constructed under the Project till the date.

    Try this PYQ:

    Q.Consider the following pairs:

    National Highway: Cities connected

    1. NH 4: Chennai and Hyderabad
    2. NH 6: Mumbai and Kolkata
    3. NH 15: Ahmedabad and Jodhpur

    Which of the above pairs is/are correctly matched?

    (a) 1 and 2 only

    (b) 3 only

    (c) 1, 2 and 3

    (d) None

    Bharatmala Pariyojana

    • It is a centrally-sponsored and funded the Road and Highways project.
    • It is an umbrella program for the highways sector that focuses on optimizing the efficiency of freight and passenger movement across the country by bridging critical infrastructure.
    • The total investment for 83,677 km committed new highways is estimated at ₹5.35 lakh crore making it the single largest outlay for a government road construction scheme.
    • It works for the development of Economic Corridors, Inter Corridors and Feeder Routes, National Corridor Efficiency Improvement, Border and International connectivity roads, Coastal and Port connectivity roads and Green-field expressways.
    • The ambitious umbrella programme has subsumed all existing Highway Projects including the flagship National Highways Development Project (NHDP), launched in 1998.

  • Redefining cities

    The article the need for liberal and realistic definition of the ‘urban’ area in the next Census and mention the implications of such change.

    2 ways to define urban areas

    1) Statutory town

    • These towns are defined by state governments and place India’s urbanisation rate at 26.7%.
    • A statutory town includes all places with a municipality, corporation, cantonment board or notified town area committee.

    2) Census-based criteria

    • Census adopts three criteria to define what is urban.
    • The three criteria are:
    • i) a minimum population of 5,000;
    • ii) at least 75% of the male main working population engaged in non-agricultural pursuits, and
    • iii) a density of population of at least 400 persons per sq km
    • This, coupled with statutory towns, pegs India’s urbanisation rate at 31%.
    • Total number of towns (state and census) stands at 7,933, together constituting a 377-mn population.

    Why there is a need for changing the definition of ‘urban’

    • There is growing evidence—mostly from satellite imagery—that India is way more urban than the 2011 Census estimate.
    • This is quite plausible because there is a large sum of money allocated for rural development, and it is in the interest of state governments to under-represent urbanisation.
    • Besides, the Census’s stringent definition was first carved out in 1961 which do not reflect the realities of the 21st century.
    • India won’t be alone in changing these definitions for Census 2021.
    • Many countries, such as China, Iran, the UK, among others, have changed the definition of ‘urban’ from one census to another.

    Getting the right picture of urbanisation

    •  A more liberal and realistic definition in the upcoming census will present the actual picture of urbanisation.
    • For instance, if we just use the population density criteria like 37 other countries, with the 400 people per sq km threshold, we will add around 500 mn people to the urban share of the population.
    • This pegs the urbanisation rate at over 70%!

    What will be its implications?

    • First, the budgetary allocation will reflect the reality and scales will balance between rural and urban areas.
    • Second, the urban areas will not be governed through rural governance structures of Panchayati Raj Institutions.
    • Third basic urban infrastructure like sewerage networks, fire services, building regulations, high-density housing, transit-oriented development, piped drinking water supply.
    • Fourth, these newly defined urban areas could act as a new source of revenue for funding local infrastructure development.
    • This would ease pressure on state finances.
    • Lastly, the rethink of urban definition would have an impact on the regional and national economy.
    • These newly defined urban areas will open them to new infrastructure such as railway lines, discom services, highway connectivity, creation of higher education institutes which will together increase the connectivity and resource capability at the local level.
    • This will not only boost the local economy but also ease pressure on bigger cities and help in cluster level development.

    Conclusion

    A rethink of urban definition in Census 2021, particularly with some degrowth in urban areas due to Covid, will bode well for India for coming decades in more ways than one.

    Source:-

    https://www.financialexpress.com/opinion/redefining-cities-a-new-urban-consensus/2102154/

  • Global Nitrous Oxide Pollution

    Human emissions of nitrous oxide (N2O) — a greenhouse gas 300 times more potent than carbon dioxide (CO2) — increased by 30 per cent between 1980 and 2016.

    Observe the above image carefully and try to find out the major contributor of nitrous oxide emission in the Global N2O Budget.

    What is Nitrous oxide?

    • Nitrous oxide is a dangerous gas for the sustainable existence of humans on Earth.
    • It has the third-highest concentration — after CO2 and methane — in our atmosphere among greenhouse gases responsible for global warming.
    • N2O can live in the atmosphere for up to 125 years.
    • Most N2O emissions have come from emerging countries like India, China and Brazil.

    About the research

    • Nitrous oxide global concentration levels have increased from 270 parts per billion (ppb) in 1750 to 331 ppb in 2018 — a jump of 20 per cent.
    • The growth has been the quickest in the past five decades because of human emissions.
    • The research was conducted through an international collaboration between the International Nitrogen Initiative (INI) and the Global Carbon Project of Future Earth, a partner of the World Climate Research Programme.

    Why N2O matters?

    • N2O is also the only remaining threat to the ozone layer, for it accumulates in the atmosphere over a long period of time, just like CO2.
    • The increase in its emissions means that the climatic burden on the atmosphere is increasing from non-carbon sources as well, while the major focus of global climate change negotiations is currently centred on carbon.
    • A major proportion of the N2O emissions in the last four decades came from the agricultural sector, mainly because of the use of nitrogen-based fertilizers.
    • The growing demand for food and feed for animals will further increase global nitrous oxide emissions.

  • [pib] SVAMITVA Scheme

    Our PM has launched the physical distribution of Property Cards under the SVAMITVA Scheme.

    Try this MCQ:

    Q.The SVAMITVA Scheme sometimes seen in news is related to:

    Urban Employment/ Land records management/ Child Adoption/ None of these

    About SVAMITVA

    • SVAMITVA stands for Survey of Villages and Mapping with Improvised Technology in Village Areas.
    • Under the scheme, the latest surveying technology such as drones will be used for measuring the inhabited land in villages and rural areas.
    • The mapping and survey will be conducted in collaboration with the Survey of India, State Revenue Department and State Panchayati Raj Department under the Ministry of Panchayati Raj.
    • The drones will draw the digital map of every property falling in the geographical limit of each Indian village.
    • Property Cards will be prepared and given to the respective owners.

    Significance of the scheme

    • The scheme paves the way for using the property as a financial asset by villagers for taking loans and other financial benefits.
    • Also, this is the first time ever that such a large-scale exercise involving the most modern means of technology is being carried out to benefit millions of rural property owners.

    Various benefits

    • The scheme will create records of land ownership in villages and these records will further facilitate tax collection, new building plan and issuance of permits.
    • It will enable the government to effectively plan for the infrastructural programs in villages.
    • It would help in reducing the disputes over property.

    Back2Basics:  E-Gramswaraj Portal

    • E Gram Swaraj portal is the official portal of central govt for the implementation of Swamitva scheme.
    • By visiting this portal people can check their Panchayat profile easily. It will also contain the details of ongoing development works and the fund allocated for them.
    • Any citizen can create his or her account on the portal and can know about the developmental works of villages.
    • The user of E Gram Swaraj portal can also access all work of the Ministry of Panchayati Raj.
    • This single interface will help speed-up the implementation of projects in rural areas from planning to completion.

  • [pib] Calcium Nitrate and Boronated Calcium Nitrate

    Union Ministry of Chemicals & Fertilizers has launched an indigenous variety of fertilizers- ‘Calcium Nitrate’ & ‘Boronated Calcium Nitrate’.

    Try this PYQ:

    Why does the Government of India promote the use of ‘Neem-coated Urea’ in agriculture?

    (a) Release of Neem oil in the soil increases nitrogen fixation by the soil microorganisms

    (b) Neem coating slows down the rate of dissolution of urea in the soil

    (c) Nitrous oxide, which is a greenhouse gas, is not at all released into atmosphere by crop fields

    (d) It is a combination of a weedicide and a fertilizer for particular crops

    What is Calcium Nitrate?

    • Calcium nitrate is used as a water-soluble fertilizer in agriculture. In addition, this product is also used in wastewater treatment and to increase the strength of cement concrete.
    • Last year, around 1.25 lakh metric tons (1,23,000 tons) of Calcium Nitrate was imported in the country.
    • Of this, 76% was imported from China and the rest from other countries like Norway and Israel.
    • These indigenous varieties will provide a quality product at a cheaper rate to the farmer community in the country than imported ones.

    Uses of Calcium nitrate

    • The fertilizer grade calcium nitrate is popular in the greenhouse and hydroponics. It is also used to control certain plant diseases.
    • Calcium nitrate is also used in wastewater pre-conditioning for odour emission prevention.

  • Anti Radiation Missile: RudraM-I

    A New Generation Anti Radiation Missile (NGARM), RudraM-I, was successfully flight-tested by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).

    Try this MCQ:

    Q.The RudraM-I recently seen in news is an:

    Ans: Anti-satellite missile/ Anti-radiation Missile/ Anti-tank mine/ Submarine Torpedo

    RudraM-I

    • RudraM-I is an anti-radiation missile can locate and target any radiation-emitting source like enemy radars, communication sites and other Radio Frequency (RF) emitting targets.
    • It is being developed by Defence Research Development Laboratory (DRDL), Hyderabad, as the nodal agency.
    • It is a joint effort involving several DRDO labs, the IAF, the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) and several public and private sector enterprises.
    • This is the first indigenous anti-radiation missile of the country. It has a range of up to 200 km depending upon the launch conditions.
    • It can be launched from altitudes of 500 m to 15 km and speeds of 0.6 to 2 mach.
    • It can play a key role in neutralizing any jamming platforms of the enemy or take out radar stations thereby clearing a path for own fighters to carry out an offensive and also prevent own systems from being jammed.

    How does it work?

    • Anti-radiation missiles are designed to detect, track and neutralize the adversary’s radar, communication assets and other radio frequency sources, which are generally part of their air defence systems.
    • Such a missile’s navigation mechanism comprises an inertial navigation system — a computerised mechanism that uses changes in the object’s own position — coupled with GPS, which is satellite-based.
    • For guidance, it has a “passive homing head” — a system that can detect, classify and engage targets (radio frequency sources in this case) over a wide band of frequencies as programmed.
    • Once the RudraM missile locks on the target, it is capable of striking accurately even if the radiation source switches off in between.

  • What is World Food Programme?

    The Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to the World Food Programme (WFP) for feeding millions of people from Yemen to North Korea, with the coronavirus pandemic seen pushing millions more into hunger.

    Tap here to read more about Nobel Prizes here at:

    Nobel and other Prizes

    World Food Programme

    • The WFP is the food-assistance branch of the United Nations and the world’s largest humanitarian organization focused on hunger and food security.
    • Founded in 1961, it is headquartered in Rome and has offices in 80 countries.
    • In addition to emergency food aid, WFP focuses on relief and rehabilitation, development aid, and special operations, such as making food systems more resilient against climate change and political instability.
    • It is an executive member of the United Nations Development Group, which collectively aims to fulfil the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), and has prioritized achieving SDG 2 for “zero hunger” by 2030.