SCIENCE &

TECHNOLOGY
2023 (Vol-II)
 SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
INDEX

1) GSAT 7 SERIES SATELLITES 3 34) PHONONS 24

2) REUSABLE LAUNCH VEHICLE 35) QUAOAR AND ROCHE LIMIT 24
AUTONOMOUS LANDING MISSION 4 36) INDIAai INITIATIVE 25
3) PIEZOELECTRIC EFFECT 4 37) AGASTHYARKOODAM
4) ADJUVANTS 5 OBSERVATORY 25
5) BIOTRANSFORMATION 38) CAR T-CELL THERAPY 26
TECHNOLOGY 5 39) KEANUMYCINS 28
6) INTERNATIONAL LIQUID MIRROR 40) QUASICRYSTAL 28
TELESCOPE (ILMT) 6 41) VIKAS ENGINE 29
7) OUMUAMUA 7 42) NISAR 29
8) CERAMIC RADOME 7 43) AMORPHOUS ICE 30
9) Ab-CoV 8 44) NORTH STAR 31
10) SAMUDRAYAAN 9 45) VACCINE DERIVED POLIO 32
11) NET NEUTRALITY 10 46) MUON 32
12) Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis 11 47) CAESIUM-137 32
13) DISCOVERY PROGRAM 11 48) LUCY MISSION 33
14) GPT 4 13 49) MOLECULAR CLOUD 34
15) NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF OCEAN 50) NOROVIRUS 35
TECHNOLOGY (NIOT) 14 51) BharOS 36
16) PRUSSIAN BLUE 14 52) ADITYA L1 MISSION 36
17) LEWIS SUPER ACIDS 14 53) TRANS FAT 38
18) ORGANOID INTELLIGENCE AND 54) IMMUNE IMPRINTING 39
BIOCOMPUTING 15 55) AI-AQMS V1.0 40
19) ERYTHRITOL 15 56) HOLOCENE 40
20) VAIBHAV FELLOWSHIP SCHEME 16 57) SHUKRAYAAN 41
21) PROTON BEAM THERAPY 17 58) DIGITAL COMMUNICATIONS
22) RADIO GALAXY 17 COMMISSION 41
23) HAYABUSA2 AND RYUGU 17 59) FLOATOVOLTAICS 42
24) FAB 4" OR ‗CHIP 4‘ 18 60) LNG vs LPG vs CNG: 42
25) PEROVSKITE 18 61) BLACK FEVER DISEASE 42
26) BISPHENOL A 19 62) VIROVORE 43
27) MAD COW DISEASE 20 63) ANIMAL TRYPANOSOMIASIS 43
28) ALMA TELESCOPE 20 64) INDIAN SCIENCE CONGRESS 44
29) MESSIER 92 21 65) YO-YO TEST AND DEXA SCAN 45
30) AstroSat MISSION 21 66) HAEMOPHILIA 45
31) ULTRASAT 22 67) OMEGA CENTAURI 46
32) AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDER (ASD) 23 68) ‗CALL BEFORE U DIG‘ (CBUD) APP 47
33) VERKKO SOFTWARE 23

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 GSAT 7 SERIES SATELLITES
Context
 The defence ministry signed a ₹3,000-crore contract with New Space India Limited (NSIL) for GSAT-7B.

What are the GSAT 7 series satellites?

 GSAT 7 satellites are advanced satellites developed by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) to meet
the communication needs of the defence services.The GSAT 7 satellite was launched in 2013.
 It is a 2,650 kg satellite which has a footprint of nearly 2,000 nautical miles in the Indian Ocean region.
 This satellite is mainly used by the Indian Navy for its communication needs.
 The satellite was injected into a Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO) of 249 km perigee (nearest point to
earth), 35,929 km apogee (farthest point to earth) and an inclination of 3.5 degree with respect to the equator.

Services provided
 The GSAT 7 provides a gamut of services for military communication needs, which includes low-bit voice
rate to high-bit-rate data facilities, including multi-band communications.
 Named Rukmini, the satellite helps the Navy to have a secure, real-time communication link between its
land establishments, surface ships, submarines and aircraft.

What will be the role of the GSAT 7B satellite?

 The GSAT 7B will primarily fulfil the communication needs of the Army. Currently, the Army is using 30
percent of the communication capabilities of the GSAT 7A satellite, which has been designed for the Indian
Air Force (IAF).
 The GSAT 7B will also help the Army enhance its surveillance in border areas.

What is the role of the GSAT 7A satellite, which is already operational?

 The GSAT 7A was launched in 2018 from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, and has gone a long
way in boosting the connectivity between the ground radar stations, airbases and the airborne early
warning and control aircraft (AEW&C) of the IAF.
 It also helps in satellite-controlled operations of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) which gives a great deal
of reliability to the operations as compared to ground-controlled operations.
 A further GSAT 7C satellite would facilitate real-time communication with IAF‘s software-defined radio
communication sets. It will increase the capability of the IAF to communicate beyond the line of sight in a
secure mode.

What other kinds of military satellites does India have?

EMISAT
 An Electromagnetic Intelligence Gathering Satellite (EMISAT), developed by ISRO, was launched in April
2020 through a Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C45). It has an Electronic Intelligence (ELINT) package
called Kautilya, which allows the interception of ground-based radar and also carries out electronic
surveillance across India.
 The ELINT package provides the capability in direction-finding of radar and fixing their locations.
 It is placed in a 748-km orbit, and is said to be based on the Israeli satellite system.
 This satellite circles the globe pole-to-pole, and is helpful in gathering information from radars of countries
that have borders with India.
RISAT 2BR1
 India has a RISAT 2BR1 synthetic aperture radar imaging satellite, which was launched in 2019 from
Sriharikota.
 It has the capability to operate in different modes including very high-resolution imaging modes of 1×0.5
metre resolution and 0.5×0.3 m resolution with a swath of 5-10 km.

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 REUSABLE LAUNCH VEHICLE AUTONOMOUS
LANDING MISSION
Context
 The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) successfully
carried out the landing experiment of the Reusable Launch
Vehicle-Technology Demonstration (RLV-TD) programme at
the Aeronautical Test Range (ATR) in Challakere,
Chitradurga.

Reusable Launch Vehicle–Technology

Demonstration Programme
 Reusable Launch Vehicle–Technology Demonstration
Programme is a series of technology demonstration missions
that have been conceived by ISROas a first step towards
realising a Two Stage To Orbit (TSTO) reusable launch
vehicle.
 For this purpose, a winged reusable launch vehicle
technology demonstrator (RLV-TD) has been configured.
 The RLV-TD acted as a flying test bed to evaluate various
technologies like powered cruise flight, hypersonic flight,
and autonomous landing using air-breathing propulsion.

Significance
 Application of these technologies would bring down the
launch cost by a factor of 10.

PIEZOELECTRIC EFFECT
In News
 For the first time, scientists have
reported evidence of the
piezoelectric effect in liquids.

What is the piezoelectric effect?

 Piezoelectric Effect is the ability of
certain materials to generate an
electric charge in response to
applied mechanical stress.In the
piezoelectric effect, a body
develops an electric current when
it is squeezed.

Discovery
• ―The piezoelectric effect was
discovered in 1880, in quartz.

Example
 Quartz is the most famous piezoelectric crystal: it is used in this capacity in analog wristwatches and clocks.

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Applications
 Such crystals are also used in cigarette lighters, electric guitars, TV remote controls, audio transducers, and
other instruments where converting mechanical stress to a current is useful.

Why is the effect in liquids surprising?

 The reason the piezoelectric effect has only been expected in solids thus far is that the body being squeezed
needs to have an organised structure, like the pyramids of quartz.
 Liquids don‘t have such structure; instead, they take the shape of their container.

Significance
 The discovery opens the door to applications that have previously not been accessible with solid-state
materials, and [room-temperature ionic liquids] are more readily recyclable and in many instances pose fewer
environmental issues than many currently used piezoelectric materials.

ADJUVANTS
Context
 A Chinese research team has now created two novel broad-spectrum adjuvants that can dramatically boost
the immune response to vaccines using computer-aided molecular design and machine learning.

Adjuvant
 An adjuvant is a substance that increases or modulates the immune response to a vaccine.
 The word "adjuvant" comes from the Latin word adiuvare, meaning to help or aid.
 An immunologic adjuvant is defined as any substance that acts to accelerate, prolong, or enhance antigen-
specific immune responses when used in combination with specific vaccine antigens.
 Aluminum salts, such as aluminum hydroxide, aluminum phosphate, and aluminum potassium sulfate have
been used safely in vaccines for more than 70 years.

BIOTRANSFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
Context
 A UK-based startup claims to have developed Biotransformation technology that can alter the state of plastics
and make them biodegradable without leaving behind any microplastics.

What is Biotransformation technology?

 Biotransformation technology is a novel approach to ensure plastics that escape refuse streams are processed
efficiently and broken down. The tech was co-developed by the Imperial College in London, UK, and a
Britain-based startup, Polymateria.
 Plastics made using this technology are given a pre-programmed time during which the manufactured
material looks and feels like conventional plastics without compromising on quality. Once the product expires
and is exposed to the external environment, it self-destructs and biotransforms into bioavailable wax. This
wax is then consumed by microorganisms, converting waste into water, CO2, and biomass.
 This biotransformation technology is the world‘s first that ensures polyolefins fully biodegrade in an open
environment causing no microplastics.

Why do we need it?

 India is generating 3.5 billion kgs of plastic waste annually and the per capita plastic waste generation has
also doubled in the past five years. Of this, a third comes from packaging waste.
 In 2019, plastic packaging waste from e-commerce firms was estimated at over a billion kilograms worldwide,
according to Statista.
 A joint research project by Department of Management Studies, IIT Delhi, and Sea Movement noted that
Amazon generated, nearly 210 million kgs (465 million pounds) of plastic from packaging waste in 2019. They

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 also estimated that up to 10 million kgs (22.44 million pounds) of Amazon‘s plastic packaging ended up in the
world‘s freshwater and marine ecosystems as pollution in the same year.

Where can this technology be used?

 Food packaging and health care industries are the two prime sectors that could use this technology to reduce
waste.

INTERNATIONAL LIQUID MIRROR TELESCOPE (ILMT)

Context
 Asia‘s largest 4-metre International Liquid Mirror Telescope (ILMT) was inaugurated at Devasthal in
Uttarakhand.

Design and collaboration

 ILMT is built by astronomers from India, Belgium and Canada.
 The telescope was designed and built at the Advanced Mechanical and Optical Systems Corporation and
the Centre Spatial de Liege, Belgium.
 The major instrumentation funding was jointly provided by Canada and Belgium while India will be
responsible for the operations and upkeep of the telescope.

ILMT and its features

About
 Established on the campus of the Devasthal Observatory of the Aryabhatta Research Institute of
Observational Sciences (ARIES) in Nainital, the International Liquid Mirror Telescope (ILMT) is the only
liquid-mirror telescope operational anywhere in the world.
Working principle
 The novel instrument employs a 4-meter-diameter rotating mirror made up of a thin film of liquid mercury
to collect and focus light.
 The scientists spun a pool of mercury, which is a reflective liquid, so that the surface curved into a parabolic
shape. It is ideal for focusing light.
 A thin transparent film of mylar protects the mercury from wind.
 The reflected light passes through a sophisticated multi-lens optical corrector that produces sharp images
over a wide field of view. A large-format electronic camera located at the focus records the images.
 The rotation of the earth causes the images to drift across the camera, but this motion is compensated
electronically by the camera. This mode of operation increases observing efficiency and makes the telescope
particularly sensitive to faint and diffuse objects.
Mandate
 The Indian Liquid Mirror Telescope (ILMT) will help in surveying the sky, making it possible to observe
several galaxies and other astronomical sources.
 It will observe asteroids, supernovae, space debris and all other celestial objects from an altitude of 2,450
metres in the Himalayas,
 Unlike the conventional telescopes that can be steered to track specific stellar source objects, the ILMT will be
stationary.
 When the regular science operations begin, ILMT will produce about 10 GB of data / night, which will be
quickly analyzed to reveal variable and transient stellar sources.
 The ILMT will operate every night for five years and carry out daily imaging except between June and
August monsoon months, a precaution to protect the instruments from humid conditions.
 With such large voluminous data soon to be generated, the applications and algorithms using big data,
Machine Learning (ML) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) will be implemented while classifying the celestial
objects.

Devasthal Observatory
 Devasthal is an observatory in the district of Nainital in Uttarakhand state of India.

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 The observatory is situated in the Kumaon Himalayan regionat an altitude of 2450 meters.
 Devasthal is a 6-m Devasthal optical telescope (DOT) - India‘s largest optical telescope.
 Currently, a 130-cm optical telescope is working at the site. The sites are managed by the Aryabhatta Research
Institute of Observational Sciences (ARIES), Nainital.
 ILMT will be the third telescope to be operating from Devasthal after the 3.6-metre Devasthal Optical
Telescope (DOT) — the largest in India commissioned in 2016 — and the 1.3-metre Devasthal Fast Optical
Telescope (DFOT) inaugurated in 2010.

OUMUAMUA
Context
 ‗Oumuamua, a mysterious object up to 400 meters long had entered the Solar System in 2017.
 Now, a team of researchers says Oumuamua was definitely a comet.

Details
 ʻOumuamua is the first interstellar object detected passing through the Solar System.
 When it was first observed, it was about 33 million km from Earth (about 85 times as far away as the Moon)
and already heading away from the Sun.
 Oumuamua is a small object estimated to be between 100 and 1,000 metres long.
 It has a red color, similar to objects in the outer Solar System.
 Despite its close approach to the Sun, it showed no signs of having a coma.
 It has exhibited non-gravitational acceleration, potentially due to outgassing or a push from solar radiation
pressure.
 It has a rotation rate similar to that of Solar System asteroids.

CERAMIC RADOME
Context
 Carborundum Universal Limited (CUMI), has signed an Agreement with the Defence Research and
Development Organisation (DRDO) for manufacturing ceramic radomes used in aerospace and missile
systems.

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About
 The ceramic radome is regarded as an essential, state-of-the-art technology for ballistic and tactical missiles
and high-performance aircraft.

Radome
 Radomes are structures or enclosures designed to protect antenna and associated electronics from the
surrounding environment and elements such as rain, snow, UV light, and strong wind.
 The name "radome" is derived from the words radar and dome.
 The protective shell enhances the pointing accuracy of antenna systems by offsetting negative impacts of UV
degradation, wind load, or build-up of snow and ice. The key functionality of these structures is to extend the
system's ability to perform under adverse conditions while creating a safe working environment.

Applications
 Use of radomes applies to a range of industries that require the protection of sensitive equipment, electronic
components, and personnel. These include:
o Weather radar.
o Aviation
o Maritime communications.
o Surveillance
o Satellite communications.
o Coastal surveillance.
o Military and civil flight simulation.
o Military and civil radar.
o Microwave
o Broadcast equipment.

Ceramic Radome for Missile

 Missiles undergo extremely high surface temperatures while traveling through the atmosphere, and while re-
entering it from space. To withstand those temperatures, radomes located at the tip of a missile are made of
ceramic.
 The design of ceramic radomes for defence activities requires deep expertise and stringent testing at every
stage to ensure reliability and accuracy.

Ceramic
 A ceramic is an inorganic non-metallic solid made up of either metal or non-metal compounds that have
been shaped and then hardened by heating to high temperatures. In general, they are hard, corrosion-
resistant and brittle.
Applications of Advanced Ceramics
 Advanced ceramic materials are now well established in many areas of everyday use, from fridge magnets to
an increasing range or industries, including metals production and processing, aerospace, electronics,
automotive and personnel protection.

AB-COV
Context
 Researchers at the Indian Institute of Madras have developed an online open-source database of
coronaviruses‘ neutralizing antibodies called Ab-CoV. This can aid in the development of drugs against new
variants of SARS-CoV-2.

About Ab-CoV
 The database, called Ab-CoV, contains detailed information about all COVID-related antibodies identified so
far, including the source of each antibody, and the viral protein(s) and virus strains they recognize.

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 It also encompasses crucial features such as binding affinity and neutralization profiles of antibodies.
 Ab-CoV database includes 1,780 coronavirus-related antibodies including 211 nanobodies.
 It has a wide range of search and display options through which users can directly search and download the
processed data, based on the antibody‘s name, viral protein epitope, neutralized viral strain, antibody, and
nanobody.
 The database also provides an option to view structures of antibodies or viral proteins in a 3D model. It holds
a comprehensive repository of antibodies, not just specific to SARS CoV-2 but also to other members of the
coronavirus family such as Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) and Middle East Respiratory
Syndrome (MERS) viruses.

Significance
 The information compiled in this database will help researchers with:
o Antibody engineering.
o Analyzing immune escape for known and future variants of SARS-CoV-2.
o Computational studies on neutralizing antibodies, and
o Relating structural features with binding affinity.

Conclusion
 This repository would aid in comparative studies among different neutralizing antibodies across
coronaviruses and provide an assessment of their properties + interaction patterns with epitopes on the native
and mutant viral proteins.
 Such a database is expected to help develop newer drugs and deal better with disasters that affect human
health and economies, globally.

SAMUDRAYAAN
Context
 The National Institute of Ocean Technology is set to spearhead a 6,000-metre dive into the Indian Ocean, a
mission to explore marine biodiversity and potential of the seabed.

Samudrayaan Mission
About
 Samudrayaan Mission is related to the ocean/sea.
 The Indian Government launched the Samudrayaan mission in October 2021.It is a part of the Deep Ocean
Mission.
Aim of the Mission
 It is aimed to develop "a self-propelled manned submersible to carry three human beings to a water depth of
6,000 meters in the ocean with a suite of scientific sensors and tools for deep ocean exploration.
 Developed indigenously, MATSYA 6000 is a manned submersible vehicle.
 It will facilitate the Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) in conducting deep ocean exploration.
 It has an endurance of 12 hours of operational period and 96 hours in case of emergency.
 The manned submersible will allow scientific personnel to observe and understand unexplored deep-sea
areas by direct intervention.
Device for Samudrayaan misison:
 National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT), Chennai, an autonomous institute under the Ministry of
Earth Sciences (MoES), has developed a 6000 m depth-rated Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) and various
other underwater instruments.
 Some of the critical subsystems of the manned submersibles are the development of the Ti Alloy Personnel
Sphere, Human support and safety system in enclosed space, low-density buoyancy modules, and Ballast
and Trim System.
Relevance for India
 India has a unique maritime position, a 7517 km long coastline, which is home to nine coastal states and 1,382
islands.

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 The mission aims to boost the Central government's vision of 'New India' that highlights the Blue Economy
as one of the ten core dimensions of growth.
 For India, with its three sides surrounded by the oceans and around 30% of the nation's population living in
coastal areas and coastal regions play a major economic factor. It supports fisheries and aquaculture, tourism,
livelihoods, and blue trade.
Significance of the Mission
 This niche technology shall facilitate in carrying out deep ocean exploration of the non-living resources such
as polymetallic manganese nodules, gas hydrates, hydro-thermal sulfides, and cobalt crusts, located at a
depth between 1000 and 5500 meters.

Deep Ocean Mission

 Deep Ocean mission is an initiative to undertake the deep ocean exploration focused on India's exclusive
economic zones and continental shelf.
 It is under Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES).
Objective
 It aims to search for deep-sea resources and minerals, flora and fauna, including microbes, and studying ways
to sustainably utilise them.
Importance
 India‘s Exclusive Economic Zone spreads over 2.2 million square kilometers.
 India has been allotted a site of 75,000 square kilometres in the Central Indian Ocean Basin (CIOB) by the UN
International Sea Bed Authority for exploitation of polymetallic nodules (PMN).
 These are rocks scattered on the seabed containing iron, manganese, nickel and cobalt.
 380 million metric tonnes of polymetallic nodules are available at the bottom of the seas in the Central Indian
Ocean.
 A fraction of that reserve can meet the energy requirement of India for the next 100 years.

NET NEUTRALITY
Context
 Over the past few months, various
stakeholders have been debating payment
of a fee for network infrastructure created
by cellular operators. This has reignited
the debate around net neutrality.

What is Net Neutrality?

 Net neutrality is the principle
that internet providers treat all web
traffic equally.
 In this an internet service provider (ISP) provides access to all sites, content and applications at the same
speed, under the same conditions without blocking or giving preference to any content.

Concern raised
 If there‘s no net neutrality, internet service providers (ISPs) can discriminate against websites or services
and regulate what users can and can‘t see.

India‘s stance
 Mechanisms for establishing rules ensuring Net neutrality in India, are at present mainly enforced by the
Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI). At present, there is no specific legislation regarding Net
Neutrality in India.
 But India's fight for net neutrality began in 2015. In 2016, TRAI passed the "Prohibition of Discriminatory
Tariffs for Data Services Regulations, 2016", prohibiting telecom service providers from levying
discriminatory rates for data.

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 Telecom operator Airtel was forced to withdraw a plan to charge extra for internet calls, and shut down a
platform called Airtel Zero, which allowed customers to access a few mobile applications for free.
 Facebook and Google, were also forced to abandon their zero-rating platforms and deals.
 In 2018, The Department of Telecommunications made rules, approving the recommendations from TRAI,
which heavily favoured net neutrality in India.
 These rules barred any form of data discrimination. Internet service providers which violate these rules may
have their licenses cancelled. The rules make an exception for "critical IoT services" or "specialized services"
such as autonomous vehicles and remote surgery operations.
 According to India, the net neutrality principle is considered a cornerstone of a free and open internet that
provides equal access to all and bans "any form" of data discrimination.

BATRACHOCHYTRIUM DENDROBATIDIS
Context
 The fungus named Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis is expanding across Africa and killing out or driving to
the verge of extinction hundreds of amphibian species.

Details
About
 Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis is a fungus that causes the disease chytridiomycosis- an infectious disease
in amphibians.
Transmission
 The fungus spreads through spores discharged into water from amphibian skin.
Impact
 The fungus named Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis affects the keratin in the skin of amphibians, resulting in
chytridiomycosis.
 Since its discovery in 1998 by Lee Berger, the disease devastated amphibian populations around the world, in
a global decline towards multiple extinctions, part of the Holocene extinction.
 The fungal pathogens that cause the disease chytridiomycosis ravage the skin of frogs, toads, and other
amphibians, throwing off their balance of water and salt and eventually causing heart failure.
Recent Discovery
 A recently described second species, salamandrivorans, also cause chytridiomycosis and death in
salamanders.
Prevalence
 It is most prevalent in South and Central America, Australia, and North America.

DISCOVERY PROGRAM
Context
 The United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration announced DAVINCI+ and VERITAS
missions to the planet in 2028-30 under its Discovery Program.

Discovery Program
 The Discovery Program is a series of Solar System exploration missions.
 It is funded by the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).
 The Discovery Program was founded in 1990.
 VERITAS and DAVINCI are the most recently selected Discovery Missions.

DAVINCI
About
 DAVINCI (Deep Atmosphere Venus Investigation of Noble gases, Chemistry, and Imaging) is a planned
mission for planet Venus.

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Mandate
 DAVINCI will send an orbiter and a descent probe to the planet Venus.
o The orbiter will take images of the planet Venus in multiple wavelengths up from the above.
o The descent probe will study the chemical composition of Venus's atmosphere and take photographs
during descent.
 DAVINCI spacecraft will travel through the Venusian atmosphere. It will sample the atmosphere, and the
return with data and measurements down to the surface.
 The DAVINCI probe will capture high-resolution images of the planet's ridged terrain ("tesserae").
 It will also collect data for studying the
o origin of the planet Venus.
o its tectonic and
o weathering history.
Significance
 The measurements taken by DAVINCI will help in investigating the possible history of water on Venus.
 It will also help in detecting the chemical processes that are at work in the unexplored lower atmosphere.
 The above mentioned measurements are important to understanding the origin of the atmosphere of the
planet Venus.
 It will study how the atmosphere of Venus has evolved, and how and why it is different from the
atmosphere of Earth and Mars.

VERITAS Mission
About
 VERITAS (Venus Emissivity, Radio Science,
InSAR, Topography, and Spectroscopy) is an
upcoming mission to map the surface of
planet Venus in high resolution.
Mandate
 VERITAS will gather data from the planet Venus.
This data will help scientists to answer three primary
questions about the planet.
1. How has its geology evolved over time?
2. What geologic processes are currently operating
on it?
3. Has water been present on or near its surface?
VERITAS will collect data to help answer these questions
in several ways.
 Using an X-band radar, high-resolution imagery of
the planet Venus will be obtained. The Radar will be
configured as a single pass interferometric synthetic
aperture radar (InSAR).

InSAR
Interferometric synthetic aperture radar, abbreviated InSAR (or deprecated IfSAR), is a radar technique
used in geodesy and remote sensing. This geodetic method uses two or more synthetic aperture
radar (SAR) images to generate maps of surface deformation or digital elevation, using differences in
the phase of the waves returning to the satellite or aircraft. The technique can potentially measure
millimeter-scale changes in deformation over spans of days to years. It has applications for geophysical
monitoring of natural hazards, for example earthquakes, volcanoes and landslides, and in structural
engineering, in particular monitoring of subsidence and structural stability.

 This X-Band radar data will be further coupled with a multispectral near-infrared (NIR) emissivity mapping
capability.

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 MULTISPECTRAL IMAGING
Multispectral imaging captures image data within specific wavelength ranges across the electromagnetic
spectrum. The wavelengths may be separated by filters or detected with the use of instruments that are
sensitive to particular wavelengths, including light from frequencies beyond the visible light range,
i.e. infrared and ultra-violet. It can allow extraction of additional information the human eye fails to capture
with its visible receptors for red, green and blue. It was originally developed for military target identification
and reconnaissance. Early space-based imaging platforms incorporated multispectral imaging technology to
map details of the Earth related to coastal boundaries, vegetation, and landforms. Multispectral imaging has
also found use in document and painting analysis.
Multispectral imaging measures light in a small number (typically 3 to 15) of spectral bands.

 VERITAS will map surface topography with a spatial resolution of 250m and 5m vertical accuracy, and
generate radar imagery with 30m spatial resolution.
 With this high-resolution imaging data scientists will be able to
o locate active volcanic eruptions.
o understand the age and composition of features on the planet's surface, and
o better understand the overall geology of Venus.
 To investigate variations in Venus' gravitational field the spacecraft's communication system will be used to
perform a gravity science experiment.
 The gravity strength at Venus' surface will be measured by the spacecraft's telecom system.
 Estimate of Venus' core size and information about topographic features that lie underneath the planet's
surface will be generated from this data.
Significance
 Size, age, and composition of Venus are more or less similar to the Earth.
 But the environment of Venus is significantly different and less hospitable to life.
 Therefore, understanding Venus's geologic evolution will help in answering questions like formation of
Venus and whether it is hospitable to life or not.
 An investigation of Venus's current geology would be a key step in developing an understanding of this
evolution.

GPT 4
Context
 AI powerhouse OpenAI announced GPT-4, the next big update to the technology that powers ChatGPT and
Microsoft Bing.

GPT-4 and its Features

 GPT-4 is a large multimodal model created by OpenAI.
 Multimodal models can encompass more than just text – GPT-4 also accepts images as
input. Meanwhile, GPT-3 and GPT-3.5 only operated in one modality, text, meaning users could only ask
questions by typing them out.
 GPT-4 also ―exhibits human-level performance on various professional and academic benchmarks.‖
 The language model can pass a simulated bar exam with a score around the top 10 per cent of test takers and
can solve difficult problems with greater accuracy thanks to its broader general knowledge and problem-
solving abilities.
 For example, it can ―answer tax-related questions, schedule a meeting among three busy people, or learn a
user‘s creative writing style.‖
 GPT-4 is also capable of handling over 25,000 words of text, opening up a greater number of use cases that
now also include long-form content creation, document search and analysis, and extended conversations.
 GPT-4 can be fed images and asked to output information accordingly.
Note: There seems to be a resemblance with Google Lens. But Google Lens only searches for information related to an image.
GPT-4 is a lot more advanced in that it understands an image and analyses it.
 GPT-4 scores 40 per cent higher than GPT-3.5 on factuality evaluations.

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 It will be a lot harder to trick GPT-4 into producing undesirable outputs such as hate speech and
misinformation.
 GPT-4 is more multilingual. It handles English best with an 85.5 per cent accuracy, but Indian languages like
Telugu aren‘t too far behind either, at 71.4 per cent.
 Users will be able to use chatbots based on GPT-4 to produce outputs with greater clarity and higher
accuracy in their native languages.

NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF OCEAN

TECHNOLOGY (NIOT)
 The National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT) was established in 1993 as an autonomous
society under the Ministry of Earth Sciences in India.
 NIOT is managed by a Governing Council and is headed by a director. The institute is based in Chennai.
 The major aim of starting NIOT was to develop reliable indigenous technologies to solve various
engineering problems associated with harvesting of non-living and living resources in India's exclusive
economic zone, which is about two-thirds of the land area of India.

PRUSSIAN BLUE
Context
 The manufacturing and marketing licenses for the commercial use of Prussian blue insoluble formulations
have been granted to Scott-Edil Pharmacia Limited, Himachal Pradesh and Skanttr Lifescience, Gujarat by
Drugs Controller General of India.

About
 Prussian blue is an insoluble radioactive metalchelating agent and absorbent. It acts by ion exchange,
adsorption, and mechanical trapping within the crystal structure and has a very high affinity for radioactive
and non-radioactive caesium and thallium.
 INSOLUBLE PRUSSIAN BLUE is used to remove certain radioactive materials from the body after radiation
exposure. It will speed up the removal of cesium and thallium from the body, but it may not prevent all the
problems associated with radiation exposure.
 The formulations are used for the decontamination of Cesium and Thallium and its Active Pharmaceutical
Ingredient (API). It is one of the critical medicines listed by the World Health Organisation (WHO) for
radiological and nuclear emergencies.
 The drug -- 'Prussian Blue' insoluble formulations -- was developed under the Technology Development
Fund (TDF).
[Note: The TDF was launched primarily for creating an ecosystem for promoting self-reliance by building indigenous state-
of-the-art systems for defense applications].

LEWIS SUPER ACIDS

Context
 Researchers at the Paderborn University, Germany have reported being able to make a unique class of
catalysts – used in chemistry to accelerate reactions – called ―Lewis super-acids‖.

About ―Lewis super-acids‖

 Named for the chemist, G N Lewis, Lewis super-acids derive from Lewis acids.
 A Lewis acid is any substance, such as a Hydrogen ion (H+) that can accept a pair of nonbonding electrons.
 In other words, a Lewis acid is an electron-pair acceptor. A Lewis base is any substance, such as the OH- ion,
that can donate a pair of nonbonding electrons. A Lewis base is therefore an electron-pair donor.
 Because Lewis acids add electron pairs, they are often used to speed up chemical reactions.

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 Lewis superacids are stronger than antimony pentafluoride -- the strongest Lewis acid -- and can break even
the toughest bonds. Breaking strong, chemical bonds requires highly reactive substances.
 Because they are so reactive, they are hard to manufacture.
 Being able to make these super acids, enables non-biodegradable fluorinated hydrocarbons, similar to
Teflon, and possibly even climate-damaging greenhouse gases, such as sulphur hexafluoride, to be
converted back into sustainable chemicals.

ORGANOID INTELLIGENCE AND BIOCOMPUTING

Context
 Scientists at Johns Hopkins University (JHU) recently outlined a plan for a potentially revolutionary new area
of research called ―organoid intelligence‖, which aims to create ―biocomputers‖.

About
 It is an emerging multidisciplinary field working to develop biological computing using 3D cultures of
human brain cells (brain organoids) and brain-machine interface technologies.
 It will be possible by scaling up current brain organoids into complex, durable 3D structures enriched with
cells and genes associated with learning, and connecting these to next-generation input and output devices
and AI/machine learning systems.
 For this, Scientists have been working with tiny organoids, lab-grown tissue resembling fully grown organs,
for decades as they experiment on kidneys, lungs, and other organs without resorting to human or animal
testing.

Biocomputing
 Biocomputing — a cutting-edge field of technology — operates at the intersection of biology, engineering, and
computer science. It seeks to use cells or their sub-component molecules (such as DNA or RNA) to perform
functions traditionally performed by an electronic computer.
 The ultimate goal of biocomputing is to mimic some of the biological ‗hardware‘ of bodies like ours — and to
use it for our computing needs. From less to more complicated, this could include:
1. Using DNA or RNA as a medium of information storage and data processing.
2. Connecting neurons to one another, similar to how they are connected in our brains.
3. Designing computational hardware from the genome level up.

ERYTHRITOL
Context
 A new research by Cleveland Clinic, published in Nature Medicine, has shown that Erythritol, a popular
artificial sweetener, is associated with an increased risk of heart attack and stroke.

Erythritol
 Erythritol is a type of sugar alcohol that is commonly used as a sugar substitute in foods and beverages.
 Unlike traditional sugars, it has no calories and does not raise blood sugar levels.
 It is also believed to have a lower glycemic index than other sweeteners, meaning it may not have as strong
an impact on insulin levels.
 Erythritol is 60–70% as sweet as sucrose (table sugar).
 Japanese companies pioneered the commercial development of erythritol as a sweetener in the 1990s.

Natural Occurrence and Production

 Erythritol occurs naturally in some fruit and fermented foods.
 It also occurs in human body fluids such as eye lens tissue, serum, plasma, fetal fluid, and urine.
 At the industrial level, it is produced from glucose by fermentation with a yeast, Moniliella pollinis.

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Uses
 Beverage categories for its use are coffee and tea, liquid dietary supplements, juice blends, soft drinks, and
flavored water product variations, with foods including confections, biscuits and cookies, tabletop
sweeteners, and sugar-free chewing gum.

VAIBHAV FELLOWSHIP SCHEME

Context
 On the occasion of the "National Science Day India launched VAIBHAV Fellowship scheme for the Indian
Diaspora abroad.

The Fellowship
Features
 The fellowship offers NRI researchers an opportunity to work for a minimum of one month to a maximum of
two months a year with a research institution or an academic institution in India.
 The duration of the fellowship is three years with the government offering the researchers an amount of up to
Rs 37 lakh for the entire period.
Aim
 The Fellowship aims to improve the research ecosystem of India‘s higher educational institutions by
facilitating academic and research collaborations with the best institutions in the world through mobility of
researchers from overseas institutions to India.
Eligibility
 Researchers from institutions featuring in the top 500 QS World University Rankings will be eligible for the
fellowship.

Significance
 Due to this Scheme best of Diaspora minds will collaborate with domestic Minds to deliver world class
projects and products.

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 PROTON BEAM THERAPY
Context
 Cancer patients in India face twin challenges when it comes to accessing proton beam therapy (PBT): there are
not enough facilities offering the treatment, and the cost can run into tens of lakhs of rupees.

Proton Beam Therapy (PBT)

 Proton beam therapy (PBT) is an advanced form of radiotherapy, with radiation treatment delivered by
accelerated proton beams rather than X-rays.
 A proton beam delivers some radiation to healthy tissue in reaching the tumour but very little radiation
beyond the edge of the tumour being treated.This means PBT is able to treat cancers just as effectively
but delivers less radiation to other healthy parts of the body which surround the tumour.

Significance
 PBT is a newer technology that is designed to further reduce the amount of radiation that affects the
surrounding normal tissue.
 The Therapy enables a dose of high-energy protons to be precisely targeted at a tumour, reducing the
damage to surrounding healthy tissues and vital organswhich is an advantage in certain groups of patients
or where the cancer is close to a critical part of the body such as the spinal cord.
 PBT is being used increasingly to treat children with cancer. The chance of curing the cancer is no higher than
with conventional radiotherapy but is likely to reduce the severity of the long-term side-effects, although it
will not eliminate them altogether.
 For adults, the main use of PBT has been to treat cancers close to parts of the body which are very sensitive to
the damaging effects of radiation. For example, PBT is used to treat certain cancers at the base of the skull,
deep inside the head and close to the brain, and cancers of the spine which are close to the spinal cord.

RADIO GALAXY
Context
 A team of astronomers has discovered several ‗elusive dying radio galaxies‘ using some of the world‘s most
powerful radio telescopes, including the Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope (GMRT) located in Khodad, Pune.

Radio Galaxy
 A radio galaxy is a galaxy with giant regions of radio emission extending well beyond its visible structure.
 These energetic radio lobes are powered by jets from its active galactic nucleus.
 They have luminosities up to 1039 W at radio wavelengths between 10 MHz and 100 GHz.
 Radio-loud active galactic nuclei (radio galaxies and radio-loud quasars; hereafter RLAGN) are a subset of the
active galaxy population in which accretion onto the central supermassive black hole of a galaxy generates a
relativistic jet of charged particles (electrons, positrons, and/or protons) and magnetic field.
[Read about GMRT in Volume I]

HAYABUSA2 AND RYUGU

Context
 Japan‘s explorer Hayabusa2 has made an exciting discovery on the asteroid Ryugu. Samples that the mission
collected from here are rich in organic molecules, which could serve as the building blocks of life.

Hayabusa2
 Hayabusa2 is an asteroid sample-return mission operated by the Japanese state space agency JAXA. It is a
successor to the Hayabusa mission, which returned asteroid samples for the first time in June 2010.

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 Hayabusa2 was launched on 3 December 2014 and rendezvoused in space with near-Earth asteroid 162173
Ryugu on 27 June 2018.
 It surveyed the asteroid for a year and a half and took samples. It left the asteroid in November 2019 and
returned the samples to Earth on 5 December 2020 UTC.
 Its mission has now been extended through at least 2031, when it will rendezvous with the small, rapidly-
rotating asteroid 1998 KY26.
 Hayabusa2 carried multiple science payloads for remote sensing and sampling, and four small rovers to
investigate the asteroid surface and analyze the environmental and geological context of the samples
collected.

Asteroids
 Asteroids are rocky objects that orbit the Sun, much smaller than planets. They are also called minor planets.
 Asteroids are divided into three classes. First are those found in the main asteroid belt between Mars and
Jupiter, which is estimated to contain somewhere between 1.1-1.9 million asteroids.
 The second group is that of Trojans,which are asteroids that share an orbit with a larger planet. NASA reports
the presence of Jupiter, Neptune and Mars trojans. In 2011, they reported an Earth trojan as well.
 The third classification is Near-Earth Asteroids (NEA), which have orbits that pass close to the Earth. Those
that cross the Earth‘s orbit are called Earth-crossers. More than 10,000 such asteroids are known, out of which
over 1,400 are classified as potentially hazardous asteroids (PHAs).

Ryugu
 Ryugu is also classified as a PHA and was discovered in 1999 and was given the name by the Minor Planet
Center in 2015.
 It is 300 million kilometres from Earth and it took Hayabusa-2 over 42 months to reach it.

FAB 4" OR ‗CHIP 4‘

Context
 The U.S.-led "Fab 4" or ‗Chip 4‘ semiconductor alliance of Taiwan, the United States, Japan and South
Korea held its first video meeting of senior officials.

Fab 4: Background
 The "Fab" in the name refers to a shorthand industry expression for the fabrication plants where chips, used in
everything from fridges and smartphones to fighter jets, are made.
 The countries that are a member of this group in the Indo-Pacific region is home to some of the world‘s
largest contract chip makers including.
 The United States September 2022 convened the first meeting of the working group, to discuss how to
strengthen the semiconductor supply chain, after a global chip crunch caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
 The semiconductor shortage, which forced some carmakers to halt production, thrust chip powerhouse
Taiwan into the spotlight and has made supply chain management a bigger priority for governments around
the world.

The recent meeting

 The focus of the discussions of the participating quartet at the meeting was mainly on how to maintain the
resilience of the semiconductor supply chain and explore the possible future cooperation directions of all
parties.

PEROVSKITE
Context
 In a new study, scientists have been able to significantly improve the efficiency of a particular type of this
material, known as a lead-halide perovskite.

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 By combining the perovskite with a substrate of metal rather than glass, light conversion efficiency was
increased by 250 percent.

What is a perovskite?
 Perovskite is a calcium titanium oxide mineral composed of calcium titanate (chemical formula CaTiO3).
 A large number of different elements can be combined together to form perovskite structures.
 Using this compositional flexibility, scientists can design perovskite crystals to have a wide variety of
physical, optical, and electrical characteristics. Perovskite crystals are found today in ultrasound machines,
memory chips, and now – solar cells.
 The mineral was discovered in the Ural Mountains of Russia by Gustav Rose in 1839.
 Perovskite occurs as small anhedralto subhedral crystals filling interstices between the rock-forming silicates.
Perovskite is a common mineral in the Ca-Al-rich inclusions found in some chondritic meteorites.
 In stars and brown dwarfs the formation of perovskite grains is responsible for the depletion of titanium
oxide in the photosphere.

Applications of perovskites
 All photovoltaic solar cells rely on semiconductors — materials in the middle ground between electrical
insulators such as glass and metallic conductors such as copper — to turn the energy from light into
electricity. Light from the sun excites electrons in the semiconductor material, which flow into conducting
electrodes and produce electric current.
 Silicon has been the primary semiconductor material used in solar cells since the 1950s, as its semiconducting
properties align well with the spectrum of the sun‘s rays and it is relatively abundant and stable. However,
the large silicon crystals used in conventional solar panels require an expensive, multi-step manufacturing
process that utilizes a lot of energy. In the search for an alternative, scientists have harnessed the tunability of
perovskites to create semiconductors with similar properties to silicon. Perovskite solar cells can be
manufactured using simple, additive deposition techniques, like printing, for a fraction of the cost and
energy. Because of the compositional flexibility of perovskites, they can also be tuned to ideally match the
sun‘s spectrum.
 In 2012, researchers first discovered how to make a stable, thin-film perovskite solar cell with light photon-to-
electron conversion efficiencies over 10%, using lead halide perovskites as the light-absorbing layer. Since
then, the sunlight-to-electrical-power conversion efficiency of perovskite solar cells has skyrocketed.

BISPHENOL A
Context
 A study conducted in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, suggests it can indirectly aid in the spread of vector-
borne diseases in humans and animals.

About
 Bisphenol A (BPA) is a chemical produced in large quantities for use primarily in the production of
polycarbonate plastics.
 It is found in various products including shatterproof windows, eyewear, water bottles, and epoxy resins that
coat some metal food cans, bottle tops, and water supply pipes.

Effects
 The adverse effect of bisphenol A, or BPA, on human health is well known.
 When ingested, the chemical that is widely used to soften plastics, paints and other products, disrupts the
endocrine system by interfering with the hormones and affects the brain and prostate gland of foetuses,
infants and children.
 Several studies establish that the chemical can cause high blood pressure, diabetes and cardiovascular
disease in adults.

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 MAD COW DISEASE
Context
 Brazil has halted its beef exports to China after a case of mad cow disease was confirmed in the northern state
of Para.

ALMA TELESCOPE
Context
 Atacama Large Millimetre/submillimetre Array (ALMA) is set to get software and hardware upgrades that
will help it collect much more data and produce sharper images than ever before

What is ALMA?
 ALMA is a state-of-the-art telescope that studies celestial objects at millimetre and submillimetre
wavelengths — they can penetrate through dust clouds and help astronomers examine dim and distant
galaxies and stars out there.
 It also has extraordinary sensitivity, which allows it to detect even extremely faint radio signals.
 The telescope consists of 66 high-precision antennas, spread over a distance of up to 16 km.
 ALMA is an international partnership amongst Europe, the United States, Canada, Japan, South
Korea, Taiwan, and Chile.
 ALMA provides insight on star birth during the early Stelliferous eraand detailed imaging of local star and
planet formation.

Location
 The Atacama Large Millimetre/submillimetre Array (ALMA) — is a radio telescope comprising 66
antennas located in the Atacama Desert of northern Chile. ALMA began scientific observations in the second
half of 2011.
 The array has been constructed on the 5,000 m (16,000 ft) elevation Chajnantor plateau - near the Llano de
Chajnantor Observatory and the Atacama Pathfinder Experiment.

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 This location was chosen for its high elevation and low humidity, factors which are crucial to reduce noise
and decrease signal attenuation due to Earth's atmosphere.
 Moreover, the desert is the driest place in the world, meaning most of the nights here are clear of clouds and
free of light-distorting moisture — making it a perfect location for examining the universe.

Notable discoveries made by ALMA

 One of the earliest findings came in 2013 when it discovered starburst galaxies earlier in the universe‘s
history than they were previously thought to have existed. These newly discovered galaxies represent what
today‘s most massive galaxies looked like in their energetic, star-forming youth.
 Next year, ALMA provided detailed images of the protoplanetary disc surrounding HL Tauri — a very
young T Tauri star in the constellation Taurus, approximately 450 light years from Earth — and ―transformed
the previously accepted theories about the planetary formation.
 In 2015, the telescope helped scientists observe a phenomenon known as the Einstein ring, which occurs
when light from a galaxy or star passes by a massive object en route to the Earth, in extraordinary detail.

MESSIER 92
Context
 Astronomers have released an image of the globular cluster Messier 92 (M92), captured by the James Webb
Space Telescope.

Details
 Messier 92 is a globular cluster of stars in the northern constellation of Hercules.
 M92, is among the largest, oldest and brightest globular clusters in the Milky Way.
 It was discovered by Johann Elert Bodein 1777. It was inadvertently rediscovered by Charles Messier on
March 18, 1781.
 It is one of the brighter of its sort in apparent magnitude in the northern hemisphere.
 It is visible to the naked eye under very good viewing conditions.
 Like most globular clusters, the predominant elements within M92 are hydrogen and helium.
 Successive generations of stars cook up the heavier elements in their cores, which in astronomy are all
considered metals.
 Globular clusters like M92 are thus considered to be ‗metal-poor‘.

ASTROSAT MISSION
Context
 The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has made an Announcement of Opportunity (AO) to allow
scientists and researchers to analyse data from the first dedicated Indian astronomy mission, AstroSat.

AstroSat MISSION
 AstroSat is the first dedicated Indian astronomy mission aimed at studying celestial sources in X-ray, optical
and UV spectral bands simultaneously.
 The payloads cover the energy bands of Ultraviolet (Near and Far), limited optical and X-ray regime (0.3
keV to 100keV).
 One of the unique features of AstroSat mission is that it enables the simultaneous multi-wavelength
observations of various astronomical objects with a single satellite.
 AstroSat with a lift-off mass of 1515 kg was launched on September 28, 2015 into a 650 km orbit inclined at an
angle of 6 deg to the equator by PSLV-C30 from Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota.
 The minimum useful life of the AstroSat mission is expected to be 5 years.
 The scientific objectives of AstroSat mission are:
o To understand high energy processes in binary star systems containing neutron stars and black holes;
o Estimate magnetic fields of neutron stars;

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 o Study star birth regions
and high energy processes in
star systems lying beyond our
galaxy;
o Detect new briefly bright X-ray
sources in the sky;

o Perform a limited deep field

survey of the Universe in the
Ultraviolet region.

ULTRASAT
Context
 NASA will launch Israel‘s first space telescope mission, the Ultraviolet Transient Astronomy Satellite
(ULTRASAT).

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ULTRASAT
 ULTRASAT (Ultraviolet Transient Astronomy Satellite) is a space telescope in a smallsat format with a large
field of view, 210 square degrees.
 It will detect and monitor transient astronomical events in the near-ultraviolet (220–280 nm) spectral region.
 ULTRASAT will observe a large patch of sky, alternating every six months between the southern and
northern hemisphere.
 The satellite will be launched into geosynchronous orbit in early 2026.
 All ULTRASAT data will be transmitted to the ground in real-time.
 Upon detection of a transient event, ULTRASAT will provide alerts within 20 minutes to other ground-
based and space telescopes to be directed to the source for further observation of the event in other
wavelength bands.
 ULTRASAT will study the hot transient universe. The extra-Galactic volume accessible to ULTRASAT for
the discovery of transient sources will be 300 times larger than that of the most sensitive UV satellite to date,
GALEX.

AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDER (ASD)

Context
 According to the World Health Organisation, ‗Autism Spectrum Disorder‘ (ASD) affects one in 100 children

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD)

 Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a developmental disability caused by differences in the brain.
 The autism spectrum, often referred to as just autism, autism spectrum disorder (ASD) or sometimes autism
spectrum condition (ASC), is a neurodevelopmental disordercharacterized by difficulties in social
interaction, verbal and nonverbal communication, and the presence of repetitive behavior and restricted
interests.
 Other common signs include unusual responses to sensory stimuli, and an insistence on sameness or strict
adherence to routine.
 Signs of autism usually appear by age 2 or 3. Some associated development delays can appear even earlier,
and often, it can be diagnosed as early as 18 months.
 Research shows that early intervention leads to positive outcomes later in life for people with autism.
 There is no cure for autism. There are many forms of therapy, such as speech and occupational therapy that
may help autistic people.

VERKKO SOFTWARE
Context
 Researchers have developed and released an innovative software tool to assemble truly complete, gapless
genome sequences from a variety of species, according to a new study

Details
 This software, called Verkko, makes the process of assembling complete genome sequences more
affordable and accessible.
 Verkko, which means ―network‖ in Finnish, grew from assembling the first gapless human genome
sequence, which was finished last year by the Telomere-to-Telomere (T2T) consortium, a collaborative project
funded by the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI).
 The T2T consortium used new DNA sequencing technologies and analytical methods to generate and
assemble the remaining 8-10 per cent of the human genome sequence.
 However, the researchers assembled those fragments manually - a process that took this massive and highly
skilled team several years to complete.
 Verkko can finish the same task in a couple of days. The final product is an accurate and complete genome
sequence.

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 PHONONS
Context
 Scientists have found that while phonons can‘t be deflected by the magnetic field – they have no electric
charge – they are affected by the electrons that are deflected by the magnetic field.

What are Phonons?

 Technically, phonons aren‘t particles; they‘re quasiparticles – packets of energy that behave like particles in
a system.
 A phonon is a quasiparticle of vibrational energy. When the grid of atoms that make up the material
vibrates, it releases this energy, and physicists encapsulate it in the form of photons.
 In the presence of a magnetic field, electrons are deflected from their paths in a perpendicular direction.
 The phonons aren‘t directly affected by the magnetic field, but when they scatter off the deflected
electrons, they are deflected in a perpendicular direction as well.
Note: The Thermal Hall effect arises when the particles carrying energy have chirality, in that they deviate more
clockwise than anticlockwise, or vice versa, in some circumstances. This lateral scattering mechanism is called
skew-scattering.
 To see the thermal Hall effect, phonons need to be deflected perpendicular to their direction of motion, so
skew-scattering is important.
 Phonons are an example of collective excitations: ―they are essentially a well-defined wave packet‖ of
vibrational energy.

THERMAL HALL EFFECT

The thermal Hall effect is the thermal analog of the electrical Hall effect. Instead of a transverse voltage
induced by a perpendicular magnetic field in the presence of an electric current, a transverse temperature
difference is induced in the presence of a heat current.
The principle of the Hall effect states that when a current-carrying conductor or a semiconductor is
introduced to a perpendicular magnetic field, a voltage can be measured at the right angle to the current path.
This effect of obtaining a measurable voltage is known as the Hall effect.

QUAOAR AND ROCHE LIMIT

Context
 Astronomers have spotted a ring around a dwarf planet called Quaoar in the outer reaches of the solar
system.
 There‘s a ring around this dwarf planet. It shouldn‘t be there.

Dwarf planet
 A dwarf planet is a small planetary-mass object that is in direct orbit of the Sun, smaller than any of the eight
classical planets but still a world in its own right. The prototypical dwarf planet is Pluto.
 Astronomers are in general agreement that at least the nine largest candidatesare dwarf planets:
Pluto, Eris, Haumea, Makemake, Gonggong, Quaoar, Sedna, Ceres, and Orcus.

Quaoar
 The dwarf planet, which is about half the size of Pluto and orbits beyond Neptune, is too distant and the
ring too narrow to be seen directly.

Rings and Roche Limit

 The observations, by a powerful telescope on La Palma, reveal the ring to be much further away from the
planet.
 The ring was outside the theoretical maximum for where a ring can survive according to classical theory.

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 The ring is located at a distance of more than seven planetary radii, twice as far out as what was previously
thought to be the maximum radius, known as the Roche limit. Inside the Roche limit, the planet exerts strong
tidal forces that prevent debris in the ring amalgamating into a moon.

Roche Limit and the case of Quaoar further decoded

 In 1848, Édouard Roche, a French astronomer, calculated what is now known as the Roche limit. Material
orbiting closer than this distance would tend to be pulled apart by tidal forces exerted by the parent body.
Thus, a ring within the Roche limit would tend to remain a ring, while a ring of debris outside the Roche
limit would usually coalesce into a moon.
 The rings around the giant planets of the solar system — Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune — generally fit
within the constraints of the Roche limit. Among the distant smaller worlds, Chariklo‘s rings actually lie a bit
beyond the Roche limit. The ring around Haumea is within the limit.
 Then there is the Quaoar ring. At a distance of 2,500 miles, it is way beyond the Roche limit, which the
scientists calculated to be 1,100 miles. At that distance, according to the physics underlying Roche‘s
calculations, the particles should have coalesced into a moon in 10 to 20 years. The rings shouldn‘t be there.

Plausible explanation
 A potential explanation for Quaoar‘s distant ring is the presence of Weywot. The moon may have created
gravitational disturbances that prevented the ring particles from accreting into another moon. At the ultracold
temperatures in the outer solar system, icy particles are also bouncier and are less likely to stick together
when they collide.
Final Thoughts
 Rings around small solar system bodies billions of miles away may seem esoteric, but the clumping — or non-
clumping — of the particles is key to understanding the beginnings of the solar system.
 It might seem that a small ring around a small object in the distant solar system doesn‘t have broad
applicability. But actually this process, of how particles accrete, is really the beginning step of planet
formation.

INDIAAI INITIATIVE
In News
 India is making an aggressive play in artificial intelligence (AI) with twin objectives of ―making AI in India
and making AI work for India‖. In this direction and against the backdrop of the revolutionary transition in
AI brought in by ChatGPT, the government is expanding the INDIAai initiative in partnership with Indian
tech companies, start-ups, and academic institutions.

INDIAai
 INDIAai is the National AI Portal of India - a central hub for everything AI in India and beyond.
 The website aims to be the trusted content powerhouse in the backdrop of India's journey to global
prominence in Artificial Intelligence.
 INDIAai (The National AI Portal of India), a joint venture by Ministry of Electronics and Information
Technology (MeitY), National e-Governance Division (NeGD) and National Association of Software and
Service Companies (NASSCOM), has been set up to prepare the nation for an AI future.
 It is the single central knowledge hub on artificial intelligence and allied fields for aspiring entrepreneurs,
students, professionals, academics, and everyone else.
 The portal focuses on creating and nurturing a unified AI ecosystem for driving excellence and leadership in
India's AI journey, to foster economic growth and improve lives through it.

AGASTHYARKOODAM OBSERVATORY
In News
 Agasthyarkoodam situated in the Western Ghats housed an observatory once.

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 It was established by Scottish meteorologist John Allan Broun.
 Allan Broun used the observatory to record magnetic and meteorological observations in tandem with the
Thiruvananthapuram astronomical observatory.
 Broun‘s astronomical research in India with Thiruvananthapuram observatory. As terrestrial magnetism
research requires simultaneous measurements from two different locations, he established his second
observatory at Agasthyar mountain at a height of 6,200 ft above sea level.
 The observatory started recording observations in July 1855. However, it was closed in 1881 by the then
Madras Governor Sir William Denison.

Magnetic Observatory
 Magnetic observatories continuously measure and record Earth‘s magnetic field at a number of locations.
 In an observatory of this sort, magnetized needles with reflecting mirrors are suspended by quartz fibres.
 Light beams reflected from the mirrors are imaged on a photographic negative mounted on a rotating drum.
 Variations in the field cause corresponding deflections on the negative.
 Typical scale factors for such observatories correspond to 2–10 nanoteslas per millimetre vertically and 20
millimetres per hour horizontally. A print of the developed negative is called a magnetogram.
Note: A magnetogram is an image taken by an instrument (magnetograph) that shows the strength, polarity, and
location of the magnetic fields.

Applications of Magnetic Observatory

 Magnetic observatories have recorded data in this manner for well over 100 years. Their magnetograms are
photographed on microfilm and submitted to world data centres, where they are available for scientific or
practical use.
 Such applications include the creation of world magnetic maps for navigation and surveying; correction of
data obtained in air, land, and sea surveys for mineral and oil deposits; and scientific studies of the
interaction of the Sun with Earth.

Agastyaarkoodam peak
 Agastyaarkoodam peak lies in the border between the Indian states of Tamil Nadu, Tirunelveli district and
Kerala, Thiruvananthapuram district. It is 1,868-metres (6,129 ft) tall. This peak is a part of the Agasthyamala
Biosphere Reserve.
 The perennial Thamirabarani River originates from the eastern side of the range and flows into the
Tirunelveli district of Tamil Nadu. Other major rivers which originate from the mountain are the Karamana
River.
 Agastyaarkoodam is 32 km from Neyyar Dam.
 Kalakkad Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve is part of the Agastyaarkoodam range.
 Agasthyamala Biosphere Reserve is among 20 new sites added by UNESCO to its World Network of
Biosphere Reserves in March 2016.

CAR T-CELL THERAPY

Context
 The three major forms of treatment for any cancer are surgery (removing cancer), radiotherapy (delivering
ionising radiation to the tumour), and systemic therapy (administering medicines that act on the tumour).
 Surgery and radiotherapy have been refined significantly over time whereas advances in systemic therapy
have been unparalleled.
 A new development on this front, currently holding the attention of many researchers worldwide, is the CAR
T-cell therapy.

How has systemic therapy evolved?

 Systemic therapy‘s earliest form was chemotherapy; when administered, it preferentially acts on cancer
cells because of the latter‘s rapid, unregulated growth and poor healing mechanisms.

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 Chemotherapeutic drugs have modest response rates and significant side-effects as they affect numerous cell
types in the body.
 The next stage in its evolution was targeted agents, also known as immunotherapy. Here the drugs bind to
specific targets on the cancer or on the immune cells that help the tumour grow or spread. This method often
has fewer side-effects as the impact on non-tumour cells is limited. However, it is effective only against
tumours that express these targets.

What are CAR T-cells?

 Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapies represent a quantum leap in the sophistication of cancer
treatment. Unlike chemotherapy or immunotherapy, which require mass-produced injectable or oral
medication, CAR T-cell therapies use a patient‘s own cells. They are modified in the laboratory to activate
T-cells, a component of immune cells, to attack tumours.
 These modified cells are then infused back into the patient‘s bloodstream after conditioning them to multiply
more effectively. The cells are even more specific than targeted agents and directly activate the patient‘s
immune system against cancer, making the treatment more clinically effective. This is why they‘re called
‗living drugs‘.

T cell
A type of white blood cell. T cells are
part of the immune system and develop
from stem cells in the bone marrow.
They help protect the body from
infection and may help fight cancer.
Also called T lymphocyte and
thymocyte.
T cells (also called T lymphocytes) are
major components of the adaptive
immune system.
Their roles include directly killing
infected host cells, activating other
immune cells, producing cytokines and
regulating the immune response.
How does it work?
 In CAR T-cell therapy, the patient‘s blood is drawn to harvest T-cells which are immune cells that play a
major role in destroying tumour cells.
 Researchers modify these cells in the laboratory so that they express specific proteins on their surface,
known as chimeric antigen receptors (CAR). They have an affinity for proteins on the surface of tumour cells.
This modification in the cellular structure allows CAR T-cells to effectively bind to the tumour and destroy it.
 The final step in the tumour‘s destruction involves its clearance by the patient‘s immune system.

Where is it used?
 As of today, CAR T-cell therapy has been approved for leukaemias (cancers arising from the cells that
produce white blood cells) and lymphomas (arising from the lymphatic system). These cancers occur through
the unregulated reproduction of a single clone of cells, that is, following the cancerous transformation of a
single type of cell, it produces millions of identical copies. As a result, the target for CAR T-cells is consistent
and reliable.
 CAR T-cell therapy is also used among patients with cancers that have returned after an initial successful
treatment or which haven‘t responded to previous combinations of chemotherapy or immunotherapy.
 Its response rate is variable. In certain kinds of leukaemias and lymphomas, the efficacy is as high as
90%, whereas in other types of cancers, it is significantly lower. The potential side effects are also significant,
associated with cytokine release syndrome (a widespread activation of the immune system and collateral
damage to the body‘s normal cells) and neurological symptoms (severe confusion, seizures, and speech
impairment).

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 KEANUMYCINS
Context
 A group of molecules developed by bacteria of genus Pseudomonas has proven to have such a strong
antimicrobial effect that researchers have named them Keanumycins after Keanu Reeves because they are
extremely effective at killing (microbes), just like some of the Hollywood icon‘s characters.

Details
 According to Leibniz Institute for Natural Product Research and Infection Biology (Leibniz-HKI), the
researchers proved that the substance Keanumycins is effective against both plant fungal diseases and
human-pathogenic fungi.
 The group of molecules works effectively against the planet pest Botrytis cinerea, which triggers grey mould
rot in crops, causing massive harvest losses every year. It also affects fungi that are dangerous to humans,
like Candida albicans and has been proven to be harmless to plant and human cells.
 Keanumycins can be an environment-friendly alternative to chemical pesticides. They could also offer an
alternative in the fight against resistant fungi. Many fungi that affect humans are now resistant to
antimycotics because they are used in large quantities in agriculture.

Significance
 Researchers believe that the antimycotic properties of keanumycin could possibly be used by humans as
well.
 Tests conducted so far reveal that the products are not highly toxic for human cells and that they are effective
against fungi in low concentrations. This could make keanumycins a good candidate for the pharmaceutical
development of new antimycotics.

QUASICRYSTAL
Context
 Scientists have discovered a third natural source of quasicrystals.

About
 Quasicrystal, also called quasi-periodic crystal, is
a matter formed atomically in a manner somewhere
between the amorphous solids of glasses (special forms
of metals and other minerals, as well as common glass)
and the precise pattern of crystals.
 Like crystals, quasicrystals contain an ordered structure,
but the patterns are subtle and do not recur at precisely
regular intervals.
 Rather, quasicrystals appear to be formed from two
different structures assembled in a nonrepeating array,
the three-dimensional equivalent of a tile floor made
from two shapes of tile and having an orientational order but no repetition.
 The American-Israeli scientist Dan Shechtman discovered quasicrystals in the lab in 1982.
 Quasicrystals have poor heat conductivity, which makes them good insulators.

In a nutshell,
 Quasicrystals are physical lattices with translational disorder that retain local, rotational symmetry.
 Unlike quasicrystals, 'perfect' crystals have both translational and rotational symmetry, and are always close-
packed.

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Prevalence
 Quasicrystals rank among the most common structures in alloys of aluminum with such metals as iron,
cobalt, or nickel.
 The first natural quasicrystal found was as microscopic grains in a fragment of the Khatyrka meteorite lying
in the Koryak mountains of Russia.The second time scientists found natural quasicrystals in the remains of
the Trinity test of the Manhattan Project.

Applications
 While no major commercial applications yet exploit properties of the quasicrystalline state directly,
quasicrystals form in compounds noted for their high strength and light weight, suggesting potential
applications in aerospace and other industries.
 Quasicrystals can be used in surgical instruments, LED lights and non-stick frying pans.
 Other uses: Selective solar absorbers for power conversion, broad-wavelength reflectors, and bone repair and
prostheses applications where biocompatibility, low friction and corrosion resistance are required.

VIKAS ENGINE
Context
 The Indian Space Research Organisation has successfully tested the throttling of Vikas, its workhorse launch-
vehicle engine.

Vikas Engine
 The Vikas is a family of liquid fuelled rocket engines conceptualized and designed by the Liquid Propulsion
Systems Centre in the 1970s.
 The early production Vikas engines used some imported French components which were later replaced by
domestically produced equivalents.
 The Vikas engine powers the second stages of Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) and Geosynchronous
Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV), the liquid strapons of GSLV and the core liquid stage of LVM3 (Launch
Vehicle Mark III) for space launch use.
 Vikas engine is used to power the second stage of PSLV, boosters and second stage of GSLV Mark I and II and
also the core stage of GSLV Mark III. The propellant loading for Vikas engine in PSLV, GSLV Mark I and II is
40 tons, while in GSLV Mark III is 55 tons.

NISAR
Context
 NISAR is all set to be shipped to India later this month for a possible launch in September.

NISAR
About
 The NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar(NISAR) mission is a joint project between NASA and ISRO to
co-develop and launch a dual-frequency synthetic aperture radar on an Earth observation satellite.
 The satellite will be the first radar imagingsatellite to use dual frequencies.
Launch of the Mission
 The satellite will be launched from India aboard a GSLV in Q1 of 2024.
 The orbit will be a Sun-synchronous, dawn-to-dusk type. The planned mission life is three years.
Mandate
 It will be used for remote sensing, to observe and understand natural processes on Earth. For example, its left-
facing instruments will study the Antarcticcryosphere.
 NISAR satellite, will use advanced radar imaging to map the elevation of Earth's land and ice masses 4 to 6
times a month at resolutions of 5 to 10 meters. It is designed to observe and measure some of the planet's most

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 complex natural processes, including ecosystem disturbances, ice-sheet collapse, and natural hazards such
as earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanoesand landslides.
 The satellite will also measure groundwater levels, track flow rates of glaciers and ice sheets, and monitor the
planet‘s forest and agricultural regions, which can improve our understanding of carbon exchange.
 By using synthetic aperture radar (SAR), NISAR will produce high-resolution images. SAR is capable of
penetrating clouds and can collect data day and night regardless of the weather conditions.
 All data from NISAR would be freely available 1 to 2 days after observation and within hours in case of
emergencies like natural disasters.
Terms of Agreement
 Under the terms of the agreement, NASA will provide the mission's L-bandsynthetic aperture radar (SAR), a
high-rate telecommunication subsystem for scientific data GPS receivers, a solid-state recorder, and a payload
data subsystem. ISRO will provide the satellite bus, an S-band synthetic aperture radar, the launch vehicle,
and associated launch services.
Significance of NISAR
 Data collected from NISAR will reveal information about the evolution and state of Earth's crust, help
scientists better understand our planet's natural processes and changing climate, and aid future resource and
hazard management.

AMORPHOUS ICE
Context
 Scientists have created a new type of ice called Amorphous Ice that matches the density and structure of
water.

Amorphous Ice
 Amorphous ice (non-crystalline or "vitreous" ice) is an amorphous solid form of water.

Structure
 Normally, when water freezes, it crystallizes and its molecules are arranged into the familiar hexagonal, solid
structure that we call ice. Amorphous ice lacks long-range order in its molecular arrangement.

Formation
 Amorphous ice is produced either by rapid cooling of liquid water (so the molecules do not have enough
time to form a crystal lattice), or by compressing ordinary ice at low temperatures.

Presence
 Although almost all water ice on Earthis the familiar crystalline ice Ih, amorphous ice dominates in the depths
of interstellar medium, making this likely the most common structure for H2O in the universe at large.

Types
 Just as there are many different crystallineforms of ice (currently more than seventeen are known), there are
also different forms of amorphous ice, distinguished principally by their densities.

Formation
 Amorphous ice may be formed when liquid water is cooled to its glass transition temperature (about 136 K
or −137 °C) in milliseconds to prevent the spontaneous nucleation of crystals.
 Pressure is another important factor in the formation of amorphous ice, and changes in pressure may cause
one form to convert into another.
 Cryoprotectants can be added to water to lower its freezing point (like antifreeze) and increase viscosity,
which inhibits the formation of crystals.

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 NORTH STAR
Context
 Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar said
Parliament is the ―North Star‖ of democracy, ―a
place of discussion and deliberation to realise
the aspirations and dreams of the people‖.

About Polaris
 Polaris, known as the North Star, sits more or
less directly above Earth's north pole along our
planet's rotational axis. This is the imaginary
line that extends through the planet and out of
the north and south poles.
 Since Polaris is less than 1° away from the north
celestial pole, almost in direct line with the
Earth‘s rotational axis, it appears to sit
motionless in the northern sky, with all the other
stars appearing to rotate around it.
 Its position and brightness have allowed
humans to use it for navigation since late
antiquity. Simply the elevation of the star above
the horizon gives the approximate latitude of the
observer.

Fast Facts
 Polaris is a star in the northern circumpolar constellation of Ursa Minor.
 It is designated α Ursae Minorisand is commonly called the North Star or Pole Star.
 It is the brightest star in the constellation and is readily visible to the naked eye at night.
 The position of the star lies less than 1° away from the north celestial pole, making it the current northern
pole star. The stable position of the star in the Northern Sky makes it useful for navigation.
 Although appearing to the naked eye as a single point of light, Polaris is a triple star system, composed of the
primary, a yellow supergiant designated Polaris Aa, in orbit with a smaller companion, Polaris Ab; the pair is
in a wider orbit with Polaris B.

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 VACCINE DERIVED POLIO
Context
 According to WHO global spread of vaccine-derived polio still a high risk.

Vaccine derived Polio

 Vaccine-derived poliovirus is a well-documented type of poliovirus that has mutated from the strain
originally contained in the oral polio vaccine (OPV). The OPV contains a live, weakened form of poliovirus.
 On rare occasions, when replicating in the gastrointestinal tract, OPV strains genetically change and may
spread in communities that are not fully vaccinated against polio, especially in areas where there is poor
hygiene, poor sanitation, or overcrowding.
 Further changes occur as these viruses spread from person to person. The lower the population immunity,
the longer this virus survives and the more genetic changes it undergoes. In very rare instances, the vaccine-
derived virus can genetically change into a form that can paralyze – this is what is known as a vaccine-
derived poliovirus (VDPV).

MUON
In News
 Researchers are examining the fortress wall of Xi‘an, an ancient city in China, by using tiny outer space
particles that can penetrate hundreds of metres of stone surfaces. Known as muons, these particles have
helped them find small density anomalies, which are potential safety hazards, inside the wall.

What are muons?

 Muons are subatomic particles raining from space. They are created when the particles in Earth‘s
atmosphere collide with cosmic rays — clusters of high-energy particles that move through space at just
below the speed of light.
 About 10,000 muons reach every square metre of the Earth‘s surface a minute.
Fast Facts
 These particles resemble electrons but are 207 times as massive. Therefore, they are sometimes called ―fat
electrons‖.
 Because muons are so heavy, they can travel through hundreds of metres of rock or other matter before
getting absorbed or decaying into electrons and neutrinos. In comparison, electrons can penetrate through
only a few centimetres.
 Muons are highly unstable and exist for just 2.2 microseconds.
Application
 Absorption rate of Muons depends on the density of the materials through which they pass.
 Therefore, muon technology is effective for imaging density variations within the earth.
 Applications for muon imaging include reservoir monitoring, mineral prospecting, and karst mapping, for
instance.

CAESIUM-137
Context
 A Caesium-137 capsule lost in transit two weeks ago was discovered when a vehicle equipped with specialist
detection equipment picked up the radiation.
 The small, round and silver capsule containing radioactive caesium-137 went missing in transportation
through Western Australia.

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Cesium and Cs-137
 Cesium (Cs) is a soft, flexible, silvery-white metal that becomes liquid near room temperature, but easily
bonds with chlorides to create a crystalline powder. The most common radioactive form of cesium is
Cesium-137 (Cs-137).
 Cs- 137 is also one of the byproducts of nuclear fission processes in nuclear reactors and nuclear weapons
testing.
 Caesium-137 was discovered by Glenn T. Seaborgand Margaret Melhase.

Caesium-137 Characteristics
 Caesium-137 has a relatively low boiling pointof 671 °C and is volatilized easily when released suddenly at
high temperature, as in the case of the Chernobyl Nuclear Accident. With atomic explosions, it can travel
very long distances in the air.
 After being deposited onto the soil as radioactive fallout, it moves and spreads easily in the environment
because of the high water solubility of caesium's most common chemical compounds, which are salts.
 A Cs-137 atom emits radiation in the form of medium-energy gamma rays, and to a lesser extent, high-
energy beta particles.
 Caesium-137 has a half-life of approximately 30 years, which means that after a period of 30 years, the
amount of Cs-137 will have halved due to radioactive decay.

Applications of Cs-137
 Cs-137 is produced by nuclear fission for use in medical devices and gauges.
 In larger amounts, Cs-137 is used in medical radiation therapy devices for treating cancer; in industrial
gauges that detect the flow of liquid through pipes; and in other industrial devices to measure the thickness of
materials, such as paper, photographic film, or sheets of metal.

Health Hazards
 External exposure to large amounts of Cs-137 can cause burns, acute radiation sickness.
 Exposure to Cs-137 can increase the risk for cancer because of exposure to high-energy gamma radiation.
 High levels of radioactive cesium in body can cause nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, bleeding, coma, and even
death. This may occur after nuclear accidents or detonation of atomic bombs.

LUCY MISSION
Context
 NASA announced that it is adding a new target for the Lucy mission.

Lucy Mission
 Lucy is a NASA space probe on a twelve-year journey to ten different asteroids.
 Lucy will become the first solar-powered spacecraft to venture so far from the Sun, and will observe more
asteroids than any probe before it — eight in all. It includes Jupiter‘s Trojan asteroids. All target encounters
will be flyby.

JUPITER TROJAN ASTEROIDS

The Jupiter Trojan asteroids, thought to number well
over 7,000, are leftover raw materials from the
formation of our solar system‘s giant planets —
Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. Scientists
believe they hold vital clues about the composition
and physical conditions in the protoplanetary disk
from which all the Sun‘s planets, including Earth,
formed. They are broadly grouped into two swarms
— the leading swarm is one-sixth a lap ahead of
Jupiter while the trailing swarm is one-sixth behind.

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 Lucy was launched from Cape Canaveral SLC-41 in 2021.
 Lucy‘s first encounter will be in 2025 with asteroid Donald Johansson in the Main Belt, between Mars and
Jupiter.
 Between 2027 and 2033, it will encounter seven Trojan asteroids — five in the swarm that leads Jupiter, and
two in the swarm that trails the gas giant.
 Lucy will fly by its target objects within 250 miles (400 kilometres) of their surfaces, and use its onboard
instruments and large antenna to investigate their geology, including composition, mass, density and
volume.
 Lucy the probe is carrying a diamond beam splitter into the sky — the Lucy Thermal Emission
Spectrometer, which detects far infrared radiation, to map asteroid surface temperatures.
 By measuring the temperature at different times of day, the team can deduce physical properties such as how
much dust, sand or rock is present.

The name- Lucy

 Lucy the fossil was discovered in Ethiopia in 1974 and helped shed light on human evolution.
 The mission is named after the Lucy hominin fossils because the study of the trojans could reveal the "fossils
of planet formation": materials that clumped together in the early history of the Solar Systemto form planets
and other bodies.
 In a nutshell, the space mission‘s name was chosen with the hope that it will shed light on the solar system‘s
evolution.

MOLECULAR CLOUD
Context
 An international team of astronomers has announced the discovery of different ices in the darkest and coldest
regions of a molecular cloud measured to date.

Molecular Cloud
About
 A molecular cloud is an accumulation of interstellar gas and dust. These clouds have very low temperatures
of just 10 to 30 kelvin and therefore the hydrogen is primarily composed of molecular hydrogen or H2.
 Compared to the mainly ionized hydrogen in other areas of the interstellar medium, less than 1% of all
hydrogen in the Milky Way is bound in molecular clouds. The rest is in the form of atomic hydrogen which
can become a molecular cloud at a later point in time.
 The size of these molecular clouds can be from a few light years up to 600 light-years and their total mass can
reach several million solar masses. Molecular clouds with dimensions of more than about 15 light years are
also called giant molecular clouds.
Importance
 Molecular clouds are so important because they are the raw material of stars and planets.
 A dark nebula (or dark cloud) is a very dense part of a bigger molecular cloud; the light extinction is caused
by the high density and the presence of interstellar dust in these clouds. These are the regions where new
stars are forming.
 Such a density can only occur if the temperatures are very low. Had it been warm the thermal pressure of
the gas would lead to an expansion of the dark nebula and no new stars would be able to form.
 Molecular clouds mainly consist of hydrogen and dust particles which are all you need to form new star
systems with stars and planets.
 Indeed, these clouds often contain newly formed stars; we just cannot see them due to the extinction of visible
light caused by the dust of the clouds. Nevertheless, we are able to look into the core of the cloud using radio
or infrared wavelengths. This way we can detect the very young stars.
Molecules found in Molecular Clouds
 Hundreds of different types of molecules have been detected in these clouds, among them water (H2O),
ammonia (NH3), ethyl alcohol (C2H5OH) and even sugar and amino acids like glycine (C2H5NO2), the
basic modules of life.

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 We can trace more than 70 amino acids in meteorites and even 5 bases of DNA.
 Meteorites represent the original composition of the molecular cloud that our solar system was formed out of
since in many cases their basic structure has not changed much since the very first days of our solar system
more than 4.5 billion years ago.
 All the rocks on earth are much younger in age and have completely lost this information. They have been
melted and recrystallized with a very different chemical composition.
Existence
 These clouds do not last for a very long time. After the new stars are born their solar winds blow away the
remaining gas and dust. Only a fraction, about 10%, of the original material of the molecular cloud gets
locked up in stars and planets.
 The rest of the material will be blown away into the interstellar medium and one day will be "recycled" in
other molecular clouds - its next chance to become a star or a planet.
 Example: For sun-like stars approximately 50% of the hydrogen of which the star is composed will be
returned to the interstellar medium in the form of planetary nebula, reaching a recycling rate of almost 95%.

NOROVIRUS
Context
 The Kerala Health Department confirmed two cases of gastrointestinal infection norovirus in class 1 students
in Ernakulam district.

What is norovirus?
About
 Norovirus is a highly contagious virus that is also sometimes referred to as the ‗stomach flu‘ or the ‗ winter
vomiting bug‘.
 It causes diarrhoea and vomiting. As per the World Health Organisation, norovirus is a viral illness that is the
most common cause of acute gastroenteritis globally.
Transmission
 The disease is transmitted by direct contact with an infected person, contaminated food or touching a
contaminated surface, and putting unwashed hands in the mouth. The infection is caused and spread through
contaminated food and water.
Symptoms of Norovirus:
 The most common symptoms that a person infected with Norovirus has been:
o Diarrhoea
o Vomiting
o Nausea
o Stomach pain
o Headache
o Body pain
 The norovirus infection generally lasts for one to two days . However, it can cause dehydration in very
young and old people, and in some patients, bodies will remain weak for one more week after contracting the
infection.
Prevention from Norovirus:
 Washing hands frequently and thoroughly with soap and water particularly after using the toilet and before
preparing or handling food.
 Norovirus is resistant to many disinfectants and can withstand heat up to 60°C. Therefore, merely steaming
food or chlorinating water does not kill the virus. The virus can also survive many common hand sanitisers.
 During outbreaks, surfaces must be disinfected with a solution of hypochlorite at 5,000 parts per million.
Diagnosis and Treatment:
 Diagnosis is done by real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction.
 No vaccines are available for the disease.

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Norovirus treatment:
 As of now, there is no specific medication to treat people infected with norovirus.The disease is self-
limiting.
 Drinking plenty of liquids is important as one must ensure to replace the lost fluid from vomiting and
diarrhoea.
 It helps to prevent dehydration, otherwise, patients have to be administered rehydration fluids intravenously.

BharOS
Context
 While Android and iOS are two of the most well-known mobile operating systems, a new Indian contender
in the sector is BharOS.
 BharOS is developed by the IIT Madras-incubated company JandK Operations Private Limited.
 Funded by the Department of Science and Technology (DST), BharOS wants to cater to the approximately 100
crore mobile phone users in India.
Note: A mobile operating system (OS) is software that allows smartphones, tablet PCs (personal computers) and other
devices to run applications and programs.

What is BharOS?
 It is an indigenous, or homegrown, mobile operating system (OS), like Android or iOS. These systems help
smartphone users interact with their device and access its features, while ensuring safety.
 BharOS, in particular, is meant to be a contribution towards the idea of a self-reliant India or ‗Atmanirbhar
Bharat‘ by creating a secure OS environment for India-based users.
 The OS can be installed on commercial off-the-shelf handsets.

Features of BharOS
 While Android and iOS serve more commercial and consumer-oriented use cases, BharOS appears to be more
specialized.
 BharOS would offer Native Over the Air (NOTA) updates, meaning that security updates and bug fixes will
be automatically installed. Users do not have to check for updates and implement them on their own.
 BharOS comes with the No Default Apps (NDA) setting, meaning that users do not have to keep or use pre-
installed apps in this mobile operating system.
 BharOS will use a system known as Private App Store Services (PASS), which will examine and curate the
apps that are safe for the users. This means that users should be able to use other apps, as long as they meet
BharOS‘ PASS standards.

ADITYA L1 MISSION
Context
 ISRO is planning to launch the Aditya-L1 mission by June or July this year.

About Aditya L-1

 Aditya-L1 is a spacecraft mission to study the Sun.
 It will be built in collaboration between the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and various Indian
research institutes.
 It is planned to be launched on the It is India's first solar mission.

Objective of Aditya L-1 Mission

 To research the Sun‘s corona (Visible and Near infrared rays), photosphere (soft and hard X-ray),
chromosphere (Ultra Violet rays), solar emissions, solar winds and flares, and Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs),
as well as conduct round-the-clock imaging of the Sun.
 Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs) are large expulsions of plasma and magnetic field from the Sun‘s corona.

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Placing of the Spacecraft
 The Aditya-L1 mission will be inserted in a halo orbit around the L1 point, which is about 1.5 million km
from Earth.

Lagrange Points – Spots beyond the High Earth Orbits

Other orbital ―sweet spots,‖ just beyond high Earth orbit, are the
Lagrange points. At the Lagrange points, the pull of gravity from
the Earth cancels out the pull of gravity from the Sun. Anything
placed at these points will feel equally pulled toward the Earth and
the Sun and will revolve with the Earth around the Sun.
Of the five Lagrange points in the Sun-Earth system, only the last
two, called L4 and L5, are stable. A satellite at the other three
points is like a ball balanced at the peak of a steep hill: any slight
perturbation will push the satellite out of the Lagrange point like
the ball rolling down the hill. Satellites at these three points need
constant adjustments to stay balanced and in place.

L-1
The first Lagrange point is located between the Earth and the Sun, giving satellites at this point a constant
view of the Sun. The Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO), a NASA and European Space Agency
satellite which is tasked to monitor the Sun, orbits the first Lagrange point, about 1.5 million kilometers
away from Earth.
L-2
The second Lagrange point is about the same distance from the Earth, but is located behind the Earth. Earth
is always between the second Lagrange point and the Sun. Since the Sun and Earth are in a single line,
satellites at this location only need one heat shield to block heat and light from the Sun and Earth. It is a good
location for space telescopes.
L-3
The third Lagrange point is opposite the Earth on the other side of the Sun so that the Sun is always between
it and Earth. A satellite in this position would not be able to communicate with Earth. The extremely stable
fourth and fifth Lagrange points are in Earth‘s orbital path around the Sun, 60 degrees ahead of and behind
Earth.
Payloads
Lagrange points are special locations where a satellite will stay stationary relative to the Earth as the satellite
 and
Thethe Earth
1,500 kgrevolve
satellitearound
carries the Sun.
seven L1 and
science L2 are positioned
payloads above
with diverse the day and night sides of the Earth,
objectives.
 respectively.
Payload is theL3 carrying
is on the capacity
other sideofofanthe Sun, opposite
aircraft or launchthe Earth.usually
vehicle, L4 and measured
L5 are 60° in
ahead and
terms behind the
of weight.
 Earth in the same
Depending on theorbit.
nature of the flight or mission, the payload of a vehicle may include cargo, passengers,
flight crew, munitions, scientific instruments or experiments, or other equipment.

The complete list of payloads, their science objective and lead institute for developing the
payload is provided below
 Visible Emission Line Coronagraph (VELC): To study the diagnostic parameters of solar corona and
dynamics and origin of Coronal Mass Ejections, magnetic field measurement of solar corona.
 Solar Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (SUIT): To image the spatially resolved Solar Photosphere and
Chromosphere in near Ultraviolet (200-400 nm) and measure solar irradiance variations.
 Aditya Solar wind Particle Experiment (ASPEX): To study the variation of solar wind properties as well as
its distribution and spectral characteristics.
 Plasma Analyser Package for Aditya (PAPA): To understand the composition of solar wind and its energy
distribution
 Solar Low Energy X-ray Spectrometer (SoLEXS): To monitor the X-ray flares for studying the heating
mechanism of the solar corona.
 High Energy L1 Orbiting X-ray Spectrometer (HEL1OS): To observe the dynamic events in the solar corona
and provide an estimate of the energy used to accelerate the particles during the eruptive events.
 Magnetometer: To measure the magnitude and nature of the Interplanetary Magnetic Field.

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Significance
 The Sun, which controls the atmosphere of all planets in the Solar System, shows many variations in its
radiations due to the activities in it. Hence, understanding these variations can provide clues on the origin
of life, the atmosphere of exoplanets and insights into plasma—the state of matter abundant in the Universe.
 The Aditya-L1 project will enable a comprehensive understanding of the dynamical processes of the
sun and address some of the outstanding problems in solar physics.
 Right now, no solar mission can measure the magnetic field of the Sun's corona as it is only observable during
the eclipse. With Aditya, we can now collect this information in real-time.

TRANS FAT
Context
 Five billion people globally are exposed to harmful trans fat,
increasing their heart disease and death risk, according to a new
report by the World Health Organization (WHO).
 The Report is titled as: Countdown to 2023 - WHO report on
global trans fat elimination.

Trans Fat
 Trans fat, also called trans-unsaturated fatty acids, or trans fatty
acids, is a type of unsaturated fatthat occurs in foods.
 Trace concentrations of trans fats occur naturally, but large
amounts are found in some processed foods. Since consumption
of trans fats is unhealthy.
 Most of the trans fat in the foods we eat is formed through a
manufacturing process that adds hydrogen to vegetable oil,
which converts the liquid into a solid fat at room temperature.
This process is called hydrogenation.
 Hydrogenation, which uses hydrogen gas and metal catalysts to
reduce the degree of unsaturation and provide proper physical
characteristics in oils since 1890s, is a major process to generate
trans fat in our daily diet.
 Artificial trans fat has been banned in many nations, but it is still
widely consumed in developing nations, resulting in hundreds of thousands of excess deaths each year.

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 IMMUNE IMPRINTING
Context
 Scientists suggest that regardless of the type, coronavirus vaccines are crucial in staving off serious illness. But
studies have found that ‗immune imprinting‘ might be making bivalent boosters less effective.

What is immune imprinting?

 Immune imprinting is a tendency of the body to repeat its immune response based on the first variant it
encountered — through infection or vaccination — when it comes across a newer or slightly different variant
of the same pathogen.
 The phenomenon was first observed in 1947, when scientists noted that ―people who had previously had flu,
and were then vaccinated against the current circulating strain, produced antibodies against the first strain
they had encountered‖. At the time, it was termed the ‗original antigenic sin‘ but today, it‘s commonly known
as imprinting.
 Over the years, scientists have realized that imprinting acts as a database for the immune system, helping it
put up a better response to repeat infections.
Mechanism
 After our body is exposed to a virus for the first time, it produces memory B cells that circulate in the
bloodstream and quickly produce antibodies whenever the same strain of the virus infects again.
 The problem occurs when a similar, not identical, variant of the virus is encountered by the body. In such
cases, the immune system, rather than generating new B cells, activates memory B cells, which in turn
produce ―antibodies that bind to features found in both the old and new strains, known as cross-reactive
antibodies.
 Although these cross-reactive antibodies do offer some protection against the new strain, they aren‘t as
effective as the ones produced by the B cells when the body first came across the original virus.

Recent study pertaining to CoronaVirus Vaccine

 It was observed that the bivalent booster shots ―did not elicit a discernibly superior virus-neutralising peak
antibody response as compared with boosting with the original monovalent vaccines‖ across all coronavirus
strains tested - Columbia University.
 The findings suggested immune imprinting might be posing a hurdle in the success of the bivalent or
variant-specific vaccines.
How to circumvent immune imprinting?
 Currently, several ongoing studies are trying to find a way to deal with imprinting. Some scientists have
said nasal vaccines might be better at preventing infections than injected ones. They believe the mucous
membranes would create stronger protection, despite carrying some imprint of past exposure.
 Researchers are also trying to find if spacing out coronavirus vaccine shots on an annual basis, could help
with the problem of imprinting.

What are B-cells?

B-cells are the type of cells that produce antibodies to fight bacteria and viruses. These antibodies are Y-
shaped proteins that are specific to each pathogen and are able to lock onto the surface of an invading cell and
mark it for destruction by other immune cells.
T Cells
A type of white blood cell. T cells are part of the immune system and develop from stem cells in the bone
marrow. They help protect the body from infection and may help fight cancer. Also called T lymphocyte and
thymocyte.
There are two main types of T-cells:
Helper T-cells stimulate B-cells to make antibodies and help killer cells develop.
Killer T-cells directly kill cells that have already been infected by a foreign invader.

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 AI-AQMS V1.0
Context
 MeitY, has launched the Technology for Air Quality Monitoring System (AI-AQMS v1.0).

Details
 AI-AQMS v1.0 is an outdoor air quality monitoring station to monitor environmental pollutants which
includes parameters like PM 1.0, PM 2.5, PM 10.0, SO2, NO2, CO, O2, ambient temperature, relative humidity
etc., for continuous air quality analysis of the environment.
 The Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC), Kolkata in collaboration with TeXMIN, ISM,
Dhanbad under the ‗National programme on Electronics and ICT applications in Agriculture and
Environment (AgriEnIcs)‘ has developed it.

HOLOCENE
Context
 By analysing Antarctic ice cores, scientists have revealed the
most detailed look yet at the planet's recent climactic history,
including summer and winter temperatures, dating back 11,000
years to the beginning of what is known as the Holocene.

About Holocene
 The Holocene is the current geological epoch. It began
approximately 11,650 cal years Before the Present (c. 9701
BCE), after the Last Glacial Period, which concluded with
the Holocene glacial retreat.
 The Holocene and the preceding Pleistocene together form
the Quaternary The Holocene has been identified with the
current warm period, known as MIS 1.
 The Holocene corresponds with the rapid proliferation, growth
and impacts of the human species worldwide, including all of
its written history, technological revolutions, development of
major civilizations, and overall significant transition
towards urban living in the present.
 In July 2018, the International Union of Geological Sciences
split the Holocene Epoch into three distinct ages based on the
climate-
1. Greenlandian (11,700 years ago to 8,200 years ago),
2. Northgrippian(8,200 years ago to 4,200 years ago) and
3. Meghalayan(4,200 years ago to the present), as proposed
by International Commission on Stratigraphy.
 The oldest age, the Greenlandian was characterized by warming
following the preceding ice age.
 The Northgrippian Age is known for vast cooling due to a
disruption in ocean circulations that was caused by the melting
of glaciers.
 The most recent age of the
Holocene is the present
Meghalayan, which began with
the extreme drought that lasted
around 200 years.

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 SHUKRAYAAN
Context
 ISRO‘s Venus mission, called Shukrayaan I, was expected to be launched in December 2024. But ISRO said
that the organization is yet to receive approval from the Indian government for the Venus mission and that
the mission could as a result be postponed to 2031.

About
 Shukrayaan-1is a planned orbiter to Venus by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) to study the
surface and atmosphere of Venus.
 The orbiter, depending on its final configuration, would have a science payload capability of approximately
100 kilograms (220 lb) with 500 W available power.
 The three broad research areas of interest for this mission include surface/subsurface stratigraphy and re-
surfacing processes; second: study the atmospheric chemistry, dynamics and compositional variations, and
third: a study of solar irradiance and solar wind interaction with Venus ionosphere while studying the
structure, composition and dynamics of the atmosphere.

DIGITAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION

Context
 The Centre has decided to disband the Digital Communication Commission (DCC).

Digital Communications Commission (Erstwhile Telecom Commission)

About
 The Telecom Commission was set up by the Government of India vide the Resolution dated 11th April,
1989with administrative and financial powers of the Government of India to deal with various aspects of
Telecommunications.
 The Government, vide Resolution dated 22nd October,2018, has re-designated the 'Telecom Commission' as
the 'Digital Communications Commission'.
Composition
 The Digital Communications Commission consists of a Chairman, four full time members, who are ex-
officio Secretaries to the Government of India in the Department of Telecommunications and four part time
members who are the Secretaries to the Government of India in the concerned Departments.
 The Secretary to the Government of India in the Department of Telecommunications is the ex-officio
Chairman of the Digital Communications Commission.
 The full-time Members of the Digital Communications Commission are Member (Finance), Member
(Production), Member (Services) & Member (Technology).
 The part-time Members of the Digital Communications Commission are Cheif Executive Officer, NITI
(National Institution for Transforming India) Aayog, Secretary (Department of Economic Affairs), Secretary (
Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology) and Secretary (Department of Industrial Policy &
Promotion). The Chief Executive Officer, NITI (National Institution for Transforming India) Aayog has been
nominated as a (part-time) Member of the Digital Communications Commission vide the Resolution of the
Government of India dated 15th March, 2016.

Mandate
The Digital Communications Commission is responsible for:
1. Formulating the policy of Department of Telecommunications for approval of the Government;
2. Preparing the budget for the Department of Telecommunications for each financial year and getting it
approved by the Government; &
3. Implementation of Government's policy in all matters concerning telecommunication.

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 FLOATOVOLTAICS
Context
 India‘s largest floating solar power project, spanning over 600 acres, is now fully operational at Ramagundam
in Peddapalli district of Telangana.

Floatovoltaics
 Floating solar or floating photovoltaics (FPV), sometimes called floatovoltaics, is solar panels mounted on a
structure that float on a body of water, typically a reservoir or a lake. The costs for a floating system are 20-
25% higher than for ground-mounted systems.
 The first floating photovoltaic system was built in Japan in 2007. Currently, the world‘s largest floating solar
farm is in Shandong, China.

Floating Solar Power Plants in India

 In recent years, floating solar power plants have become part of India‘s plans to achieve a national target of
100 GW solar capacity by 2022.
 According to a 2020 study by think tank The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), reservoirs cover 18,000
square kilometres in India and can generate 280 GWthrough floating solar panels.
 India launched the National Solar Mission in 2010 to tap sources of renewable energy. According to a study
done by TERI in association with the Energy Transmission Commission India programme, 7 MW capacity
floatovoltaic projects were in operation as of 2019, while over 1.7 GW were in various stages of
development. The Government plans to establish a renewable energy capacity of 500 GW by 2030.

LNG vs LPG vs CNG

 LNG – Liquefied Natural Gas – is natural gas (methane) cryogenically liquefied.
 LPG – Liquefied Petroleum Gas – is mainly propane and butane alone or in mixtures liquified under pressure.
LPG is produced from crude oil refining and natural gas processing.
 CNG – Compressed Natural Gas – is natural gas stored at high pressure.
 Natural gas (methane) is lighter than air and will typically disperse in the event of a leak. This is
advantageous, over LPG, from a safety point of view.
 LPG is stored, shipped and distributed in cylinders or tanks. LNG is stored and shipped in special cryogenic
tanks and then typically distributed via pipeline, after regasification.
 CNG is highly compressed natural gas in cylinders. LPG, propane and butane, are gas at 20°C and 1 atm
(NTP) and liquefied under low pressure. Methane remains gas under pressure. LNG only liquefies
cryogenically.

BLACK FEVER DISEASE

Context
 The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi has expressed his happiness on the declining cases of Kala Azar
disease.

What is kala-azar or Black Fever Disease?

 Kala-azar or Visceral Leishmaniasis is a protozoan parasitic disease, spread by sandfly bites. The flies are
infected with the parasite called ‗leishmania donovani‘.

Sandflies
 Sandflies are brown in color and have hairs on their bodies. The vector sandfly is known to live in cracks and
crevices of muddy houses, especially in dark and humid corners.

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Vulnerable population
 The disease affects some of the poorest people and is linked to malnutrition, population displacement, poor
housing, a weak immune system and a lack of financial resources. Leishmaniasis is also linked
to environmental changes such as deforestation, and urbanization. The disease is endemic in Bihar,
Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal.

Symptoms of kala-azar
 Irregular bouts of fever over many days, weight loss, enlargement of the spleen and liver, and anemia are
known symptoms. The skin may become dry, thin and scaly in patches and hair may be lost.
 In people with a light skin tone, grayish discoloration of the skin of hands, feet, abdomen and face may be
seen, that is why the disease is also called ―Black fever‖.

Treatment
 Anti-leishmanial medicines are available for treatment. Vector control is also recommended by the WHO,
which means reducing or interrupting the transmission of disease by decreasing the number of sandflies in
surroundings through insecticide spray, use of insecticide-treated nets, etc.

Steps being taken

 The government aimed to eliminate the disease in India by 2015, but that deadline was missed. However, the
number of cases has been brought down significantly through the National Kala-Azar Elimination
Programme.
 Under this program, medicines, insecticides and technical support were given by the central government,
while state governments provided for the costs involved in implementation. The program was implemented
through State/District Malaria Control Offices and the primary health care system.

VIROVORE
Context
 The first known ―virovore‖- an organism that eats viruses- has been found, researchers claimed.

Details
 Scientists found that a species of Halteria - which are microscopic ciliates that populate freshwater
throughout the world - can eat huge numbers of infectious chloroviruses. Both share an aquatic habitat,
according to a study.
 Virovores can sustain themselves with viruses, consuming many and growing in size.
 These virus-eating species of protists — which are their own kingdom on the tree of life and are not an
animal, plants, or fungi — are now classified as virovores.
 For the first time, the team's laboratory tests have also demonstrated that a virus-only diet, or "virovory," is
sufficient to support an organism's physiological growth and even population increase.

ANIMAL TRYPANOSOMIASIS
Context
 African animal Trypanosomosisis, caused by tsetse
fly, is a huge problem for African livestock farmers.
Ethiopia has released the first edition of an atlas to
map a parasitic disease affecting livestock in the
country and the vector behind it.

About
 Animal trypanosomiasis, also known
as naganaand nagana pest, or sleeping sickness, is

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 a disease of vertebrates. The disease is caused by parasites called trypanosomes of several species in the
genus Trypanosoma such as Trypanosoma brucei.
[Trypanosoma is a genus of kinetoplastids, a monophyletic group of unicellular parasitic flagellate protozoa.]
 Trypanosoma vivaxcauses nagana mainly in West Africa, although it has spread to South America.
 The trypanosomes are transmitted by tsetseflies and other blood-sucking Diptera.

Symptoms
 The trypanosomes infect the blood of the vertebrate host, causing fever, weakness, and lethargy, which
lead to weight loss and anemia; in some animals the disease is fatal unless treated.
 Various symptoms are observed, including fever, oedema, adenitis, dermatitis and nervous disorders.

Impact
 Trypanosomosis lies at the heart of Africa‘s struggle against poverty, and it is endemic in more than thirty
countries among the least developed of the world.
 Affecting both livestock and people, trypanosomosis constrains agricultural production and causes food
insecurity in vast and fertile swaths of sub-Saharan Africa.
 Although the loss of direct livestock products (meat, milk, and blood) is problematic, the greatest impact of
livestock trypanosomiasis is the loss of crop productivitydue to loss of the animals' draught power in the
field.

Concern
 There is no vaccine and existing drugs are becoming less effective because of the development of resistance
in parasites.

Control Measures
 If the outbreak is detected early, the organism can be destroyed by quarantines, movement controls, and the
euthanasia of infected animals.
 Tsetse fly populations can be reduced or eliminated by traps, insecticides, and by treating infected animals
with antiparasitic drugs.
 The tsetse habitat can be destroyed by alteration of vegetation.
 Some drugs can prevent trypanosomiasis, and are called prophylactic drugs. These are very effective in
protecting animals during the times they are exposed to diseases.

INDIAN SCIENCE CONGRESS

Context
 After a two-year Covid-enforced absence, the Indian Science Congressis back, with its 108th edition getting
underway in Nagpur.

Indian Science Congress Association and Indian Science Congress

 Indian Science Congress Association (ISCA) is a premier scientific organisation of Indiawith headquarters
at Kolkata, West Bengal. The association started in the year 1914 in Kolkata and it meets annually in the first
week of January.
 It has a membership of more than 30,000 scientists.
 The first Indian Science Congress was held in 1914 at the Asiatic Societyin Calcutta.
 Several prominent Indian and foreign scientists, including Nobel laureates, attend and speak in the congress.

Genesis
 The Indian Science Congress Association (ISCA) owes its origin to the foresight and initiative of two British
chemists, namely, Professor L. Simonsenand Professor P. S. MacMahon.
 It occurred to them that scientific research in India might be stimulated if an annual meeting of research
workers somewhat on the lines of the British Association for the Advancement of Sciencecould be arranged.

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Objectives
The Association was formed with the following objectives:
 To advance and promote the cause of science in India;
 To hold an annual congress at a suitable place in India;
 To publish such proceedings, journals, transactions and other publications as may be considered desirable;
 To secure and manage funds and endowments for the promotion of science including the rights of disposing
of or selling all or any portion of the properties of the Association;
 To do and perform any or all other acts, matters and things as are conductive to, or incidental to, or necessary
for, the above objects.
108 Science Congress
th

 The 108th Indian Science Congress is being held at Nagpur.

 Focal Theme - Science and Technology for Sustainable Development with Women Empowerment.

YO-YO TEST AND DEXA SCAN

Context
 Recently, the BCCI announced the (re)introduction of the Yo-Yo Test and the introduction of Dexa scans for
the purposes of selection to the team.

What is Yo-Yo Test?

 The Yo-Yo intermittent test is aimed at estimating performance in stop-and-go sports like football (soccer),
cricket, basketball, and the like. It was conceived around the early 1990s by Jens Bangsbo, a Danish soccer
physiologist.
 Like many other tests of fitness, it involves running at ever-increasing speeds, to exhaustion. However, a
crucial difference is that the Yo-Yo Intermittent test has periodic rest intervals, thus simulating the nature of
exertion in stop-and-go sports.
 The Yo-Yo test was first introduced to the Indian cricket team during Virat Kohli‘s fitness-focused captaincy
reign.
Version
 The most commonly used version involves running between two markers 20 metres apart, following audio
cues which dictate the running speed required.
 After each 40 metres run, the participants have an active break of 10 seconds before running 40 metres again.
 At regular intervals, the required running speed increases. The test continues until the participants are no
longer able to keep up with the required pace.
 Players are given scores on the basis of how many levels they are able to clear.

What is a DEXA scan?

 DEXA stands for ―dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry.‖
 A DEXA scan is a type of medical imaging test. It uses very low levels of x-rays to measure the calcium and
other minerals in the bones to inturn measure the density of bones.

Importance of these Tests in Sports

 The Dexa scan and Yo -Yo Test can be used to provide a more accurate picture of the players‘ fitness and
physical condition, allowing the team to customise plans for players.
 It will also allow better insight into players‘ recoveries, ensuring that players are not rushed back too early.

HAEMOPHILIA
Context
 S. drugmaker Pfizer Inc. said its experimental gene therapy for the treatment of haemophilia B, a rare
inherited blood disorder, met its main goal in a late-stage study.

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Haemophilia
 Haemophilia, is a mostly inherited genetic disorder that impairs the body's ability to make blood clots, a
process needed to stop bleeding. This results in people bleeding for a longer time after an injury, easy
bruising, and an increased risk of bleeding inside joints or the brain. Those with a mild case of the disease
may have symptoms only after an accident or during surgery.

Causes
 Hemophilia is caused by a mutation or change, in one of the genes, that provides instructions for making the
clotting factor proteins needed to form a blood clot. This change or mutation can prevent the clotting protein
from working properly or to be missing altogether. These genes are located on the X chromosome.

Ramifications
Hemophilia can result in:
 Bleeding within joints that can lead to chronic joint disease and pain.
 Bleeding in the head and sometimes in the brain which can cause long term problems, such as seizures and
paralysis.
 Death can occur if the bleeding cannot be stopped or if it occurs in a vital organ such as the brain.

Types
There are several different types of hemophilia. The following two are the most common:
 Hemophilia A (Classic Hemophilia)
 This type is caused by a lack or decrease of clotting factor VIII.
 Hemophilia B (Christmas Disease)
 This type is caused by a lack or decrease of clotting factor IX.

Treatment
 There is no cure for hemophilia at this time, but there is medicine people can take. This medicine helps them
stop bleeding so they can do most of the things everyone else does.
 The best way to treat hemophilia is to replace the missing blood clotting factor so that the blood can clot
properly. This is done by infusing (administering through a vein) commercially prepared factor
concentrates.

OMEGA CENTAURI
Context
 Astronomers and scientists at the Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA), along with their international
collaborators, while studying the Omega Centauri, have found that hot stars and white dwarfs emitted less
ultraviolet radiation than expected.

Omega Centauri
 Omega Centauri is a globular cluster in the constellation of Centaurus that was first identified as a non-stellar
object by Edmond Halley in 1677.
 Located at a distance of 17,090 light-years(5,240 parsecs), it is the largest-known globular cluster in
the Milky Way at a diameter of roughly 150 light-years.
 It is estimated to contain approximately 10 million stars, and a total mass equivalent to 4 million solar
masses, making it the most massive-known globular cluster in the Milky Way.
 Omega Centauri is very different from most other galactic globular clusters to the extent that it is thought to
have originated as the core remnant of a disrupted dwarf galaxy.
 Omega Centauri is one of the few globular clusters visible to the naked eye—and appears almost as large as
the full Moon when seen from a dark, rural area.

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 ‗CALL BEFORE U DIG‘ (CBUD) APP
Context
 Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the ‗Call Before u Dig‘ (CBuD) App.

‗CALL BEFORE U DIG‘ (CBUD) APP

About
 The Call Before u Dig mobile application. It has been built to facilitate coordination between excavation
agencies and underground utility owners to prevent damage to utilities due to digging.
Initiative under Ministry
 It is an initiative of the Department of Telecommunications, Ministry of Communications.

Aim
 It aims to prevent damage to underlying assets like optical fibre cables that occurs because of
uncoordinated digging and excavation, leading to losses of about Rs 3,000 crore every year. (PIB Data)
Working of the App
 The CBuD app will connect excavators and asset owners through SMS/Email notifications and click-to-
call so that there are planned excavations in the country while ensuring the safety of underground assets.
 It aims to give excavating companies a point of contact, where they can inquire about existing subsurface
utilities before starting excavation work. Utility owners can also find out about impending work at the
location.
Significance
 It will save potential business loss and minimise discomfort to the citizens due to reduced disruption in
essential services like road, telecom, water, gas and electricity.

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