TERMS

INFORMATION

YUKTI

·       Union HRD Minister has launched a web-portal named YUKTI (Young India Combating COVID with Knowledge, Technology and Innovation) to monitor the initiatives of HRD Ministry taken in the wake of COVID-19.

·       it will help in critical issues related to student promotion policies, placements related challenges and physical and mental well-being of students in these challenging times.

SAMADHAN CHALLENGE

·       Innovation Cell of the HRD Ministry and AICTE in collaboration with Forge and InnovatioCuris launched a mega online challenge – SAMADHAN.

·        For students to develop quick solutions to the Coronavirus epidemic and other such calamities.

#StayHomeIndiaWithBooks

·       National Book Trust (NBT) launched #StayHomeIndiaWithBooks initiative in the wake of Preventive Measures by Government to contain the spread of Covid-19

·       To encourage people to read books while at home, NBT is providing its select and best-selling titles for FREE Download as part of its initiative of #StayHomeIndiaWithBooks!

ASER 2019 ‘EARLY YEARS’

·       The Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) 2019 ‘Early Years’ was released by NGO Pratham.

·       At least 25% of school children in the four-eight age group do not have age-appropriate cognitive and numeracy skills.

DIKSHA

·       Diksha has more than 80000 e-Books for class 12th created by CBSE, NCERT and States/UTs which are available in multiple languages.

e-PATHSHALA

·       In this web portal NCERT has deployed 1886 audios, 2000 videos, 696 e-books (ePubs) and 504 Flip Books for classes 1st to 12th in different languages.

SWAYAM

·       SWAYAM is the national online education platform hosting 1900 courses covering both school (class IX to XII) And Higher Education (under graduate, post graduate programs) in all subjects including engineering, humanities and social sciences, law and management courses.

SWAYAM PRABHA

·       It has 32 D2H TV channels transmitting educational contents on 24/7 basis.

·       These channels are available for viewing all across all across the country using DD free Dish set top box and antenna.

·       The channels cover both school education and Higher Education.

e-Shodh Sindhu

·       provides current as well as archival access to more than 15,000 core and peer reviewed journals and a number of bibliographic, citation and factual databases in different disciplines.

Vidwan

·       a database of experts which provides information about experts to peers, prospective collaborators, funding agencies policy makers and research scholar.

PROJECT ‘ISAAC’

·       Indian Institute of Technology, Gandhinagar (IITGN) has launched Project ‘ISAAC’ to engage its students in creative projects to enhance their critical skills while they are confined to their homes because of Corona virus.

·        The project is inspired by Sir Isaac Newton, who was similarly sent home by Trinity College, Cambridge, because of the Great Plague of London in 1665.

·       As part of the project, four different competitions are being organized by IIT, Gandhinagar to cultivate new skills among students regarding writing, painting, coding, music, creative expression, and so on. Students can take part in competitions online.

CORONAVIRUS

·       Coronaviruses are a specific family of viruses, with some of them causing less-severe damage, such as the common cold, and others causing respiratory and intestinal diseases

·       So far, there are four known disease-causing coronaviruses, among which the best known are the SARS corona virus and the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) coronavirus, both of which can cause severe respiratory diseases.

COVID-19

·       COVID-19 is the infectious disease caused by the recently discovered coronavirus.

·        These were unknown before the outbreak began in Wuhan, China, in December 2019

N95 Respirators

·       The ‘N95’ designation means that when subjected to careful testing, the respirator blocks at least 95 percent of very small (0.3 micron) test particles.

·       N95 respirators are not designed for children or people with facial hair. Because a proper fit cannot be achieved on children and people with facial hair, the N95 respirator may not provide full protection.

AarogyaSetu App

·       The Government of India launched AarogyaSetu. This mobile app will enable people to assess themselves the risk for their catching the Coronavirus infection

Scitech Airon

·       Scitech Park, a Pune-based company has developed Scitech Airon, a negative ion generator which reduces the viral load of infected areas within a room within an hour

·       It has been developed under the NIDHI PRAYAS program initiated by the Department of Science and Technology (DST).

NAADI

·       The Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC) has prepared a data science-based tool to make easy the task of tracking the movements of Covid-19 patients or quarantined people across the country.

·        The system has been named National Analytical Platform for Dealing with Intelligent Tracing, Tracking and Containment (NAADI).

SAMHAR Project

·       It has been developed by C-DAC under Supercomputer using Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Healthcare Analytics based Research, Covid-19 (SAMHAR).

·        The SAMHAR project is in partnership with the National Supercomputing Mission established in association with startups and industries to build a rapid supercomputing system and research community for India to fight Covid-19.

Ambu Bags

·       IIT-Hyderabad has urged the government to consider the use of ‘bag valve masks’ as an alternative to meet demand for ventilators, in the wake of the COVID-19.

CoNTec

·       The Union Minister of Health launched the “COVID-19 National Teleconsultation Centre (CoNTeC)” at AIIMS, New Delhi.

·       It is a Telemedicine Hub to connect the Doctors across the country to AIIMS in real time for treatment of the COVID-19 patients.

OPERATION SANJEEVANI

·       An Indian Air Force (IAF) C-130J transport aircraft delivered 6.2 tonne of essential medicines and hospital consumables to Maldives under Operation Sanjeevani.

POSOCO

·       POSOCO is a wholly owned Government of India enterprise under the Ministry of Power. It was earlier a wholly owned subsidiary of Power Grid Corporation of India Limited (PGCIL). It was formed in 2009.

·        It is responsible to ensure the integrated operation of the Grid in a reliable, efficient, and secure manner. It consists of 5 Regional Load Despatch Centres and a National Load Despatch Centre (NLDC).

HYDROXYCHLOROQUINE

·        Hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) is an anti-malarial drug which is also used in treatment of autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis.

·       Hydroxychloroquine in combination with Azithromycin can be used for patients affected with COVID-19

CARUNA

·       The acronym ‘Caruna’ stands for Civil Services Associations Reach to Support in Natural Disasters. It represents a collaborative platform, on which civil servants, industry leaders, NGO & IT professionals among others have come together to contribute their time and abilities.

CAWACH

·       Department of Science & Technology (DST) has approved setting up of a Centre for Augmenting WAR with COVID-19 Health Crisis (CAWACH) to scout, evaluate and support the innovations and start-ups that address COVID-19 challenges.

·        The Society for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (SINE), a technology business incubator at IIT Bombay supported by DST, is the Implementing Agency of CAWACH.

OPERATION SHIELD

·       The Delhi government carried out ‘Operation SHIELD’ against COVID-19 at 21 locations identified as containment zones in the Capital.

·        ‘Operation SHIELD’ includes sealing, identifying and quarantining people in containment zones, doorstep delivery of essential items and door-to-door checking of people in those areas, will be undertaken by the Delhi government.

SAFE PLUS

·       The Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) announced that the SIDBI Assistance to Facilitate Emergency response against Corona virus (SAFE PLUS) will be offered collateral free and disbursed within 48 hour

·       The scheme was launched to provide financial assistance to MSMEs engaged in manufacturing of hand sanitizers, masks, gloves, head gear, bodysuits, shoe-covers, ventilators and goggles used in dealing with COVID-19

PCR TEST

·       ICMR has said designated labs will use the conventional real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test to test for the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19

·       A ‘reverse transcriptase’ enzyme converts the RNA into DNA. Copies of the DNA are then made and amplified.

·       A fluorescent DNA binding dye called the “probe” shows the presence of the virus. The test also distinguishes SARS-COV-2 from other viruses

HANTAVIRUS

·       The hantaviruses are a family of viruses spread mainly by rodents. A person can get infected if he/she comes in contact with a rodent that carries the virus.

·       The hantavirus is not novel and its first case dates back to 1993.

·        Cases of hantavirus in humans occur mostly in rural areas where forests, fields & farms offer suitable habitat for infected rodents.

TrueNat

·       The TrueNat TB test is a new molecular test that can diagnosis TB in one hour as well as testing for resistance to the drug rifampicin

·       The TrueNat test has been developed by the Indian firm MolBio Diagnostics Pvt Ltd Goa. Its development has been funded by Bigtec Labs, India.

LORCASERIN

·       Indian doctors have cautioned against the use of lorcaserin (brand name Belviq or Belviq XR), a weight-loss drug that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently said is linked to a “possible increased risk of cancer.”

YADA YADA VIRUS

·       Yada Yada Virus (YYV) is an alphavirus, a group of viruses that the researchers described as small, single-stranded positive-sense RNA viruses (that) include species important to human and animal health and which are transmitted primarily by mosquitoes and (are) pathogenic in their vertebrate hosts.

·       Unlike some other alphaviruses, Yada Yada does not pose a threat to human beings.

RARE DISEASES

·       In India, Haemophilia, Thalassemia, Sickle cell anaemia and Primary Immuno Deficiency in children, auto-immune diseases, Lysosomal storage disorders such as Pompe disease and Gaucher’s disease are in the rare diseases list.

·       The latest policy creates three categories of rare diseases: (1) diseases requiring one-time curative treatment, (2) diseases which need long-term treatment but the cost is low, and (3) diseases that require life-long treatment and the cost is high.

·       Under it, Centre will provide assistance of Rs 15 lakh to patients suffering from rare diseases that require one-time curative treatment under the Rashtriya Arogya Nidhi scheme

ICoSDiTAUS-2020

·       ICoSDiTAUS-2020, the two-day International Conference on Standardisation of Diagnosis and Terminologies in Ayurveda, Unani and Siddha Systems of Medicine was recently held in New Delhi.

·       It adopted the “New Delhi Declaration on Collection and Classification of Traditional Medicine (TM) Diagnostic Data”

NetSCoFAN

·       Union Health Minister launched NetSCoFAN (Network for Scientific Co-operation for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition), a network of research & academic institutions working in the area of food & nutrition.

VYOMMITRA

·       ISRO announced that Vyommitra, a half-humanoid, will be sent to space as a trial before Gaganyaan, which will be launched in 2022.

·       Vyom Mitra is the result of a year-long effort of the ISRO Inertial Systems Unit in Thiruvananthapuram.

·       The humanoid will simulate the human functions required for space before real astronauts take off before August 2022.

THOOTHUKODI LAUNCH PORT

·       ISRO will establish a second launch port in Thoothukodi district in Tamil Nadu exclusively to launch small satellite launch vehicles (SSLVs).

·        SSLV is a launch vehicle being developed by the ISRO with payload capacity to deliver 500 kg to Low Earth orbit or 300 kg to Sun synchronous orbit for launching small satellites, with the capability to support multiple orbital drop-offs.

NESYAMUN

·       For the first time, scientists have reconstructed the voice of an ancient human being, that of a 3000- year-old Egyptian mummy named Nesyamun.

·       Nesyamun, also known as The Leeds Mummy, is an Egyptian mummy from around 1100 BC held at Leeds City Museum. Nesyamun was a priest, incense-bearer and scribe at the Egyptian temple complex at Karnak. He died in around 1100 BC.

NEON

·       Samsung’s Star Labs has officially unveiled Neon as its latest artificial intelligence (AI) powered project. Neons are Artificial Intelligence virtual beings capable of showing human-like emotions and intelligence.

TOI 700 d

·       NASA reported the discovery of an Earth-size planet, named TOI 700 d, orbiting its star in the “habitable zone”. TOI 700 d was found by NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) mission, which it launched in 2018.

·       Habitable zone, also called “Goldilocks zone”, is the area around a star where it is not too hot and not too cold for liquid water to exist on the surface of surrounding planets

MACS 4028

·       Scientists from Agharkar Research Institute (ARI), Pune, an autonomous institute under Department of Science & Technology have developed a biofortified durum wheat variety MACS 4028.

·       MACS 4028 is a semi-dwarf variety, It is resistant to stem rust, leaf rust, foliar aphids, root aphids, and brown wheat mite.

2020 CD3

·       Astronomers have observed a small object orbiting Earth, which they have dubbed a “minimoon” or the planet’s “second moon”.

·        Dubbed 2020 CD3, it is actually an asteroid, this object is temporarily bound to the Earth. i.e. unlike our permanent Moon, the mini-moon is temporary; it will eventually break free of Earth’s orbit and go off on its own way.

HENNEGUYA SALMINICOLA

·       An international team of researchers has found Henneguya salminicola, a multicellular animal with no mitochondrial DNA, making it the only known animal to exist without the need to breathe oxygen.

ASKDISHA

·       Indian Railways has introduced the services of Artificial Intelligence based ASKDISHA chatbot on the ticketing and tourism website of its PSU, Indian Railways Catering & Tourism Corporation Limited (IRCTC).

·        It has been developed to resolve queries of railway passengers over the internet pertaining to various services offered by IRCTC.

XENOBOT

·       Scientists in the USA have created the world’s first ‘living machines’. tiny robots built from the cells of the African clawed frog, that can move around on their own.  

·       They have named the millimetre-wide robots “xenobots” after Xenopus laevis, the species of aquatic frog found across sub-Saharan Africa,

BI-LUMINESCENT SECURITY INK

·       CSIR-National Physical Laboratory has developed a bi-luminescent security ink to Curb Fake Printing of Passports and Counterfeiting of Currency Notes.

·       The ink was prepared in a batch of 1kg and given to Bank Note Press (BNP), Dewas, a unit of Security Printing Minting Corporation of India Ltd. (SPMCIL), New Delhi.

SPECS

·       Scheme For Promotion Of Manufacturing Of Electronic Components And Semiconductors

SATHI

·       Department of Science & Technology launched Sophisticated Analytical & Technical Help Institutes (SATHI) scheme to address the need for building shared Science and Technology infrastructure in the country.

·       DST has already set up three such centres at IIT Kharagpur, IIT Delhi and BHU. It has planned to set up five SATHI Centres every year for the next four years.

SUTRA PIC PROGRAMME

·       Government of India launched SUTRA PIC or Scientific Utilisation Through Research AugmentationPrime Products from Indigenous Cows.

·        Under it, scientific research will be carried out milk products derived from Indian ‘indigenous’ cows. To be funded by multiple scientific ministries, the initiative is led by the Department of Science and Technology (DST)

MUKTOSHRI

·       Researchers in West Bengal have developed and commercialised a rice variety named Muktoshri (also called IET 21845) that is resistant to arsenic.

APOLLO 13

·       NASA marked the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 13 crewed mission to the Moon – known as “a successful failure” as its crew were able to pull off a safe return despite the spacecraft enduring an explosion.

·       Apollo 13 was the seventh crewed mission in the Apollo space program and the third meant to land on the Moon

CollabCAD

·       Atal Innovation Mission (AIM), NITI Aayog and National Informatics Centre (NIC) jointly launched CollabCAD, a collaborative network, computer enabled software system, providing a total engineering solution from 2D drafting & detailing to 3D product design

GSLV Mk III

·       GSLV Mark 3 (GSLV Mk III) is a three-stage heavy-lift launch vehicle.

·       It was also used for launching the Chandrayaan 2 in 2019.

·       It consists of a core liquid booster (L110), two solid rocket boosters (S200) on each side and a cryogenic upper stage (C25).

·        India’s biggest cryogenic engine CE-20 powers the upper stage.

·        Two Vikas engines that burn 110t of fuel power the core stage.

Asteroid

·       Asteroids are actually minor planets.

·       They can neither be classified either as a planet or as a comet.

·       These are generally in the direct orbit around the Sun.

·       They are also known as the inner solar system.

·       The larger forms of asteroids are also known as planetoids

GISAT-1

·       GISAT-1 is short for Geo-Imaging Satellite and is the first of two earth imagers planned.

·        GISAT-1 is designed to work in geosynchronous orbit

·       This position will allow the satellite to continuously monitor the Indian subcontinent and nearby ocean waters.

·        The satellite can take pictures in multiple wavelengths of light at the same time.

NIDHI

·       National Initiative for Developing and Harnessing Innovations (NIDHI) is an umbrella programme conceived and developed by Department of Science & Technology.

·       It aims at nurturing ideas and innovations (knowledge-based and technology-driven) into successful startups

Bharat Emission Standards

·       Central government has announced that from April 1, 2020, all vehicles sold in India should comply with Bharat Stage-VI, or BS-VI emission standards.

·       These are the standards set up by the Indian government which specify the amount of air pollutants from internal combustion engines, including those that vehicles can emit.

·       Bharat Stage Emission Standards have been instituted by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), instituted within the Ministry of Environment Forests and Climate Change.

·       BS-IV fuels contain 50 parts per million (ppm) sulphur, the BS-VI grade fuel only has 10 ppm sulphur.

·       BS VI can bring PM in diesel cars down by 80 per cent .

·       The new norms will bring down nitrogen oxides from diesel cars by 70 per cent and in petrol cars by 25 per cent.

Black Carbon

·       Black carbon concentrations near the Gangotri glacier rose 400 times in summer due to forest fires and stubble burning from agricultural waste, and triggered glacial melt

·       It is formed by the incomplete combustion of fossil fuels, wood and other fuels.

·       Black carbon is a short-lived climate pollutant with a lifetime of only days to weeks after release in the atmosphere.

·       Several studies have demonstrated that measures to prevent black carbon emissions can reduce near-term warming of the climate, increase crop yields and prevent premature deaths.

Superhydrophobic

·       Superhydrophobic‖ has become the common nomenclature to describe ANY surface which easily repels liquids.

·       A superhydrophobic coating is a coating that has a water contact angle of greater than 150 degrees and a sliding angle of less than 10 degrees.

Ebola

·       It is caused by an infection with a group of viruses within the genus Ebolavirus

·       It causes fever, body aches, and diarrhea, and sometimes bleeding inside and outside the body.

·       As the virus spreads through the body, it damages the immune system and organs.

·        Ultimately, it causes levels of blood-clotting cells to drop

·       The disease was known as Ebola hemorrhagic fever but is now referred to as Ebola virus.

·        It kills up to 90% of people who are infected.  

·       Ebola isn’t a contagious diesease.

·        It spreads to people by contact with the skin or bodily fluids of an infected animal, like a monkey, chimp, or fruit bat.

dementia

·       Dementia is a syndrome in which there is deterioration in memory, thinking, behaviour and the ability to perform everyday activities.  

·       Dementia mainly affects older people

·       Alzheimer disease is the most common form of dementia and may contribute to 60–70% of cases.

·        Dementia is one of the major causes of disability and dependency among older people worldwide.  

·       There is no treatment currently available to cure dementia or to alter its progressive course.

Diabulimia

·       people with diabetes can develop diabulimia

·       diabulimia‖ (also known as ED-DMT1) is a life-threatening combination and the unhealthy practice of withholding insulin to manipulate or lose weight.

Epidemic

·       Epidemic is a term that is often broadly used to describe any problem that has grown out of control.

·        An epidemic is defined as “an outbreak of a disease that occurs over a wide geographic area and affects an exceptionally high proportion of the population.”

pandemic

·       the term pandemic relates to geographic spread and is used to describe a disease that affects a whole country or the entire world

Genome sequencing

·       Genome sequencing is figuring out the order of DNA nucleotides, or bases, in a genome—the order of As, Cs, Gs, and Ts that make up an organism’s DNA.

·        The human genome is made up of over 3 billion of these genetic letters.

dyslexia

·       Dyslexia is a learning disorder that affects your ability to read, spell, write, and speak.

·       Kids who have it are often smart and hardworking, but they have trouble connecting the letters they see to the sounds those letters make

·       It’s linked to genes, which is why the condition often runs in families

Autism

·       Autism is a complex, lifelong developmental disability that typically appears during early childhood.

·       It can impact a person’s social skills, communication, relationships, and self-regulatio

Plasma

·       Plasma is the clear, straw-colored liquid portion of blood.

·       It is the remaining portion of the blood after removing red blood cells, white blood cells, platelets and other cellular components.

·       It is the single largest component of human blood, comprising about 55 percent, and contains water, salts, enzymes, antibodies and other proteins.

·        It is composed of 90% water.

·       Plasma carries out a variety of functions in the body, including clotting blood, fighting diseases and other critical functions.

·        Source plasma is plasma that is collected from healthy, voluntary donors through a process called plasmapheresis.

E-coli

·       E. coli (Escherichia coli), is a type of bacteria.

·       It normally lives in your intestines.

·        It’s also found in the gut of some animals.

·       Most types of E. coli are harmless and even help keep your digestive tract healthy.

·       But some strains can cause diarrhea if you eat contaminated food or drink fouled water.

·       75% to 95% of urinary tract infections are caused by E. coli.

·        Some versions of E. coli make you sick by making a toxin called Shiga.

Bat influenza

·       Influenza A viruses are found in bats.

·        Internal genes of bat flu viruses are compatible with human flu viruses.

·        H17N10, H18N11 found only in bats

Canine influenza (Dog flu)

·       A contagious respiratory disease in dogs caused by specific type A influenza viruses — H3N8, H3N2.

·        No human infections with canine influenza have ever been reported.

Avian influenza

·       These viruses occur naturally among wild aquatic birds worldwide and can infect domestic poultry and other bird and animal species.  

·       All subtypes of influenza A viruses apart from H17N10 and H18N11 can infect birds.

Monkey fever

·       Money fever or Kyasanur forest disease (KFD) is a viral fever

·        It is a tick-borne hemorrhafic fever.

·        it is endemic to South Africa.

·        It is a virus fever, belonging to the family Flaviviridae, which also includes yellow fever and dengue fever.

·        The disease is carried by ticks, rodents, birds, etc and it affects monkeys and human beings.

cryogenics

·       Cryogenics describes the science that deals with the production, effects, and uses of a wide variety of materials at very low temperatures.

·       At -273° C or 0 Kelvin (K) is known as absolute zero, the movement of molecules ceases, thereby resulting in molecules to be at their lowest energy state.

·       At such low temperatures, gases undergo a phase transition from its gaseous state to a liquid state.

·       applications of cryogenics

o    Storage and Transportation of Gases

o   Food Preservation

o   Electronics

o   Aerospace Industry

o    Surgery

o   Cryopreservation

o    Cryonics

quantum computing

·       In classical computing, a bit is a single piece of information that can exist in two states – 1 or 0.

·        In quantum computing, a qubit (short for ―quantum bit‖) is a unit of quantum information.

·       Qubits have special properties that help them solve complex problems much faster than classical bits.

InSight Lander

·       InSight – Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport.

·        It is a Mars lander designed to give the Red Planet its first thorough checkup.

·       It is the first outer space robotic explorer to study in-depth the “inner space” of Mars: its crust, mantle, and core

·       The InSight mission seeks to uncover how a rocky body forms and evolves to become a planet by investigating the interior structure and composition of Mars.

Juno

·       The Juno mission is the second spacecraft designed under NASA’s New Frontiers Program.

·       Juno will improve our understanding of the solar system’s beginnings by revealing the origin and evolution of Jupiter.

·       Determine how much water is in Jupiter’s atmosphere.

·       Explore and study Jupiter’s magnetosphere near the planet’s poles, especially the auroras.

·       Provide new insights about how the planet’s enormous magnetic force field affects its atmosphere.

Nanosatellites

·       A nanosatellite is any satellite with mass from 1 kg to 10kg.

·        This includes all CubeSats, PocketQubes, TubeSats, SunCubes, ThinSats and non-standard picosatellites.

NAvIC

·       Xiaomi announced that it would bring ISRO‘s Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System NavIC technology to its smartphones

·       IRNSS is an independent regional navigation satellite system being developed by India.

·        It is designed to provide accurate position information service to users in India as well as the region extending up to 1500 km from its boundary, which is its primary service area.

·       Navic is the operational name of the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS) developed by ISRO

·       IRNSS will provide two types of services, namely, o Standard Positioning Service (SPS) which is provided to all the users and o Restricted Service (RS), which is an encrypted service provided only to the authorised users

New Mini-Moon

·       Earth has a new temporarily captured object/Possible mini-moon called 2020 CD3, likely to be a C-type asteroid.

·       Of the inner planets, Mercury and Venus have no moon at all; ·

·        Earth has one large moon (the Moon); and ·

·        Mars has two tiny moons: Phobos and Deimos. ·

·       Among the dwarf planets,

o    Ceres has no moons (though many objects in the asteroid belt do)

o    Eris has one: Dysnomia, and

o   Pluto has three known satellites: Nix, Hydra, and a large companion called Charon.

Spitzer Space Telescope

·       Goal: Provide a unique, infrared view of the universe and allow us to peer into regions of space that are hidden from optical telescopes.

·        The Spitzer Space Telescope is the final mission in NASA’s Great Observatories Program.

Hubble Space Telescope

·       Space agency: NASA, ESA

·        Spectrum: Visible, UV, Near-IR o

·        To study: Deep Space Objects

Chandra X-ray Observatory

·       Space agency: NASA

·        Spectrum: X-Ray

·        To study: strangest objects, including quasars, immense clouds of gas and dust etc

Herschel Space Observatory

·       Space agency: ESA & NASA

·        Spectrum: Far-IR

·       To study: to look for water, both in nearby comets and faraway dust clouds

Planck Observatory

·       Space agency: ESA

·       Spectrum: Microwave

·        To study: Cosmic Microwave Background

Kepler Mission

·       Space agency:NASA

·       Spectrum: Visible

·       To study: Extrasolar planets

Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope

·       Space agency:NASA

·       Spectrum: Gamma ray

·       To study: Various

Swift Gamma Ray Burst Explorer

·       Space agency: NASA

·       Spectrum: X-ray,UV,Visible

·        To study: Various

INTEGRAL (International Gamma-Ray Astrophysics Laboratory)

·       Space agency: ESA

·       Spectrum: Gamma ray, X-ray, Visible

·        To study: Various

XMM-Newton (X-ray Multi-Mirror Mission)

·       Space agency: ESA

·       Spectrum: X-ray

·       To study: Various

GALEX (Galaxy Evolution Explorer)

·       Space agency: NASA

·       Spectrum: UV

·        To study: Galaxies

COROT (Convection Rotation and planetary Transits)

·       Space agency: CNES & ESA

·       Spectrum: Visible

·       To study: Extrasolar planets

Solar & Heliospheric Observatory

·       Space agency: NASA & ESA

·       Spectrum: Optical-UV, Magnetic

·        To study: Sun and Solar Wind

STEREO (Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory

·        Space agency: NASA

·       Spectrum: Visible, UV, Radio

·       To study: Sun and Coronal Mass Ejections

Pyrolysis

·       Pyrolysis is a thermochemical treatment.  

·       It can be applied to any organic (carbon-based) product.

·        It can be done on pure products as well as mixtures.

·        In this treatment, material is exposed to high temperature, and in the absence of oxygen goes through chemical and physical separation into different molecules.

biodegradation

·       A process by which microbial organisms transform or alter (through metabolic or enzymatic action) the structure of chemicals introduced into the environment.

·        Basically, organic (carbon-based) material is changed through chemical processes from complex molecules into simpler molecules, eventually returning the molecules into the environment.

Bioremediation

·       Bioremediation is the application of a biological treatment, mainly microbes, to the cleanup of hazardous contaminants in soil and surface or subsurface waters.

·       These microorganisms can be used to transform them to less harmful forms.

·       The bacteria feed on the contamination, deriving nutrition for growth and for reproduction.

Bioaugmentation

·       Bioaugmentation is a process where selected, standardized bacteria (microbes) are added to an area that has been contaminated with an unwanted substance.

Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD)

·       The amount of oxygen that is required for the chemical oxidation of the organic and inorganic chemicals present in the wastewater by utilising oxidising agents like Potassium permanganate, Potassium dichromate etc. is called as chemical oxygen demand (COD).

·       The presence of COD facilitates rapid chemical oxidation of organic matter without any additional equipment.

Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD)

·       BOD is defined as the amount of oxygen demanded by the micro-organisms in the sewage for the decomposition of bio-degradable matter under aerobic condition.

·       BOD is performed by aerobic organisms

·       BOD value is lower than COD

Urban Heat Island

·       An urban heat island (UHI) is a metropolitan area which is significantly warmer than its surroundings.

·       This temperature difference usually is larger at night than during the day.

·        This temperature difference is Larger in winter than in summer.

·       Heat islands form as vegetation is replaced by asphalt and concrete for roads, buildings, and other structures necessary to accommodate growing populations.

·        These surfaces absorb—rather than reflect—the sun’s heat, causing surface temperatures and overall ambient temperatures to rise.

Augmented Reality

·       Augmented reality is the technology that expands our physical world, adding layers of digital information onto it.

·        Unlike Virtual Reality (VR), AR does not create the whole artificial environments to replace real with a virtual one.

Virtual Reality

·       Virtual reality (VR) implies a complete immersion experience that shuts out the physical world. ·

·       Using VR devices users can be transported into a number of real-world and imagined environments

Mixed Reality

·       In a Mixed Reality (MR) experience, which combines elements of both AR and VR, real-world and digital objects interact.

Extended Reality

·       Extended Reality (XR) is an umbrella term that covers all of the various technologies that enhance our senses·

·        It includes Virtual Reality (VR), Augmented Reality (AR) and Mixed Reality (MR) technologies.

CERN

·       CERN is the world’s largest particle physics laboratory.

·        Scientists from all over the world work here to advance our knowledge of matter, its fundamental constituents and the forces that link them.

·       The European Organisation for Nuclear Research, or CERN, has decided to shun enterprise connectivity platform Workplace by Facebook, citing concerns around the management of user data by the social networking giant.

·       CERN is run by 23 Member States, each of which has two official delegates to the CERN Council.

Osmosis

·       Osmosis is the movement of any solvent through a selectively permeable membrane into an area of higher solute concentration.

·        Result of this movement will be an equalizing of solute concentration on either side of the membrane.

Reverse Osmosis

·       Reverse Osmosis works by using a high pressure pump to increase the pressure on the salt side of the RO and force the water across the semi-permeable RO membrane.

·        This process leaves almost all (around 95% to 99%) of dissolved salts behind in the reject stream.

·       The water molecules pass through the semi-permeable membrane

·       The salts and other contaminants are not allowed to pass and are discharged through the reject stream (also known as the concentrate or brine stream)

Raman Effect

·       National Science Day: 28 February.

·       Celebrated each year to mark the discovery of the Raman effect by Indian physicist Sir C. V. Raman on 28 February 1928.

·       Raman effect is the change in the wavelength of light that occurs when a light beam is deflected by molecules.

·       Most of this scattered light is of unchanged wavelength.  

·       A small part, however, has wavelengths different from that of the incident light; its presence is a result of the Raman Effect

Swarm Robots

·       Swarm robotics is the use of numerous, autonomous robotics to accomplish a task.

·       Swarm robotics plays an important role in the development of collective artificial intelligence (AI).

·        Current uses for robot swarms include search and rescue, precision agriculture, supply chain management (SCM) and military reconnaissance.

DNA and RNA viruses

·       DNA viruses are mostly double-stranded while RNA viruses are single-stranded.

·        RNA mutation rate is higher than DNA mutation rate.

·        DNA replication takes place in the nucleus while RNA replication takes place in the cytoplasm.

·       DNA viruses are stable while RNA viruses are unstable.

·       In DNA viruses, viral genetic code is injected in the host DNA for duplication and decoding.

·        RNA viruses skip DNA for duplication and decoding.

In Vitro Fertilization

·       In vitro fertilization (IVF) is a type of assistive reproductive technology (ART).

·       It involves retrieving eggs from a woman‘s ovaries and fertilizing them with sperm.

·        This fertilized egg is known as an embryo.

·       The embryo can then be frozen for storage or transferred to a woman‘s uterus.

Lassa fever

·       The Nigerian Academy of Science has called for the current outbreak of Lassa fever in Africa‘s most populous nation to be declared a national health emergency because of its severity.

·       Lassa fever is one of the hemorrhagic fever viruses like Ebola virus, Marburg virus, and others.

·       Unlike Ebola virus, Lassa fever is not as contagious person to person, nor as deadly.

·        Lassa virus is typically transmitted by the urine or feces of Mastomys rats to humans.

·        Health workers may be infected by direct contact with blood, body fluids, urine, or stool of a patient with Lassa fever.

·        Lassa fever occurs primarily in West Africa in areas where these rodents live.

Swine Flu

·       Swine flu is a respiratory disease caused by influenza viruses.

·       H1N1 is a subtype of influenza virus.

·        It infect the respiratory tract of pigs and result in a barking cough, decreased appetite, nasal secretions, and listless behavior.

plasma

·       Plasma is considered the fourth state of matter.  

·       The three other states are solid, liquid, and gas.

·        plasmas have no fixed shape or volume, and are less dense than solids or liquids.

·       Plasma is a cloud of protons, neutrons and electrons where all the electrons have come loose from their respective molecules and atoms, giving the plasma the ability to act as a whole rather than as a bunch of atoms.

New eel species found

·       A new snake eel species residing in the Bay of Bengal has been discovered and documented by the Estuarine Biology Regional Centre (EBRC) of the Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) at Gopalpur-on-sea in Odisha.

6G technology by 2030

·       Japan is reportedly planning a comprehensive strategy for ―post-5G‖ (6G) technology by 2030.

·       6G (sixth-generation wireless) is the successor to 5G cellular technology.

·        6G networks will be able to use higher frequencies than 5G networks and provide substantially higher capacity and much lower latency.

·        One of the goals of the 6G Internet will be to support one micro-second latency communications, representing 1,000 times faster or 1/1000th the latency than one millisecond throughput

·       6G is expected to support 1 terabyte per second (Tbps) speeds.

Ayurveda

·       The word Ayurveda derived from AYU and VEDA.  AYU means life VEDA means science or knowledge.

·       Ayurveda means the science of life

·       Ayurveda embraces all living things, animate and inanimate.

·        Ayurveda believes that positive health is the basis for attaining four cherished goals of life (chaturvidh purushartha) viz., Dharma, Artha, Kama, Moksha

Homeopathy

·       Homeopathy is a medical system based on the belief that the body can cure itself.

·       Those who practice it use tiny amounts of natural substances, like plants and minerals.

·       They believe these stimulate the healing process.

·        It was developed in the late 1700s in Germany.

Unani Treatment

·       Unani treatment originated from Greece (Unan).

·       · It aims to aid body‘s natural processes with medicines that have no side effects. ·

·       Unani is known by many different names, Greco-Arabs medicine, Arab medicine, Ionian medicine and Oriental medicine.

gene

·       A gene is the basic physical and functional unit of heredity.

·       Genes are made up of DNA.

·        Some genes act as instructions to make molecules called proteins

GENOME

·       The genome contains genes, which are packaged in chromosomes and affect specific characteristics of the organism.

·       The genome is divided into chromosomes, chromosomes contain genes, and genes are made of DNA.

Measles

·       Measles is a viral disease.

·       It can spread rapidly.

·       It is also known as rubeola or morbilli.

·       Measles is an endemic disease, meaning it is continually present in a community, and many people develop resistance

Myeloma

·       Myeloma is a type of cancer that develops from cells in the bone marrow called plasma cells.

·       The bone marrow produces different types of blood cells.

·       Myeloma can develop wherever there are plasma cells.

·        So it can be anywhere there is bone marrow, including the pelvis, spine and ribcage

National Technology Day on 11^th May, 2020.

·       Every year, the Technology Development Board of India (a statutory body under the Ministry of Science and Technology) celebrates the day

·       The focus this year is ‘Rebooting the economy through Science and Technology.’

·       It is the day India successfully tested nuclear bombs in Pokhran on May 11, 1998, also codenamed as Operation Shakti.

Feluda Test for Covid-19

·       CSIR-IGIB has developed India’s first paper strip test for Covid-19 namely, ‘Feluda’.

·       Feluda is an acronym for FNCAS9 Editor Linked Uniform Detection.

·       It is the first such indigenous test kit to be developed in India based on Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats (CRISPR) technology.

Luhman 16: Binary Brown Dwarf System

·       It is situated at a distance of about 6.5 light years from the Sun and the third closest system to the Sun after Alpha Centauri and Barnard’s star.

·       Brown dwarfs are also called failed stars, because their masses are heavier than planets but lighter than stars.

·       Due to their small masses, they are unable to sustain fusion of their hydrogen to produce energy.