1. President inaugurated ₹208-crore rocket engine manufacturing facility in Bengaluru
Tags: Defence Science and Technology National News
President Droupadi Murmu inaugurated the Integrated Cryogenic Engines Manufacturing Facility of Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) in Bengaluru on 27 September.
Important facts
The facility will promote self-reliance in manufacturing high-thrust rocket engines and will fulfil ISRO's desire to manufacture rocket engines.
It has been constructed over a 4,500 square metre space and houses over 70 high-tech tools and testing facilities for the production of cryogenic (CE20) and semi-cryogenic (SE2000) engines for Indian rockets.
This facility (ICMF) will complete the entire rocket engine manufacturing for ISRO under one roof.
An MoU was signed with ISRO in 2013 for setting up a Cryogenic Engine Module production facility in the Aerospace Division of HAL.
It was later amended to set up ICEMF in 2016 with an investment of Rs 208 crore.
This was later updated in 2016 to allow setting up of ICMF with an investment of ₹208 crore.
HAL has said that it will start production of the module by March 2023.
Manufactured by HAL Aerospace Division
The Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV),
Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV MK-II),
Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV Mk-III),
Stage integration for GSLV Mk-II
Cryogenic engines
Cryogenic engines are the most commonly used engines in launch vehicles worldwide.
Only France, China, Japan, Russia and the United States have mastered cryogenic technology because of the complexity of the cryogenic engine.
India became the sixth country to develop a cryogenic engine in 2014, when GSLV-D5 was successfully flown using a cryogenic engine.
Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL)
It was set up as Hindustan Aircraft Limited by Walchand Hirachand in 1940 at Bangalore (now Bengaluru), Karnataka.
It was taken over by the government of India and merged with Aeronautics India limited and was renamed as Hindustan Aeronautics Limited on 1 October 1964.
Its main business is to design, develop, manufacture, repair and overhaul of aircraft, helicopters, engines and related systems like avionics, instruments and accessories.
It comes under the Ministry of Defence.
Headquarters: Bengaluru
2. Union Minister of Rural Development Giriraj Singh will launch the ‘Jaldoot app’ on 27 September
Tags: National Science and Technology
The Union Minister for Rural Development Giriraj Singh will launch the ministry’s developed “Jaldoot App” in New Delhi on 27 September 2022.
The App will be used to capture the water level of selected wells in a village.
The Jaldoot app will enable Gram Rojgar Sahayak (GRS) to measure the water level of selected wells twice a year (pre-monsoon and post-monsoon). These will be representative of the ground water level in that village.
The app will facilitate panchayats with robust data, which can be further used for better planning of works. The ground water data could be utilised as part of the Gram Panchayat Development Plan (GPDP) and Mahatma Gandhi NREGA planning exercises.
Depletion in Groundwater Levels
Ground water levels in various parts of the Country are declining because of continuous withdrawal due to reasons such as increased demand of fresh water for various uses, vagaries of rainfall, increase in population, industrialization and urbanization etc.
As per the assessment of Dynamic Ground Water Resources (2017) carried out by the Central Ground Water Board (CGWB) in collaboration with States/UTs, out of the total 6,881 assessment units (Block/ Taluks/ Mandals/ watersheds/ Firkas) in the country, 1,186 units in 17 States/UTs have been categorized as ‘over-exploited’ where ‘Annual Ground Water Extraction’ is more than ‘Annual Extractable Ground Water Resource’.
Government scheme for rejuvenation of Groundwater
Water is a state subject in India. However the central government has launched a few schemes to recharge the groundwater in India.
Atal Bhujal Yojana
The Government of India has launched a Rs. 6000 crore Central sector scheme, Atal Bhujal Yojana (Atal Jal) with the assistance of with World Bank assistance.
The programme was launched on 1 April 2020 for a period of five years.
It aims for sustainable management of ground water resources with community participation in 8562 water stressed Gram Panchayats (GPs) of seven States, viz. Haryana, Gujarat, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh.
Jal Shakti Abhiyan
Government of India launched Jal Shakti Abhiyan in 2019 in 256 water stressed districts in the country which continued during 2021 also to improve water availability including ground water conditions in these areas.
Further, the “Jal Shakti Abhiyan: Catch the Rain” campaign for the year 2022 have been launched by the President of India.
The JSA-2022 shall continue till 30 Nov 2022.
The campaign has given special emphasis on creation of recharge structures, rejuvenation of traditional water bodies, intensive afforestation etc.
3. Union Environment Ministry to launch Swachh Vayu Sarvekshan
Tags: Science and Technology
The Union Environment, Forest and Climate Change is going to launch Swachh Vayu Sarvekshan that will rank 131 cities in the country for implementing City Action Plans prepared as part of National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) for reducing air pollution upto 40% by 2025-26.
This was announced during the two day National Conference of Ministers of Environment, Forest and Climate Change held in Ekta Nagar, Gujarat on 23-24th September, 2022
Classification of cities for Swachh Vayu Sarvekshan
According to the Ministry, 131 cities will be categorized into three groups based on population.
- 47 cities are in the first group having a population more than 10 lakh.
- 44 cities are in the second group having a population between 3 to 10 lakh.
- Third group consists of 40 cities having a population less than 3 lakh.
How the cities will be assessed
Cities are required to do the self-assessment as per the framework provided on PRANA online portal. This assessment is carried out annually. Cities have to report implementation of activities and measures taken in respect of solid waste management, road dust management, management of construction and demolition waste, control of vehicular emissions and industrial pollution.
Aim of the Swachh Vayu Sarvekshan
The aim of the Swachh Vayu Sarvekshan is to promote constructive competition amongst the states in the spirit of competitive federalism and to take measures to improve air quality.
This Sarvekshan provides a tool to cities to plan their actions in order to improve the air quality.
3 best performing states in each group will be given cash awards by the Union ministry.
4. Dr Rajeev Behl appointed as Director General of ICMR
Tags: Science and Technology Person in news
Dr Rajiv Bahl on 23 September was appointed as the new director general of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR)-cum-secretary of the department of health Research for a period of three years.
IMPORTANT FACTS -
- Bahl is currently the Head of Research on Maternal, Newborn and Adolescent Health Co-Newborn Unit at the World Health Organization (WHO) in Geneva.
Prior to Behl, Dr. Balram Bhargava's extended tenure as Director General of ICMR and Secretary, Department of Health Research ended in July.
Bhargava was appointed to the post on 16 April 2018 for a period of four years.
ICMR :
ICMR, New Delhi, promotes and supports internal and external research activities in the field of communicable and non-communicable diseases and basic medical sciences.
It has 27 institutes located in different parts of India.
5. Jitendra Singh announces the launch of the “Innovation Roadmap of the Mission Integrated Biorefineries”
Tags: Government Schemes Science and Technology
Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh announced the launch of the Innovation Roadmap of the Mission Integrated Biorefineries” developed by co-leads and active inputs from Brazil, Canada, EC and the United Kingdom.
He was speaking at the 1st Roundtable on “Sustainable Bioenergy and Bio-refineries” at the Global Clean Energy Action Forum in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in the United States.
Under the Global Clean Energy Action Forum the 7th Mission Innovation and 13th Clean Energy Ministerial -2022 are being held jointly from 21-23 September 2022.
IMPORTANT FACTS -
India’s effort in furthering Biorefineries :
- A bio refinery is a facility that integrates biomass conversion processes and equipment to produce fuels, power, and value-added chemicals from biomass. Biomass is renewable organic material that comes from plants and animals.
- Dr Singh said that a pilot plant of 10 Tons/day capacity plant with integrated enzyme production is being set up at Panipat Haryana, which will be commissioned by December 2022.This will be the 1st indigenous technology for on-site enzyme production.
- The Minister pointed out that Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL) has also planned to supply this indigenous enzyme to a commercial 2G ethanol plant of 100 KL/day expected to be commissioned by 2024.
- He also said that India has established 5 Bioenergy Centers, where an interdisciplinary team is working on advanced sustainable biofuels using modern biotechnology tools.
6. 2023 Breakthrough Prize winners announced
Tags: Science and Technology Awards International News
On September 22, the winners of the 2023 Breakthrough Prize, called the Oscars of Science, totaling more than $15 million, were announced.
IMPORTANT FACTS -
- This year three awards were given in the Life Science category while one award each for Mathematics and Physics.
Daniel Spielman of Yale University was awarded the Breakthrough Prize in Mathematics for his many discoveries in theoretical computer science and mathematics.
Clifford Brangwyn and Anthony Hyman (British scientist) won the Life Science Prize for their discovery of a new mechanism of cellular organisation.
Other life science prizes were awarded to Demis Hassabis (British scientist) and John Jumper (USA) for developing AlphaFold, which predicts the structure of proteins, and Emmanuel Mignot (France) and Masashi Yanagisawa (USA) for discovering the causes of narcolepsy.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION -
About Breakthrough Prizes :
The Breakthrough Prizes were started in 2010 by a group of Silicon Valley entrepreneurs.
These Prizes were founded by Sergey Brin, Priscilla Chan and Mark Zuckerberg, Yuri and Julia Milner, and Anne Wojcicki.
These prizes are the most richly endowed prizes in science, the prize money of which exceeds that of the Nobel Prizes.
Breakthrough has an amount of $3 million in each prize, which is more than $1 million in prizes awarded to the winner of the Nobel Prize.
The awards are presented in the fields of life sciences, fundamental physics and mathematics.
7. Lumpy skin disease virus different from 2019 version
Tags: National Science and Technology National News
The Lumpy Skin Disease (LSD) virus that has killed nearly 50,000 cattle in India this year may be structurally different from the version of the virus prevalent in India in 2019.
A new vaccine is being developed to protect cattle from this disease.
IMPORTANT FACTS -
What is Lumpy Skin Disease ?
It is caused by infection of cattle or buffalo with the poxvirus Lumpy skin disease virus (LSDV).
The virus is one of three closely related species of the genus Capripoxavirus.
The other two species are Sheeppox virus and Goatpox virus.
Due to its infectious nature and its impact on the economy, the World Organization for Animal Health (WOIE) has declared it a notable disease.
Symptoms of disease :
The main symptoms are fever in animals, discharge from eyes and nose, saliva from the mouth, lump-like soft blisters all over the body, decreased milk production, difficulty in eating, which sometimes leads to the death of the cattles.
Transmission of disease :
The virus is easily transmitted through blood-sucking insects such as mosquitoes, flies and ticks, and through saliva and contaminated water and food.
The virus was first reported in Asia and the Pacific region in 2019 in north west China, Bangladesh and India.
There is no treatment available for the disease.
Vaccine for disease :
The vaccine Lumpi-ProVacInd, jointly developed by ICAR’s National Research Centre on Equines (NRCE) and the Indian Veterinary Research Institute (IVRI).
Experimental trials with the vaccine on animals afflicted by the ongoing 2022 outbreak have yielded encouraging results.
8. Union Minister Jitendra Singh to lead Indian delegation at the Global Clean Energy Action Forum meeting in America
Tags: place in news Science and Technology Summits International News
Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Science and Technology Dr Jitendra Singh will lead a Joint Indian Ministerial official delegation of Ministry of Power, New & Renewable Energy and the Ministry of Science & Technology on a 5-day (19-23 September) visit to USA, to participate in Global Clean Energy Action Forum. The delegation includes Minister for Power and New and Renewable Energy R K Singh.
IMPORTANT FACTS -
Meeting in the United States of America :
- They will take part in the joint convening of the Clean Energy Ministerial (CEM13) and Mission Innovation (MI-7) which will take place from 21st to 23rd September at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States of America.
- They will also participate in the 1st Roundtable on Sustainable Bioenergy and Bio-refineries and the 2nd Roundtable on Net Zero Built Environment with Connected Communities.
- At the Clean Energy Action Forum the ministers are likely to underline India's commitment to a low-carbon future that aims to transform the energy landscape of the country by accelerating clean energy innovations.
India’s commitment on clean energy :
- The government of India has committed itself to reach 500 GW of renewable energy capacity by 2030 and increase the contribution of renewable energy in total energy to 50%.
- It has also committed to reduce carbon emissions by one billion tons, reduce carbon intensity of the economy by 45 per cent over 2005 levels and finally achieve net zero emissions by 2070.
9. AN-32 Transport Aircraft
Tags: National Defence Science and Technology
To reduce its carbon footprint, the Indian Air Force (IAF) is planning to fly a modified AN-32 transport aircraft operating on 10% blended biodiesel for 200 flight hours in the next six months.
IMPORTANT FACTS -
- The aircraft flew on biodiesel mixed with aviation turbine fuel (ATF) for the first time in December 2018.
So far, one AN-32 has flown 65 hours with 10% biofuel mixture and the performance has been quite satisfactory.
Another aircraft, the Dornier, is undergoing ground testing after being approved by the engine's original manufacturer Honeywell to use 50% biofuel.
The global aviation industry is one of the largest emitters of greenhouse gases that cause global warming.
The indigenous bio-jet fuel was first produced in 2013 by the CSIR-IIP laboratory in Dehradun, but could not be tested for commercial use on aircraft.
This fuel is made from Jatropha oil procured from Chhattisgarh Biodiesel Development Authority (CBDA) and then processed at CSIR-IIP, Dehradun.
About AN-32 :
It is a twin-engine, tactical light transport aircraft designed and manufactured by Antonov Design Bureau of Ukraine for the Indian Air Force (IAF).
The AN-32 is derived from the AN-26 transport aircraft.
The current total number of AN-32 transport aircraft operating around the world is 240.
It can fly at a maximum speed of 530km/h and its cruise speed is 470km/h.
It has ten variants.
10. 9th Session of ggoverning body of the ITPGRFA to be held in New Delhi
Tags: place in news Science and Technology Summits
The 9th Session of the Governing Body (GB9) of the 'International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture' (ITPGRFA) will be held in New Delhi from 19-24th September, 2022.
IMPORTANT FACTS -
- ITPGRFA is a legally binding comprehensive agreement adopted in November, 2001 at Rome during the 31st session of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, which entered into force on June 29, 2004 and currently has 149 Contracting Parties, including India.
- The treaty provides solutions to achieve food and nutritional security as well as climate resilient agriculture. Countries are interdependent for PGRFA (Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture) and consequently a global order is essential to facilitate access and benefit sharing.
Theme of the GB9 :
- The GB9 is being held under the theme “Celebrating the Guardians of Crop Diversity: Towards an Inclusive Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework”.
