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Sci-Tech: 3G (3rd Generation Mobile Technology) Study Note General studies

What is 3G ?

3G is short for third-generation mobile telephony services.

based on an International Telecommunication Union standard called IMT-2000.
3G services were first launched by NTT DoCoMo of Japan in October 2001,
followed by Korea in January 2002.
Difference from 2G
3G phones work in higher bandwidths of 15-20 MHz,
currently available mobile phones are loosely regarded as 2G or 2.5G, and use 30-200 KHz bandwidth.
What is Bandwidth?
measure of the width of a range of frequencies used while transferring data from one point to another, and is measured in hertz.
Advantages / uses

facilitates faster, better and simultaneous delivery of audio and non-audio data.
o

3G networks offer

download speeds of 14.4 Mbits/second

uploads of 5.8 Mbits/second.

with 3G services telecom carriers will be able to provide video broadcast and other value-added services such as
o

tele-medicine,

mobile banking,

stock transactions,

e-learning etc, through wireless communications at a faster pace and with high quality.

Various government services (e-governance) to the masses would be facilitated through the medium of mobile phone
powered by a higher bandwidth of 3G.

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Medstream project
(the Infrastructure Corridor) between Turkey and Israel
will lead oil, natural gas and optic fibers/water/electricity
India has shown great interest in the project, and that it wishes to participate as a major investor in the project.

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New Constitution of the Maldives
In June 2008,
assembly, called the Special Majlis, competed a new constitution
It was ratified by the president on 7 August 2008, with proposed elections to be held in October 2008 and March 2009
it states that a non-Muslim may not become a citizen of the Maldives and therefore it removed citizenship from around 3,000
Maldivians (0.85% of the population).
B.K.Chaturvedi Committee on Oil And Gas Procing
Recommended
The committee had recommended rise in petrol and diesel prices
imposition of Metro Extra tax of Rs 2 per litre on diesel in four installments in large cities where the fuel was being used in
expensive cars.
bringing petrol prices in alignment with market rates by march 2009 and diesel by 2010 with an indicative ceiling, which means
prices would have to be increased every month
Committee is also against subsidized LPG (Liquefied petroleum gas) supply and says
there should be one time increase of Rs 75 per cylinder and only six refills should be permitted this year.
all subsidies should have a monetary ceiling and should be restricted to only below poverty line families.
a proposal of smart cards or cash transfers for such families.
completely slashing import duty on petrol and diesel.
South Asian Water Disputes
Indo-Pakistan dispute over the Wular Barrage (The Indus Waters Treaty),
Indo-Bangladesh water dispute over the Farakka Barrage (The Ganges Water Treaty) and
the Indo-Nepal dispute over the Mahakali River Treaty.
Project Arrow
department of posts (DoP) launched Project Arrow,
to bring the rural populace in direct communication with the outside world and
bring benefits of development to their doorsteps.
one-stop shop for retail products and
offer a single window facility for banking, money remittances and other financial products and services including social and
civic initiatives such as the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme and National Old Age Pension Scheme.
Collection Of Stats Bill 2007

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To widen the base for data collection to cover individuals and households along with industrial and commercial units.
amend the Collection of Statistics Act, 1953to meet the challenges arising out of liberalisation and globalisation regime
manifested, particularly by the WTO Agreement.
Penalties for offences, such as refusal to furnish information or providing incorrect data, would vary from Rs 1000 to Rs 10,000
individuals and industrial and commercial enterprises.
The offences would be tried in a summary way to avoid prolonged litigation.
Pandit Bhimsen Gururaj Joshi
Indian vocalist in the Hindustani classical tradition.
A member of the Kirana Gharana (school),
renowned for the khayal form of singing, as well as for his popular renditions of devotional music (bhajans and abhangs).
In 2008, he was awarded the Bharat Ratna, Indias highest civilian honour
Ganga River Basin Authority
for comprehensive management of the basin.
Ganga Basin states of
Uttarakhand,
Uttar Pradesh,
Bihar
Jharkhand.
West Bengal
ministry of environment and forests will issue the notification under the Environment Protection Act,
replace the current piecemeal efforts to clean up the Ganga with an integrated approach that sees the river as an ecological
entity.
authority chaired by the prime minister will consist of the chief ministers of the Ganga basin states as members along with
related ministers of the central government.
SACOSAN-III
Third South Asian Conference on Sanitation (SACOSAN-III), New Delhi, 16-21 Nov 2008
The Prime Minister said that sanitation has to be located in an integrated framework of public health policy to ensure that
sanitation activities are indeed adequately funded.
20 per cent of toilets built in the country are not functional due to lack of adequate maintenance and poor construction?
Nirmal Gram Puraskar is an incentive based scheme given to gram panchayats for achieving complete sanitation facilities in
their villages by the Rural Development Ministry.
BIMSTEC

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On 6 June 1997, a sub-regional grouping was formed in Bangkok and given the name BIST-EC (Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka,
Thailand Economic Cooperation). Myanmar joined the organization as a full member at a Special Ministerial Meeting held in
Bangkok on 22 December 1997, upon which the name of the grouping was changed to BIMST-EC.
BIMSTEC provides a unique link between South Asia and Southeast Asia bringing together 1.3 billion people 21 percent of the
world population, a combined GDP of US$750 billion, and a considerable amount of complementarities. A study shows the
potential of US$ 43 to 59 billion trade creation under BIMSTEC FTA.
BIMSTEC covers 13 Priority Sectors lead by member countries in a voluntary manner; namely, Trade & Investment,
Technology, Energy, Transport & Communication, Tourism, Fisheries, Agriculture, Cultural Co-operation, Environment and
Disaster Management, Public Health, People-to-People Contact, Poverty Alleviation and Counter-Terrorism and Transnational
Crimes.
Shaurya missile
a canister launched hypersonic
surface-to-surface tactical missile
developed by the Indian
Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO)
for use by the Indian Armed Forces.
range of between 600-700 km
capable of carrying a payload of one-tonne conventional or nuclear warhead
International Year of Astronomy (IYA2009)
is a year-long celebration of astronomy, taking place in 2009
coincide with the 400th anniversary of the first recorded astronomical observations with a telescope by Galileo Galilei
publication of Johannes Keplers Astronomia nova in the 17th century.
The Year was declared by the 62nd General Assembly of the United Nations
Raghurajan Committee on Financial Sector
Recommended
hasten the development of the debt market so that banks dont bear all the risk of infrastructure investments.
He also called for setting up small local area banks so that there is faster financial inclusion.
He thinks that renminbi (Chinese currency) will replace $ as internation currency.
RBI would lose creditability if it monetizes the deficit.
He said one way the RBI can distance itself from the government is by transferring the responsibility of debt management to the
government.
debt management office basically manages the issuance and auction of government bonds. This is currently being done by the
RBI.

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Caribbean Community (CARICOM)
is an organisation of 15 Caribbean nations and dependencies.
CARICOMs main purposes are to promote economic integration and cooperation among its members, to ensure that the
benefits of integration are equitably shared, and to coordinate foreign policy
Seat of Secretariat
Georgetown, Guyana
Pravasi Bharatiya Divas
7-9 January 2008, Chennai
9 January being the arrival of Mahatama Gandhi in india from South Africa.
event has been organized every year since 2003
sponsored by the
Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs
FICCI (Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry).
generic drug
is a drug which is produced and distributed without patent protection.
The generic drug may still have a patent on the formulation but not on the active ingredient.
International Year of Natural Fibres
United Nations General Assembly declared 2009 as the International Year of Natural Fibres
objectives of the International Year of Natural Fibres would be:
To raise awareness and stimulate demand for natural fibres;
To encourage appropriate policy responses from governments to the problems faced by natural fibre industries
To foster an effective and enduring international partnership among the various natural fibres industries;
To promote the efficiency and sustainability of the natural fibres industries.
National Water Grid
by Sir Arthur Cotton, that extraordinary engineer-economist who formulated a comprehensive sub-continental plan for the
formation of a national water grid
plan involved navigation and irrigation, storage
took into account irrigation of a vast extent of land and was not restricted to navigation alone.
Andhra Pradesh Government has installed his statue on the Tank Bund in Hyderabad along with the other heroes of Andhra.

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He is perhaps the only Englishman whose statue was installed in India after Independence.
UNDP mission on National Water Grid 1971-72 felt that Indias national economy in its development and growth will be
confronted with the problem of increasing scarcity of water within the next thirty years. From basic compilation of future water
demand and water yields it becomes evident that by the year 2000 or so, the National Water Grid will be a vital necessity.
Darfur Peace Agreement,
signed May 5, 2006, by the largest rebel group, the Sudan Liberation Movement, led by Mini Menawi, and the Sudanese
Government, is an important achievement for peace in Darfur
Trans-Asian Railway (TAR)
is a project to create an integrated freight railway network across Europe and Asia.
TAR is a project of the United Nations
Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP).
has sometimes been called the Iron Silk Road in reference to the historical Silk Road trade routes.
Nishant
is an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV)
developed by Indias ADE (Aeronautical Development Establishment) a branch of DRDO for the Indian Armed Forces.
primarily tasked with intelligence gathering over enemy territory and also for recce, surveillance, target designation, artillery
fire correction, damage assessment,
Stiglitz Commission on Reforms of the International Monetary and Financial System
In 2009, Stiglitz chaired the Commission of Experts on Reforms of the International Monetary and Financial System, informally
known as the Stiglitz Commission,
convened by the President of the United Nations General Assembly
to review the workings of the global financial system, including major bodies such as the World Bank and the IMF, and to
suggest steps to be taken by Member States to secure a more sustainable and just global economic order
Internet telephony
refers to communications services voice, facsimile, and/or voice-messaging applications that are transported via the
Internet, rather than the public switched telephone network (PSTN). The basic steps involved in originating an Internet
telephone call are conversion of the analog voice signal to digital format and compression/translation of the signal into Internet
protocol (IP) packets for transmission over the Internet; the process is reversed at the receiving end.
Benefits
Routing phone calls over existing data networks to avoid the need for separate voice and data networks.[25]
Conference calling, IVR, call forwarding, automatic redial, and caller ID features that traditional telecommunication companies
(telcos) normally charge extra for are available free of charge from open source VoIP implementations such as Asterisk or
FreeSWITCH.
Costs are lower, mainly because of the way Internet access is billed compared to regular telephone calls. While regular telephone
calls are billed by the minute or second, VoIP calls are billed per megabyte (MB). In other words, VoIP calls are billed per

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amount of information (data) sent over the Internet and not according to the time connected to the telephone network. In
practice the amount charged for the data transferred in a given period is far less than that charged for the amount of time
connected on a regular telephone line.
The ability to transmit more than one telephone call over a single broadband connection.[26] without the need to add extra
lines
Secure calls using standardized protocols (such as Secure Real-time Transport Protocol.) Most of the difficulties of creating a
secure telephone connection over traditional phone lines, such as digitizing and digital transmission, are already in place with
VoIP. It is only necessary to encrypt and authenticate the existing data stream.[27]
Location independence. Only a sufficiently fast and stable Internet connection is needed to get a connection from anywhere to a
VoIP provider.
Integration with other services available over the Internet, including video conversation, message or data file exchange during
the conversation, audio conferencing, managing address books, and passing information about whether other people are
available to interested parties.
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Geography Planets : For Prelim General studies
Terrestrial planet
are smaller in size; rocky in structure; slow rotation on the axis and have lesser satellite. Inner terrestrial planets are: Mercury,
Venus, Earth, Mars.
Jovian planets
are huge in size; spin very fast and have higher number of satellites. Outer or Jovian planets are: Jupiters, Saturn, Uranus,
Neptune, and Pluto.
- Earth is the densest of all the planets; Saturn has the lowest density (less than water 0.5)
- Mercury is closest to the sun.
- Uranus and Venus rotates retrograde (i.e., from east to west), other planet rotates in the same way as earth (from west to east).
- Venus is the only planet whose period of rotation (243 days) is longer than the period of revolution (225 days) around the sun.
- Uranus is tilted at 90, so it almost rolls around the sun. Mars tilted at 23 in the same way as the earth, so experiences four
seasons as earth.
- On its sunny side, Mercury can reach a scorching 800 degrees Fahrenheit! (But Mercury is not the hottest planet in the solar
system. The hottest planet is Venus.) Ref: http://www.nasa.gov/audience/forstudents/5-8/features/what-is-planet-mercury58.html
atmosphere mainly made of C02 (90%).
- Mars glows with reddish light because of high iron content; it has thin atmosphere (containing free oxygen at very low-level),
also has frozen water at polar region. Due to these factors, Mars is considered as the first planet that will be colonised.
- Jupiters internal temperature of Jupiter is very high, close to starting nuclear fusion. Mainly hydrogen is present around the
Jupiter.
- Saturn is the second largest planet; it looks yellowish light (due to the presence of ammonia). Ring around Saturn is made up
of dust particles, frozen ice, and frozen ammonia.
-Uranus grows with blue light.
- Neptune grows with the greenish blue light due to presence of methane.
- Pluto is the coldest, darkest, and the strongest planet. It is smaller in size and does not fall in giant planet category
Satellite:
Asteroids:

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- Mercury and Venus have no satellite.
- Earth has one satellite: moon
- Mars has two satellite: Deimos and Phobos.
- Jupiter has 19 satellites, one of the satellite known is Europa, containing large number of deep oceans. It contains possibility of
extra-terrestrial life.
- Saturn has 21 satellites (10 discovered by Voyage 1&2)
- Uranus has 17 satellite (12 discovered by Voyage 1&2)
- Neptune has 11,-one of this is tital.
- Plutos satellite is Charon.

Comets:
Minor planets of the solar system, small rocky structure, revolving around sun mostly between Mars and Jupiter. These are
considered as debris of large planets existing between Mars and Jupiter as is evident from the distance between them.
Earth has long history of collision with: (i) comets, and (ii) asteroids.
Sedimentary rocks of 65 million years ago have high iridium content which gives evidence of collision of celestial body.
- Miss distance: a celestial body coming closer beyond 9,00,000 km, may not strike earth. This is called as miss distance.
Syzygy:
Member of the solar system, found revolving around the sun beyond the path of Pluto, generally, at outer edges of the solar
system.
Comets are made of pre-mordial substance from which solar system are made. Since, they are undisturbed due to far location,
study of comets may give more information about evolution of earth or other planets. Comets are made up of frozen ammonia,
dust particles and ice crystals and other chemicals.
- Halley Comet: appears after a period of 76 years.
- Halle Bopp: one of the largest comet with 40 km diameter.
- Comet Swift Turtle: calculated to collide on 14 Aug.2126 A.D. in Australia
- Comets making journey towards sun develop small head and long tail, due to heat only as it approaches Jupiter. Tail extending
millions of kilometers in the outer space. Tail always point away from the sun. Solar wind is responsible for the formation of
tails since solar winds goes away from the sun.
It is the alignment of three celestial bodies along a straight line; Viewed from one of these bodies, the other two will either be in
conjunction or in opposition. An inferior planet, whose orbit lies inside that of earth, can, in reference to the sun as seen from
the earth, be either in inferior conjunction or in superior conjunction; unlike a superior planet, whose orbit lies outside the
earths, and unlike the moon, it can never be in opposition to the sun as seen from the earth
Earth
-Looks bluish white, body due to the presence of ocean and ice-caps.
- Earths core is mainly made up of iron and nickle; mantle is mostly solid.Outer core due to its movement gives magnetic field
of earth manifested in Van-alien Radiation bell. Van-Allen Radiation belts are two concentric circles. Inner belt is more
energetic and situated at 3000 km above the equator. Outer concentric circle is less energetic and found at 16000 km above the
earth. Van-Allen radiation belts are formed due to concentration of solar-winds.
Fastest Rotational Period (descending order) -Jupiter > Saturn > Neptune > Uranus > Earth > Mars > Pluto > Mercury > Venus
Density (Highest to Lowest) -Earth > Mercury > Venus > Mars > Neptune > Jupiter > Uranus > Saturn
this one is most imp because they generally ask from it >
- Sequence of planets distance from the sun:
Mercury< Venus< Earth< Mars< Jupiter< Saturn< Uranus< Pluto traces elongated elliptical orbit.
So, from 1980-1999, the distance of Neptune was more than Pluto.
Size (Biggest to Smallest) -

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Jupiter > Saturn > Uranus > Neptune > Earth > Venus > Mars > Mercury > Pluto

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Dilemma over Potato-Microwave question in CSAT sample paper as different answers given by magazines
If a potato is placed on a pure paper plate which is white and unprinted and put in a microwave oven, the potato heats up but
the paper plate does not.
This is because:
A.
B.
C.
D.

Potato is mainly made up of starch whereas paper is mainly made up of cellulose

Potato transmits microwaves whereas paper reflects microwaves
Potato contains water whereas paper does not contain water
Potato is a fresh organic material whereas paper is a dead organic material.

Now, in Competition Wizard & Pratiyogita Darpan issues,the answer to the above question is given as option (c)But in
Competition Success Review-February 2011 issue,the answer to the above question is given as option (b)So could you plz
throw some light as to what is the correct answer to the above question..?
Correct answer is
C. Potato contains water whereas paper does not contain water
Quoting from NCERT class-12 Physics Chapter 8, page 281
Basic principle of a microwave oven

It generates microwave radiation of appropriate frequency in the working space of the oven where we keep food.

This way energy is not wasted in heating up the vessel. In the conventional heating method, the vessel on the burner
gets heated first, and then the food inside gets heated because of transfer of energy from the vessel.

In the microwave oven, on the other hand, energy is directly delivered to water molecules which is shared by the entire
food.

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Physics 4TF
Latest trend of UPSC in General Studies prelim paper, is
Give 2 or 4 statements and ask the candidate to identify the true/false statements.
I call them 4TF questions (4 Statements: True or False)
So here is something for practice in Physics section.
Identify the true and false statements from following list
1.

If the Rainbow is in front of you, the Sun must be on your left Side.

2.

The order of colors from outside to inside is : VIBGYOR.

3.

Mirage occours only on land.

4.

Mirage occours only in hot areas.

5.

A Matador uses red cape during Bull fight because Bulls (and other bovines) hate red color.

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6.

A bat uses Echo to determine location of an object.

7.

Ultra Sound imaging and X-ray Machines run on same principle.

8.

Diesel-Trucks dont have spark-plugs in their engine.

9.

In a Vaccum chamber, Helium Ballon and stone will fall at the same velocity.

10. Solar cell produces AC current (Alternative current).

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Tuberculosis and DOTs Therapy
Possible questions

4TF related to DOTs and TB for CSAT,

2 markers for mains: MDR:TB, DOTs etc.

Essay/Interview: Healthcare reforms in India. How to eradicate Polio, TB and Malaria etc?

Crux of DOTs program for TB is this:

If people dont take anti-TB drugs regularly, New version of TB bacteria will evolve,

New version of TB bacteria= hard to kill.

Pharma Cos dont have interest in investing for R&D of new TB drugs (because profit margin is low)

So what should Government or W.H.O. do?

ans. Make people take drugs regularly. Thats why you need DOTs program.

Here goes the refined answer:

MDR TB: Multi-drug resistant TB

TB patients have to complete the full six to nine months of antibiotic therapy required to cure the disease.

However Many people stop taking antibiotics when they begin to feel healthier, but successful treatment of TB requires
therapy beyond the period of obvious symptoms.

When patients fail to follow the prescribed treatment, they may become actively infectious, spreading the disease to
others.

The TB bateria who survive this phase become resistant to the given anti-biotic course and when they reproduce again,
it is very hard to kill them.

When a strain (version) of tuberculosis bacteria is resistant to two or more first-line antibiotic drugs it is
called multi-drug resistant TB or MDR-TB.

When it is resistant to three or more second-line antibiotics as well, it is classed as extreme drug resistant
tuberculosis, or XDR-TB.

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Big pharmaceutical companies donot like to invest billions of dollars in research and Development of new TB drugs
because of the low profit.

So, This problem of non-compliance (i.e. patient not taking drugs regularly) has led WHO to initiate DOTS program.
What is DOTs therapy for TB?

World Health Organization (WHO) started a program called directly observed treatment, short-course
(DOTS).

DOTS requires health workers to monitor patients to make sure that they follow the complete course of treatment.

Important elements of this program:

1.

Political commitment to a National Tuberculosis Control Programme

2.

Microscopy services to detect sputum.

3.

Regular uninterrupted supply of anti-TB drugs.

4.

Direct observation of the treatment for at least initial intensive phase. As a part of DOTS strategy health workers
counsel and observe their patients swallowing each dose of powerful combination of medicines.
TB and HIV

Anyone can become infected with TB, but people with HIV are at greater risk of getting sick with TB disease.
Epicenters
Number of TB patients worldwide:
#1 is India (Worlds largest Democracy also has the largest number of TB patients)
#2 is China.
Similarly Polio is confined to four nations only: India, Afghanistan, Nigeria, and Pakistan.
BCG vaccine
It is a vaccine for TB protection.
but the vaccine is now very old and not very effective against new strains (versions) of bacteria.

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Pulse Polio Campaign, India a Polio Free country?
Demo Questions
#1) Identify Correct statement(s)
a. Polio virus directly damages the muscle cells and thus causes paralysis of legs.
b. Polio vaccine cannot be taken via Injection.
c. Pakistan, Afghanistan and Nigeria are the only Polio Endemic nations in the world.
d. India achieved complete Polio Free Status in 2012.
Ans
1.

Only 1 and 2.

2.

Only 1,2,3

3.

Only 3

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4.

All of them

#2) Name of the chemical compound used in Indelible Ink Marker Pens during Elections and Pulse-Polio Campaigns.
1.

Lead Acetate

2.

Silver Nitrate

3.

Chromium Sulphate

4.

Zink Bromide

What is this disease?

Polio virus enters the nervous system and infects nerve cells that control muscles. Then in most cases, it causes paralysis of legs.
How does is spread?
Polio-virus spreads in human feces. People become infected with the virus through contaminated food and water, especially in
areas where sanitation and hygiene are poor.
Vaccination?

Jonas Salk of USA developed the vaccine to fight Polio in 1950s.

He could have made billions of dollars by getting Patent rights for his vaccine but he didnot patent his discovery.

Salks vaccine, is known as the inactivated polio-virus vaccine (IPV)

World Health Organization (WHO) had launched massive campaign against Polio, they provided the funds and India
started Pulse Polio campaign in 1995.

Polio vaccine can be given both orally as well as by injection. But in Pulse Polio campaigns, oral-vaccine is used,
because it is cheap and doesnt require skilled medical staff for injections.

Prevalence

Till 2011, Pak, Afghan, India, Nigeria (PAIN) were in the list of Polio endemic countries.

In January 2011, last polio case in West Bengal. The traditional polio endemic states of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar have
not reported any cases of polio.

So according to WHO protocol, Indias name is removed from the list of Polio Endemic countries in 2012 (No new
cases of polio for 12 months continuously.)

Problem in Vaccination

Sometimes infants get fever, diarrhea after vaccination as side effects, but then some people exaggerate and start
spreading rumors that Polio vaccine causes Impotency in Children.

Because of this reason many poor and illiterate parents particularly in the Muslim communities of UP and
Maharashtra, didnot allow the health-workers to enter into their areas.

Health workers and district administration did their best in spreading awareness and breaking myths. And hence not
much public-resistance to Polio vaccination in those regions, nowadays.

Answers of Demo Q?:

1. Only 3.
2. Silver Nitrate.

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Animals, Plants, Disease etc GK
Since past four years, UPSC has been asking questions related to disease, plant and animal GK. We might see an increase in
such questions under the Biodiversity topic of syllabus. So here goes something
Which of the following statement(s) is/are true?
Crocodile and Alligator (Ghariyal) ?
1.

Crocodiles can live in Freshwater habitat only.

2.

Alligators (Ghariyal) can live in Saline water habitats.

3.
Crocodiles can regrow teeth for lifetime.
About Cheetah and Tiger
1.

Cheetah doesnt have retractable claws like cats.

2.

Cheetah belongs to Dog family while Leopard belongs to Cat family.

3.

Siberian Tiger is the largest and Chinese Tiger is the smallest tiger in size.
Why is only Female Mosquito responsible for spreading Malaria?

1.

Male feeds on plant nectar, only female feeds on human blood.

2.

Plasmodium parasite cannot survive in Male Mosquitos body.

Dengue vs Chikungunya

1.

Both Male and Female Aedes aegypti Mosquitoes cause Dengue fever in Human.

2.

Dengue is a viral disease while Chikungunya is not a viral disease.

Bamboo vs Coconut

1.

Bamboo is a grass, Coconut is a palm

2.

Both Bamboo and Coconut are palm

3.

Both Bamboo and Coconut are grass.

No need to panic, if you havent gone through such information, because There is no end to the list of diseases,
Animal or plant GK as such, but better be prepared about some big and important ones.

and keep your brain open while reading any book / newspaper item. UPSC wont generally ask from some relatively
unknown disease or animal but will try to confuse you from well known stuff!

Im intentionally not providing the

answers within this article, so that you dig up on your own and
subsequently come across some more related information.

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Principle behind famous consumer products: Odomos, Hand Sanitizer etc
What is the Principle behind Mosquito repellent cream? (Odomos)
1. It contains a special volatile chemical that creates burning sensation in mosquitos respiratory system and eyes.
2. It contains a chemical that masks the distinctive body odour that human skin emits, making you virtually invisible to
mosquitoes.
(Correct answer #2)
How does diabetes glucometer work ? (Waseem Akrams Accucheck meter ad)
You put blood drop on the strip. Strip contains chemical compounds: chemical reaction, color change. The glucometer measures
the color-intensity and gives you the blood-glucose measurement.
Home Test kit for Pregnency (Accutest Cadila)
It detects the amount of HCG ( Human Chorionic Gonadotropin) in womans urine .
The levels of this hormone rise after the embryo has been implanted in the womb and the strip changes color after chemical
reaction from urine drops.
Anti-perspirants (that John Abrahams ad)
Basically the aluminum chemical penetrates the armpit cells and makes them swell hence the sweat cannot come out.
Emergency contraceptive pills. (i-pill, Piramal Pharma)
They contain same hormones as in normal contraceptive pills but in heavy concentration and hence prevents fertilization.
Instant Hand sanitizer (Lifebouy, Dettol etc)
They Contain alcohol (not soap). Alcohol destroy the baterial cellmembrane and then evaporates. So you dont need water to
wash off your hands.
Mortein Rat kill cakes. (why Chuhe mare baahar jaakar?)
Not very sure but apart from poison, it contains a chemical that makes Rats thirsty hence they run out of house in search of
water.
Ive given direct answers above, but UPSC is notorious for
adding almost genuine and valid sounding false options in the answers,
so as I said in the Aukaat, Accuracy and Aim: dont push your luck, if you dont know the exact answer: just leave it.
Some more products (you dig):
1.

Hair Colors with and without Ammonia (Laurel Paris etc.)

2.

Goodknight mosquito coils, liquid vaporizers and silvermats.

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] "This Weeks Questions" compilation from The Hindu S&T (Jan 2011 to Mid Apr 2012)
List: Jan 2011 to Mid Apr 2012

How is it that not one drop of honey leaks from the bee hive?

When we heat a cup of water in micro-oven why is the upper part hotter than the lower part ?

How does rubber act as an electrical insulator?

15 S&T Mrunal

Why is it hard to pull an empty mug completely immersed upside down in water?

Whereas the twinkling of a star is ascribed to the light travelling through varied layers of different densities of air and
hence the refraction angles go on changing and hence the feeling of twinkling, the same is the case of a planet. Then
why does the reflected light from a planet appear steady?

Why do we feel hungry very frequently during winter?

What material is a bullet-proof vest made of and what happens to a person wearing the vest when shot by a gun?

Why does water conduct electricity while air does not?

Over electrified railway tracks, there is only one electric line. How is just one line able to supply power to the
locomotives? Do they not require a minimum of two lines to make a circuit (as in regular power supply). ?

Why do the blades of a rotating ceiling fan gather more dust, than the blades of a stationary fan (logically a rotating fan
blade should disperse the dust)?

Why do we not feel the fragrance of our perfume in our body after 10 or 15 minutes of usage, whereas others can smell
it for a long time?

In which part of the honey bee is the nectar stored till it is deposited in the bee hive?

When we wake up after having a sound sleep we find our face to be swollen(eyes, lips ). What is the reason for this?

Why do we use only red, blue and green colors in 3D glasses?

Why do we use oil along with petrol in two stroke engine but not in four stroke engine?

Why do we feel the jerk in our body, when we hear the sudden noise like bursting crackers ?

Why do diesel internal combustion engines require no spark plugs to ignite the fuel unlike petrol engines?

At what speed does the electron move around the nucleus?

Is there any difference in the atmosphere like temperature, wind pressure etc. between Arctic and Antarctic regions?

How does an accelerator of a motor vehicle work?

Why does the sound quality from a radio set degrade, when lightning strikes near the radio set?

Why does graphite conduct electricity but diamond doesn't, though both are made of carbon?

Why is it said that eating reheated cooked food and taking left over/preserved food are not good for health?

When at rest why is it that athletes have only 40-60 heart beats per minute compared with non-athletes (70-100 beats
per minute)?

How does the severed body of a hen jump and make noise even when the brain command from head is completely cut
off?

We are asked to avoid wearing black dress on sunny days but why do we use black umbrellas?

Why do snakes crawl from left to right instead of moving straight?

Why does the sky sometimes show different colours during evening such as purple, violet, orange, yellow, etc. ?

16 S&T Mrunal

How does an electronic weighing balance/machine work?

Why do tears come when we are in grief?

When we take excess water or proteins our body eliminates them, but when we take in excess fat it is stored in our
body. Why?

Why do we have to release the clutch slowly for the first gear while driving vehicles, whereas for the subsequent gears
we can release the clutch with ease?

We see the sky in the shades of all the colours of the solar spectrum except green. Why not green?

What happens to the very minute rubber particles worn out from the tyres of innumerable vehicles that ply our roads?

Why does honey not decay for many days?

Why do we feel a jerk in our body, when we hear sudden noise like that of bursting crackers?

Why does a tubellight does not glow immediately like CFL bulbs?

Why are we asked to switch off our mobile or keep in flight mode when we are travelling in a flight.

Wind blows out fire, at the same time it spreads fire. Why this phenomenon?

Why is diesel used as fuel in buses, trucks and ships instead of petrol which has higher calorific value?

Why is the gravity on moon less than that of earth ?Is the hair on human body due to the incomplete evolution?

How is it that not one drop of honey leaks from the bee hive?

When we heat a cup of water in micro-oven why is the upper part hotter than the lower part ?

How does rubber act as an electrical insulator?

Why is it hard to pull an empty mug completely immersed upside down in water?

Whereas the twinkling of a star is ascribed to the light travelling through varied layers of different densities of air and
hence the refraction angles go on changing and hence the feeling of twinkling, the same is the case of a planet. Then
why does the reflected light from a planet appear steady?

Why do we feel hungry very frequently during winter?

What material is a bullet-proof vest made of and what happens to a person wearing the vest when shot by a gun?

Why does water conduct electricity while air does not?

Over electrified railway tracks, there is only one electric line. How is just one line able to supply power to the
locomotives? Do they not require a minimum of two lines to make a circuit (as in regular power supply). ?

Why do the blades of a rotating ceiling fan gather more dust, than the blades of a stationary fan (logically a rotating fan
blade should disperse the dust)?

Why do we not feel the fragrance of our perfume in our body after 10 or 15 minutes of usage, whereas others can smell
it for a long time?

In which part of the honey bee is the nectar stored till it is deposited in the bee hive?

17 S&T Mrunal

When we wake up after having a sound sleep we find our face to be swollen(eyes, lips ). What is the reason for this?

Why do we use only red, blue and green colors in 3D glasses?

Why do we use oil along with petrol in two stroke engine but not in four stroke engine?

Why do we feel the jerk in our body, when we hear the sudden noise like bursting crackers ?

Why do diesel internal combustion engines require no spark plugs to ignite the fuel unlike petrol engines?

At what speed does the electron move around the nucleus?

Is there any difference in the atmosphere like temperature, wind pressure etc. between Arctic and Antarctic regions?

How does an accelerator of a motor vehicle work?

Why does the sound quality from a radio set degrade, when lightning strikes near the radio set?

Why does graphite conduct electricity but diamond doesn't, though both are made of carbon?

Why is it said that eating reheated cooked food and taking left over/preserved food are not good for health?

When at rest why is it that athletes have only 40-60 heart beats per minute compared with non-athletes (70-100 beats
per minute)?

How does the severed body of a hen jump and make noise even when the brain command from head is completely cut
off?

We are asked to avoid wearing black dress on sunny days but why do we use black umbrellas?

Why do snakes crawl from left to right instead of moving straight?

Why does the sky sometimes show different colours during evening such as purple, violet, orange, yellow, etc. ?

How does an electronic weighing balance/machine work?

Why do tears come when we are in grief?

When we take excess water or proteins our body eliminates them, but when we take in excess fat it is stored in our
body. Why?

Why do we have to release the clutch slowly for the first gear while driving vehicles, whereas for the subsequent gears
we can release the clutch with ease?

We see the sky in the shades of all the colours of the solar spectrum except green. Why not green?

What happens to the very minute rubber particles worn out from the tyres of innumerable vehicles that ply our roads?
N. Dharmeshwaran,

Why does honey not decay for many days?

Why do we feel a jerk in our body, when we hear sudden noise like that of bursting crackers?

Why does a tubellight does not glow immediately like CFL bulbs?

Why are we asked to switch off our mobile or keep in flight mode when we are travelling in a flight.

18 S&T Mrunal

Wind blows out fire, at the same time it spreads fire. Why this phenomenon?

Why is diesel used as fuel in buses, trucks and ships instead of petrol which has higher calorific value?

Why is the gravity on moon less than that of earth ?

How do igloos protect eskimos from the severe cold?

Why is it not safe to use a mobile phone while it is being charged?

Why is copper used for making electro magnets? why are other substances like silver or gold not used?

How does coconut water form in a coconut?

While landing the rear wheel of a plane touches the ground first. Why?

Why are liquids transported only in cylindrical containers?

Why does the place where one is slapped look red?

An unripe fruit turn sweet a few days after plucking. How?

How do plants convert solar energy into chemical energy?

How are bones opaque to X-rays?

A baby which is deaf by birth, may also be dumb. Why?

In the rainy season clothes when not dried properly start stinking. Why?

Why does water appear white when it falls from a height?

Why is coldness not felt when we cover our ears with a cloth?

In a railway track at a curve, the inner track is comparatively less in height then the outer. Why?

Biscuits kept in room temperature lose their crispness after some time, more so if the weather is chill. But the same
kept in the much cooler temperature of a fridge remain crisp even after a few weeks. Why?

How does an unripe fruit turn sweet a few days after it is plucked?

Why do we experience more static electricity during winters?

How does a flying helicopter hover in one place in the sky?

Why does the ocean not leak into the earth through the fissures on ocean floor?

Why do almost all the aeroplanes take a circular route, via Canada to reach Chicago?

Pens do not write on oily paper. Why?

Why do birds of same feather flock together?

Why is the flame of the candle yellow in colour?

How does refrigerating onions prevent them from causing tears in our eyes when chopped?

19 S&T Mrunal
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
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Science-Tech Highlights from The Hindu 2011 AF
Carburettor

Carburettor gives air and petrol mixture and fuel injection pump gives a spray form of diesel using a nozzle to the
engine input side.

When we press the accelerator, a small plate like opening allows the carburettor to draw more air from atmosphere,
and also this action draws more fuel(petrol) from the fuel tank

Venturi action means a fluid or gas flowing through a constricted section of a tube undergoes a decrease in pressure, so
due to pressure difference fuel comes from the tank

When we use the choke option in the vehicle during starting problem, it is qualitatively changing the ratio of air and
fuel for easy starting during winter or cold condition of the engine.
Biodiversity

Cactus is getting attention in every continent as vital crop for increasing plant cover, carbon sequestration,
livestock feeding, conserving wildlife, medicinal and cosmetic uses

Goa-based National Centre for Antarctic and Ocean Research (NCAOR).

Muscle

What enables the ants to carry heavier objects is their relatively smaller body size

Larger animals like humans need to put most of the muscles in use to carry their own mass. In other words, larger
animals have to carry their own weight, besides the heavier objects; so they are able to carry only slightly heavier
objects.

Thus, ants could use more muscles to carry bigger loads than their own mass, which not only applies to ants, but also
holds good for most of the insects.

^ this is because of the square cube law

Ants and termites perform the same ecosystem service functions in dryland agriculture that earthworms perform in
cooler and wetter areas and have a significant positive impact on crop yields in dryland agriculture

Artic vs Antarctic

Two regions, the Arctic and the Antarctica, are located around the north and the south poles of the earth, respectively.

Rotation at the (Antarctic) south pole is opposite to that at (Arctic) north pole. This is manifest in the nature of wind
circulation and in the water whirlpools. Also, being in the two opposite hemispheres, there exists a complementarity in
the seasonal changes.

Winter period at the Arctic happens to be the summer in the Antarctica and vice versa.

Arctic is an ocean with frozen ice cover. It is surrounded and partly contributed by the edges of land masses, while the
Antarctica is an ice covered land mass (continent) surrounded by oceans. This leads to differences in the temperature
patterns in the two regions.

Much of arctic zone is surrounded by relatively warmer ocean water with minimum temperature above -2 degree
Celsius. In the Antarctica the interior regions do not benefit from the moderating influence of the ocean waters.

20 S&T Mrunal
Radioactive food

Brazil nut is probably the most radioactive food. Scientists have measured 700Bq of radium per kg of Brazil nut.

Roots of the Brazil nut tree pass through acres of land; They have a tendency to concentrate barium; along with
barium, the roots collect radium as well. Radium appears in the nuts. Many vegetables like brinjal, carrot etc. Also
contain the radioactive isotope
Bats n bees

Fruit bats use biosonar to =see their surroundings

Wet bat needs more energy to fly because damp fur provides less protection than when dry. Wet fur also affects the
bats aerodynamics, which in turn also costs energy

Raindrops affected the bats echo-finding capability.

India ranks second to China in the global map in vegetable production

Average beehive produces as much as 45-50 kg of bee dung a year, neatly deposited around the beehive as high
nitrogenous manure. ?When it rains, this pollen dung gets washed into the soil, breaks down and provides an excellent
natural fertilizer.

Hence, to a farmer rearing bees in a field to pollinate the crop, he gets an additional bonus in the form of manure

Bionic eye =A microchip packed with 1,500 light sensors is implanted to the back of the eye.

Sensors convert light to electrical signals, which stimulate nerves in the retina to pass down signals to optic nerve
which would gap into the brain to form an image.

Blue Brain Project =Blue here symbolizing supercomputers. Project aims to build brain models.

Evaporation

Evaporation is the physical process by which molecules of a liquid leave the liquid surface into the vapour phase. This
takes place at all temperatures

Evaporation rate is proportional to the area of the exposed surface. Hence, in large water bodies like ponds, lakes and
oceans, the amount of water transforming into vapour phase is considerably large even at ambient temperatures,

This water vapour which saturates the air just above the water body, gets swept

Away by wind which replaces the saturated air by fresh air containing less of water vapour. And, water vapour is lighter
than the air and so, the water vapour floats up.

This leads to further evaporation of water from the water body.

Accumulation of water vapour forms the cloud mass.

Hydrogen fuel

Hydrogen makes a great fuel because of it can easily be converted to electricity in a fuel cell and because it is carbon
free.

Downside of hydrogen is that, because it is a gas, it can only be stored in high Pressure or cryogenic tanks.

Biofortification = effort to increase the amounts of available micronutrients in staple crops such as cassava

21 S&T Mrunal

NASAs Cassini spacecraft studying Saturn planet.

Mobile switched off in airplane

At high altitudes, the pilots have to largely depend on the avionics and computer-assisted coded signal
communications. All the wireless signal trafficking is accomplished by modulated radio and microwave transmissions
which type the cell phones also owe their functioning to.

If there are any mobile phones on board in the cabin of the flight in = on mode during takeoff, flight and landing, the
microwave transmission between the mobile phone towers and the mobile phones might interfere with the
communications the flights are busily engaged in (between the cockpit and the control towers).

Thats why we are asked to switch off our mobile or keep in flight mode when we are travelling in a flight.

Anyway, the cell phones cannot serve as phones on board the flights because the cell phone towers on the ground
cannot connect themselves to the phones at such high altitudes and such high flight speeds.

Nanopatch, having 20,000 micro projections per square centimetre, is designed to directly place vaccine into the
human skin, which is rich in immune cells. And unlike the needle and syringe, which places vaccine into the muscle
which has very few immune cells

In 2003, China became the third country to send an astronaut into space on its own, four decades after the United
States and Russia.

China plans to send a drilling machine on board its fifth lunar probe, Change-5, in 2017 to drill the moon surface deep
and bring back rock samples to the earth

Primary function of the clutch is to disconnect the engine from the remaining parts of the power transmission system
at the will of the driver by the use of a suitable lever thereby permitting the engine to run without driving the vehicl

We start the vehicle from a stand-still position, the force that the engine has to overcome to get the vehicle moving is
the friction between the tyres and the road surface and it is proportional to the weight of the vehicle and the contact
surface area of the tyres.

To get the vehicle moving, the driver engages the clutch and then shifts to the primary gear whose gear ratio is such
that when engaged, the final drive moves at a considerably lesser speed when compared to the engine.

Lovejoy =recently discovered Comet.

Indian poultry breed, called Kadaknath is native to Jhabua district of Madhya Pradesh. Breed is famous for its black
meat known for its quality, texture and flavour. An attempt was therefore made for conservation and promotion of this
high value Indian poultry race under National Agriculture Innovation Project (NAIP)

Computed tomography (CT) as the best way to detect cocaine in the body of a =mule.

Probiotics, prebiotics

We call these organisms, and/or their molecules, as probiotics and prebiotics. The microbes are called probiotics, and
the indigestible (to us) material that they feed on is the prebiotic. Prebiotics are nonliving material such as starch or
husk, while probiotics are live organisms. (And biotic means relating to, produced by, or caused by living organisms).

Without them, we cannot make some essential nutrients such as vitamin K, or metabolize bile acids, cholesterol and
some short chain fatty acids. They also help us in fighting pathogenic bacteria and viruses a case of internal
colonizers acting as defending soldiers against alien invaders.
E.Coli

22 S&T Mrunal

Escherichia coli, a bacterium that is found in the gut, spreads easily through faecal contamination of food and water. It
is a common cause of urinary infections, and can also produce pneumonia and life-threatening bloodstream infections
in hospitalised patients

Disease-causing strains of E. Coli, K. Pneumoniae and other Gram-negative bacteria have emerged with special genes
that produce enzymes and make the bacteria immune to the effects of a wide range of antibiotics. (related: TB
resistance and DOTs)

NASAs Dawn spacecraft To study the asteroid Vesta.

Diesel engine

Why do diesel internal combustion engines require no spark plug to ignite the fuel unlike petrol engines?

Spark plugs are used in the petrol engines to ignite the air fuel mixture whereas in diesel engines the presence of spark
plugs is not necessary.

Technically petrol engines are Called as spark ignition engines ( SI ) and diesel engines are called as compression
ignition engines (CI )

In SI engines air and fuel (petrol) get mixed in the carburettor and then it is supplied to the engine through inlet
manifold, then the air fuel mixture is compressed inside the cylinder.

At the end of compression the spark is ignited and then combustion takes place

The air from the atmosphere is sucked into the cylinder of the engine and then the air is compressed to high pressure
which eventually leads to the increase of temperature, so when the diesel is supplied at end of compression stroke, the
temperature developed is more enough to ignite the diesel, this makes the fuel to burn and then expansion of gases
takes place from where the power stroke is obtained.

In petrol engines spark plugs will be present but in the case of diesel engines fuel pump will be present.

Dish TV

During rains, the TV programs telecast by dish TV providers are disrupted or blocked. Why?

Loss or weakening of satellite signal during bad weather is called =rain fade or =rain attenuation.

Rain fade occurs due to the presence of moisture in the air between the transmitting satellite and the receiver site.
Moisture interferes with the satellite signal. The raindrops weaken the transmission by absorbing and scattering the
electromagnetic signals.

Earlier satellite television was broadcast in C-band radio in the 3.4-gigahertz (ghz) to 7-ghz frequency range.
Currently, digital satellite TV is transmitted in the Ku frequency range (10 ghz to 14 ghz )

Longer wavelengths of C-band are less susceptible to rain attenuation than the shorter Ku and Ka wavelengths.

Destructive tsunami generated by the March 2011 Japan earthquake was a =merging tsunami that doubled in intensity
over rugged ocean ridges, amplifying its destructive power before reaching shore.
Euthanasia

Assisted dying or assisted suicide is not illegal in Switzerland

Other countries excluding Switzerland have legalised assisted dying Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands.

Epigenetic memory enables plants to remember the length of the cold winter period in order to time flowering so that
pollination, seed dispersal and germination can all happen at the appropriate time.

23 S&T Mrunal

Radiation typically kills many bone marrow cells, which can lead to a compromised immune system in patients, leaving
them vulnerable to infections and other health problems.

Hibernating animals provide good example for utilizing fat reserve as fuel. For instance, polar bears go on hibernation
for about seven months and, during this entire period, the energy is derived from the degradation of stored fat.

Fats can also support the bodys energy needs for long periods of food deprivation.
Burning flame

All fuels get oxidised by burning; but, all oxidation reactions do not constitute burning.

Flame is quite an accidental feature. Thus, iron burning in oxygen gives no perceptible flame. The intense light is due
to the incandescent solid. On the other hand, phosphorus, sulphur, wax, etc., burn with a flame because these solids
are volatilized at the temperature of combustion.

The colour of the flame depends upon the material undergoing the reaction and the temperature.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
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Science-Tech Highlight from The Hindu 2011 G to N (Part II)
Gagan

GPS aided geo augmented navigation (gagan), a joint effort by the indian space research organisation and the airports
authority of india.

To help pilots land their aircraft in bad weather and poor visibility, several airports in the country are equipped with
ground-based instrument landing systems (ils).

When two strains of bird flu infect the same host, they can readily swap genes, a process known as reassortment. The
2009 h1n1 pandemic virus was itself a triple reassortant, with its genes drawn from bird, human and animal strains.

This mix of genes created a virus that readily infected humans, was easily transmitted from one person to another, and
to which most people had no immunity.
Nasas glory spacecraft

Data from the glory mission will allow scientists to better understand how the sun and tiny atmospheric particles called
aerosols affect earths climate.

The taurus xl also carries the first of nasas educational launch of nanosatellite missions. This auxiliary payload
contains three small satellites called cubesats, which were designed and created by university and college students.
Graphene

The worlds thinnest and toughest material, could spur the development of next generation computer chips, besides
revolutionising materials science.

Its amazing properties open the way to bendable touch screen phones and computers, lighter aircraft, paper thin hd tv
sets and lightning-quick net connections, and more.

Graphene, a single layer of carbon atoms, whose discoverers shared the 2010 nobel prize for physics for work on the
material.

Why does graphite conduct electricity but diamond doesnt, though both are made of carbon?

24 S&T Mrunal

Whether a substance is an electrical conductor or not is not decided by the type of atoms or the kind of element or
compound alone but is by the way the atoms of an element or molecules of a compound are joined together to form a
condensed matter (liquids and solids). Such a formation should allow passage of electrons from one end to the other

Haemoglobin a1c (hba1c) test has become the preferred way to diagnose diabetes among the millions of americans who
have diabetes but show no symptoms. The simple test measures longer -term blood sugar levels without requiring
patients to fast overnight.
Heartbeats

As a general rule a heart rate between 60 and 100 is considered normal. The heart is a pump. It pumps blood into the
system at about 72 times pm. In other words to keep the system adequately supplied with blood, the heart has to work
around 72 times a minute.

Heart has two sides, the right and the left. The right side pumps blood to the lungs and the left side to the various parts
of the body through the aorta, the largest artery.

The output of the heart per minute is called the cardiac output (co). Co = sv x hr and is about 5 litres per minute in a
resting man.

That is, when at rest, about 5 litres of blood is necessary and enough every minute. The demand for blood will naturally
rise in an exercising man.

In an exercising man the heart beats at a higher rate, with more force and deals with more blood than in a resting man.

As a result the heart becomes stronger and increased in efficiency. In course of time it learns to pump more blood per
beat; that is the stroke volume increases. Such a heart can pump 5 litres of blood in less number of beats.

Thus, in the case of an athlete the heart is able meet the target with less number of beats per minute. What a nonathletes heart achieves with 72 beats an athletes heart can manage with 60 beats.

In comparison to a non-athlete, an athletes heart may beat at a slower rate by virtue of his emotional stability. But as
the stroke volume is more, it will not affect the blood supply to the system
Robot

Hondas human-shaped robot can now run faster

Asimo, first shown in 2000, had been of little practical use so far, proving to be nothing more than a glorified toy and
cute showcase for the honda motor co. Brand

Asimos technology was used to develop a robotic arm in just six months with the intention of helping with the nuclear
crisis in northeastern japan.

The mechanical arm can open and close valves at fukushima dai -ichi nuclear power plant, which went into meltdown
after the march tsunami, according to honda.
Bee colony

Have a single queen (fertile female), few hundreds of drones (males) and thousands of worker bees (unfertile female).

Worker bees, three weeks after emergence, visit flowers. During this visit, the entire body of bees gets smeared with
pollen.

Apart from pollen, bees collect nectar from flowers and store them in their stomach (crop). Honeybee stomach is
technically called crop

Bees, when they return to hive, vomit (regurgitate) the stomach contents into the comb cells meant for that

How best to measure a kilogram

25 S&T Mrunal

At present, this unit is defined by a lump of platinum cast in 1879 and located in a safe at the office of the international
committee on weights and measures in paris.

Before 1889, the metre was judged to be one ten-millionth of the distance from the equator to the north pole.

Icelands capital city is reykjavik.

Supercomputer

Fastest supercomputer with a computing speed of 2.7 petaflops is said to be in china.

Petaflop is 1,000 trillion sustained floating-point operations per second.

One exaflop is 1,000 times faster than a petaflop performing 1 million trillion calculations per second.

Maitri, indias second permanent research station on the antarctica

Stem cell

Usa -in several states, abortion is illegal. Indeed the issue of a womans right to abortion went all the way up to the
nations supreme court in the year 1973, and its landmark judgment gave a woman the right to terminate her
pregnancy in the first trimester as a constitutional right.

The unborn child is not legally classified as a person; the u.s. Supreme court also noted then that if the personhood
of the preborn is established, then the case for the right to abortion collapses, because the foetuss right to life is then
guaranteed specifically in the constitution.

The debate thus turns to the issue of is a foetus a person.

George w. Bush stopped the u.s. Federal government funding for research involving human embryonic stem cells, on
the ground that since it can give rise to a human, we should not be tinkering with it, since that would be equivalent to
man playing god

What then is a person?

French thinker rene descartes insisted on thinking or cognition as a must, stating je pense donc je suis (or cogito
ergo sum in latin, or i think, therefore i am in english).
Earthquakes

New zealand sits on the pacific ring of fire, a vast zone of seismic and volcanic activity stretching from chile on one
side to japan and indonesia on the other.

Wellington has always been considered much more at risk because it straddles the plate boundary.

A place called laquila in italy, which suffered an earthquake on april 5, 2009, causing large scale damage to property

Astrono mical units (au, the distance from the sun to earth)
Power project

Koodunkulam to add 2000 mwe to grid of the 2000 mwe power to be generated by kudankulam nuclear power project
units 1 and 2, the allocation of power to tamil nadu is 925 mwe. States industrialisation plans will be hit if project is
reversed
Microwave

When we heat a cup of water in a microwave oven why is the upper part hotter than the lower part?

26 S&T Mrunal

Substances, with polar molecules such as water, alcohols, oils, etc, absorb microwave radiation to elevate the rotational
movements of their molecules. When foodstuffs to be cooked by microwave oven are kept in this kind of kettle, the
majori ty of the microwave power reaches the water and tends to hasten the molecular rotations

When we heat a cup of water alone in a microwave oven, the water gets all the microwave energy and becomes hot. But
the upper part of the water is hotter than the lo wer part because

Hot water moves to upper regions of the container because its density is less than normal waters. Therefore, as and
when water is getting heated, the hot water moves upward due to lower density through convection

As the cup of water kept in microwave oven is hardly stirred, the temperature gradient is more obvious.

It is by the combined effect of uneven distribution of microwave energy and differential densities of hot and cold water
that the upper part is hotter than the lower part when we heat a cup of water in a microwave oven.
CRT monitor flickering

Why does a crt monitor flicker when shot with a digital camera?

Working of crt is based on a principle called scintillation. In simple words, scintillation is the process by which some
atoms emit light when they are excited by ionized or charged particles (typically electrons)

In a resolution of 1024 x 768 pixels, there are 1024 x 768 = 7,86,432 electrons involved to display one static flash of
image.

When a camera snaps a picture (or covers a video) there may be some particles which do not emit light during the
short time gap when the shutter opens and closes (in videos between intervals when light is sampled, called as frame
rate). This causes loss of light in those areas or pixels, which we refer to as flickering
Moon ownership

1967 outer space treaty makes it clear that the lunar surface has no owner.

Nasa is expected to come up with a set of recommendations for spacecraft and astronauts visiting the u.s.
Government property on the moon.

Despite the lack of ownership, nasa is hopeful that other countries will respect the u.s. Sentiments. Incidentally, the
restriction list contains more than the historical sites. For instance, the list includes studying discarded food and
abandoned astronaut faeces.

For example, studying the discarded food will reveal the viability of bacteria on the moon and, if present, how they
have mutated and survived after years of exposure to solar radiation.
Nanotech for water filtering

Both water molecules and bugs are so tiny that they are measured by the nanometre, 100,000 times thinner than a
human hair.but at the microscopic level, the two actually differ greatly in size. A single water molecule is less than a
nanometre wide, while some of the littlest bugs are 200 nanometres.

New nanotechnology is likely to make drinking water a lot more safer and keep infections at bay by filtering out deadly
bugs at the source.

Nanomembrane containing pores about 55 nm wide, large enough for water to slip through, but too small for bacteria
NICRA

National initiative on climate resilient agriculture (nicra) project was launched

Nicra has been promoted in the xi five year plan by icar

27 S&T Mrunal

This project is being implemented in 100 districts in india

The project aims to enhance the resilience of agriculture

Manually operated weather station to record daily rainfall, minimum and maximum temperature, relative humidity
and wind speed.

Stocking of fish fry in temporary water ponds.

Artificial insemination centre for cows and buffaloes. Improved water harvesting structure
Ndm-1

Gram-negative bacterial strains with ndm-1 (new delhi metallo-beta-lactamase-1) gene, also called the superbug,

The lancet infectious diseases journal. The ndm-1 gene enables gram-negative bacterial strains to become resistant to
carbapenem, a powerful antibiotic.

People living in the northern hemisphere have bigger brains than those staying near the equator, says a study

This is because living in low light conditions means the eyes and brain need to work harder in order to process images
to a good level of detail, or high resolution

As you move away from equator, theres less light available, so humans have had to evolve bigger and bigger eyes. Their
brains also need to be bigger to deal with the extra visual input. Having bigger brains doesnt mean that they are
smarter, it just means they need bigger brains to see well where they live.

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Science-Tech Highlight from The Hindu 2011 OtoZ (Part III, The End)
Emu

A flightless bird, is also the largest bird in Australia and the second largest in the world after its distant cousin, the
ostrich.

Emu oil estimated to be highly medicinal is gaining its popularity in the pharmaceutical industry and is priced around
Rs 4,500 per litre. It has zero percent cholesterol. It is being farmed in different countries and also in India. Emu
farming, or golden farming as it is popularly known in Orissa.
Plastic bottle

In the case of the plastic bottle, when hot water is poured, the molecules of the polymer get sufficient energy to
overcome the barriers between the existing structure and more relaxed structure and hence the material of the bottle
relaxes to the new more compact structure. Hence

They are seen to contract as a response to application of heat as by pouring hot water on or into them.
China space program

Chinese astronauts remained in space so far was 115.5 hours, or nearly five days, during the mission of Shenzhou VI in
2005.

China will build a space station in 10 years and will probably carry out manned explorations of deep space in the future
3D glasses

28 S&T Mrunal

Why do we use only red, blue and green colours in 3D glasses?

It is possible to produce any colour just by mixing/ controlling the relative intensities of these three colors. Hence these
three colours are called primary colours

3D glasses make use any two of these primary colors ( blue, green and red) one for each eye as the intensity of the third
colour can be inferred from difference between total light and the sum of intensities of these two colours to get the
complete information on colour of the object or image to be seen through the 3D glass.
Malaria drug resistance

Artemisin and its derivatives have saved countless lives after the single-celled parasite, Plasmodium falciparum , that
causes the most dangerous forms of the disease became resistant to the drug chloroquine.

However, strains that are resistant to even artemisinin have emerged in parts of South-East Asia and could potentially
spread, as has happened with earlier antimalarial drugs.

Indias Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) initiated action earlier this year to stop the production and export of
these drugs.

Exposure of malaria parasites to suboptimal doses of artemisinin is a primary cause of the spread of resistance

Although oral artemisinin-based monotherapies could be effective when taken for the full seven-day course, patients
often stopped taking them after just a few days when the symptoms generally subsided. Parasites that were sensitive to
the drug could get eliminated, allowing drug-resistant strains to proliferate and get transmitted to other people

To prevent that from happening, the global health agency recommends that artemisinin be given in combination with
another drug. Such artemisinin-based combination therapy (ACT) should, it says, be first-line treatment for
uncomplicated malaria caused by P. Falciparum

Oral artemisinin monotherapy is banned in India, according to the Guidelines for Diagnosis and Treatment of
Malaria in India published in 2010 by the National Institute of Malaria Research in Delhi and the Union Health
Ministrys National Vector Borne Disease Control Programme.

This year, DCGI wrote to all State Drugs Controllers requesting them to cancel licenses to manufacture oral
artemisinin-based monotherapies with immediate effect. The manufacturing of such monotherapies for export should
also be stopped.
Indias Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C18)

It put four satellites in orbit, The satellites were: Megha-Tropiques, an Indo-French mission to study the weather and
climate in the tropical regions of the world; srmsat, built by students of SRM University, near Chennai; Jugnu, put
together by Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur students; and vesselsat from Luxembourg.

Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, Thiruvananthapuram

Empty mug

Not only is it hard to pull out any empty mug completely immersed upside down in water but also it is harder to push
an empty mug upside down into water.The latter difficulty is mainly due to the buoyancy, the air sac, captured inside
the mug

However, when we try to pull out the same empty mug or the mug already drowned, in an upside manner, we
experience certain difficulty of pulling it out. This difficulty stems from a different cause and owes to the surface
tension phenomenon of liquids

Amount of force required to open apart one unit length of the liquids surface is defined as the surface tension of the
liquid. Its value is unique to the liquid and is highly sensitive to the temperature, pressure and purity of the liquid.

29 S&T Mrunal

Fathers of radiation genetics, Hermann Muller, was awarded the 1946 Nobel Prize in medicine for his discovery that Xrays induce genetic mutations.

This helped him call attention to his long-time concern over the dangers of atomic testing.

Environmental toxicologist Edward Calabrese, whose career research shows that low doses of some chemicals and
radiation are benign or even helpful, says he has uncovered evidence that Muller knowingly lied when he claimed in
1946 that there is no safe level of radiation exposure
Heat of Earths crust

Radioactive decay of uranium, thorium, and potassium in Earths crust and mantle is a principal source of earths heat
some 44 trillion watts that continually flows from Earths interior into space
RTIS

Real-time train information system (RTIS) for a dozen important trains through which passengers can access the
accurate train running information.

The facility will not only be available to passengers on these trains but also to the public who are accessing the website
www.simran.in, and through SMS from railway enquiry number 139. Passengers will be provided with the information
about the location of the train, its running position on time or late, next stop, nearest approaching/crossed station
and the speed.

The Railways intends to provide this facility in all passenger and freight trains by December 2012.
Food heating

Eating reheated cooked food and taking left over/preserved food are not good for health?

The raw materials such as rice, pulses, fats etc are in such chemical architecture that we cannot assimilate. That is why,
by cooking process, they are chemically converted into smaller molecules that can further be managed by our digestive
system, from mouth to intestines, through a series of enzymatic processes (mostly hydrolysis).

If the cooked food is left out for a while, a host of microorganisms invade the food stuff and work on the molecules in
their own physiological ways because the cooked food stuff is now in a bio-manageable molecular status.

These microorganisms leave their own chemical signature on the food stuffs over time. If such a type of food is
reheated, not only are the useful remains are warmed or further hydrolyzed but the microorganisms themselves and
the chemicals they have excreted are also heated and chemically processed.

These alien chemical and biological entities are likely to generate poisonous molecules upon reheating. Similarly, food
stuffs, left for long, are also likely to be contaminated by the invisible microorganisms along with their excreta during
their regime on this food. Thus, a leftover/preserved food is also a source of possible poisonous content.

It is not true that all the processed foods undergo infections by pathogenic organisms. It all depends on what type of
natural preservatives are added, like tamarind, salt, oil, sugar etc

All foods which are used in our set up, might have been refrigerated, and hence the bacterial growth is inhibited.

We should heat the canned foods above 60-70 degree C, so that the toxins are destroyed.
Gecko robot

The adhesive pads on geckos follow this same principle by utilising a large number of fibres, each with a very small tip.
The more fibres a gecko has in contact, the greater attachment force it has on a surface

Wall-climbing robots could be used to clean windows, inspect buildings, crawl up pipes and help in search-and-rescue
operations

30 S&T Mrunal

Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC) played a key role in the shift in the global climate that began about 38 million
years ago. Early ACC was vital to the formation of modern ocean structure.

Sky color

When the suns rays enter the atmosphere they collide with particles and gases in the atmosphere.

Shorter wavelengths, like blue and violet, scatter a lot more than long ones when particles are relatively small. Under
these conditions, scattered light also tends to disperse equally in all directions, which is why the sky appears so
saturated with blue color.

Skys color can change based on dust, pollution and water vapor, which affect the absorption and scattering of sunlight
differently.

Reddish tinge of sunsets is due mostly to the fact that the sunlight travels through more atmosphere to reach our eyes.
Snake movement

Unlike mammals which primarily use their legs, snakes and reptiles tend to use their bodies and spine as a major part
of locomotion

Snake alternately tightens and relaxes a set of muscles along each side of its body to produce horizontal waves that
travel down the body
ISRO

ISRO) is drawing up plans to develop the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota into a centre for assembling
satellites and rockets in the near future.

31 S&T Mrunal

Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS) in Hyderabad

ISRO and INCOIS were working together in the area of environment and climate monitoring
Twinkling stars

Why do stars twinkle? Why does light from planets not twinkle?

Little pockets of air that have different density, temperature, humidity etc. Than the surrounding air. The density
contrast causes refraction, and as different cells move in and out of your line of sight,

This movement is seen as twinkling by the eyes; if you take a photograph over several minutes, as astronomers often
do, then the image becomes blurred.

Why dont planets twinkle? This is because, even though they may look point-like to naked eyes, they are actually much
bigger than the typical seeing. This means that you observe the combination of light which has passed through
different atmospheric cells. Thus, the turbulent effects are averaged out, making the planets look steady.
Vit.D

How does exposure to sun help to produce Vitamin-D in humans?

Vitamin D, a fat soluble vitamin

Ergocalciferol is designated as vitamin D {-2} and cholecalciferol also as vitamin D {-3}.

Humans make 90 per cent of their vitamin D naturally from sunlight exposure to their skin specifically, from
ultraviolet B exposure to the skin, which naturally initiates the conversion of cholesterol in the skin to vitamin D { -3}.

In contrast, sun exposure to the skin makes thousands of units of vitamin D naturally in a relatively short period of
time. Therefore Vitamin D is regarded as Sun Shine Vitamin.

32 S&T Mrunal

Swollen face

When we wake up after a sound sleep our face (lips, eyelids) are swollen. Why?

During sleep , all these movements are absent, no facial movements , no lip movement, no blinking etc, hence the so
called muscle pumps are totally absent. If the sleep time is prolonged beyond certain limit, the venous engorgement
due to slow respiration with slow suction, and lack of muscle pumps swell the interstitial space and cells, underneath
the skin, resulting in accumulation of fluids, which create a swollen eyes and lips.
Food ripening

A simple technology practiced in households to trigger ripening is to keep un-ripened and ripened fruits together
inside an air tight container. Since the already ripened fruits release ethylene, ripening will be faster. Another method
is to place the fruits intended for ripening inside an air tight room and induce ripening through smoking inside smoke
chambers. Smoking chamber Smoke emanates acetylene gas. Several fruit traders follow this technique to achieve
uniform ripening especially in banana and mango

Some farmers dip unripe mature fruits in 0.1 per cent ethrel solution (1 ml of ethrel solution in 1 litre of water) and
wipe it dry.

Fruits ripened using calcium carbide are carcinogenic and should not be consumed.

Traders use calcium carbide that emits acetylene gas

Chikungunya is primarily spread by the Aedes aegypti mosquito

Tubelight vs CFL

Why does a tube light not glow immediately on switching on like a CFL bulb?

33 S&T Mrunal

Both the tube lights and the cfls work by the same principle. These lamps consist of a fluorescent phosphor coated glass
tube filled with a mixture of the inert gas argon and mercury vapour.

Gas is excited by the energetic electrons emitted from the cathodes provided at the ends of the tube.

These excited gas atoms interact with the phosphor material coated on the walls and we receive the light from this
glowing phosphor material.

Initiation of the gas excitation is accomplished by extracting electrons from a heated cathode, by using an
instantaneous high voltage pulse generated by a ballast circuit

These features of the ballast circuit often require more than one attempt for the gaseous excitation. This leads to slower
start and start-up flickering of the tube lights.
Lab meat

Churchills chicken-based comment, was in the 1930s: 50 years hence, we shall escape the absurdity of growing a whole
chicken in order to eat the breast or wing, by growing these parts separately under a suitable medium.? Well,
Churchills prediction might come true in a few years hence. Researchers are applying the technique of cell and tissue
engineering to grow edible meat in the laboratory, or in vitro.

Why would anyone want to grow meat in the lab? Because we need to grow crops to feed livestock, which alone takes
up 26 per cent of the available area and equally substantial water. And livestock contributes 18 per cent to global
warming. Plus, to paraphrase what Churchill said, animals are not efficient protein factories; much of what we eat as
meat is proteins (muscle). Why then not grow meat in the lab and save space, water and reduce global warming?
Wet wood

More smoke is produced when wet wood burns. Why?

There are four stages (sequences) of fire: incipient, smouldering, flame and heat. Initially, the wood is to be ignited
(lit) by an external heat source, say, a match. When the wood reaches a temperature of about 150 degrees C, the
cellulosic material starts decomposing ( thermal decomposition and degradation). There is no visible smoke, flame or
significant development of heat. However, a large number of combustible particles are produced. This constitutes the
incipient stage. As this stage continues, the combustible particles increase until they become visible a condition
called smoke. Smoke is made up of compounds of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen. But, no flame or significant heat
develops at this stage also.

This is the smouldering stage. As the fire condition develops further, ignition occurs and flame starts at about 500
degrees C. The level of visible smoke decreases and the heat level increases. This is the flame stage. Finally, large
amounts of heat, flame, smoke and toxic gases are produced. This constitutes the heat stage

Wood is a hygroscopic material. That is, it tends to absorb moisture from the air. Normally, it contains about eight per
cent of water.

In the case of wet wood, a very high proportion of heat is taken away as the latent heat of evaporation. Therefore, there
will be a hindrance for reaching even the third stage, let alone the fourth one. However, the second (smouldering) stage
continues without any hindrance. Accordingly, more smoke is produced when wet wood burns.
International Hydrographic Organisation (IHO)

Hydrography impinges on every activity at the sea, the most important being provision of nautical charts and
publications for worldwide navigational safety with 24 X 7 updating service under the IMO /IHO/UN Conventions.

Hydrography is the branch of applied sciences which deals with the measurement and description of the physical
features of oceans, seas, coastal areas, lakes and rivers. It also seeks to provide prediction of their change over time, for
the primary purpose of safety of navigation and in support of all other marine activities

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34 S&T Mrunal
Monoclonal Antibodies: Meaning, Uses
What is Antigen?

Antigen is a foreign substance/bacteria/virus anything that enters into the body.

In short antigen is the bad guy.

What is Antibody?

When antigen enters the body, our immune system produces y shaped proteins called antibodies.

These antibodies, stick to the antigen (badguy) and either is destroy it or mark it as target for T-cells to come and
destroy.In short, Antibody is the good guy.
Who produces antibodies?

In the previous article of basics of blood, we saw that bone marrow produces white blood cells.

There is one special type of white blood cells, known as B cell.

The B cells produce these antibodies.

What is monoclonal antibody?

From the discussion so far, you can see that antibodies are good guys and if we could reproduce these antibodies in a
lab, it can be used to fight various diseases.

Before going into the applications (uses) of monoclonal antibodies,, let me beat around the bush for a while.
What is Cancer?

When the cells of your body, keep dividing and growing uncontrollably, a big cell mass is developed, this abnormal cell
mass is known as tumour. These uncontrolled growth of cells, is known as cancer.

The characteristic of a cancer cell is that it keeps dividing and growing for infinite time.
How to make monoclonal antibodies?

You take one normal healthy b-cell, and combine it with a cancer b-cell. Thus you get a hybrid B-cell, that will keep
multiplying for infinite time and keep producing antibodies for you in the clinical lab. Such antibodies are called
monoclonal antibodies.
What is the use of monoclonal antibodies?
Pregnancy detection kit

You may have seen TV-ads of pregnancy kits. How do they work? The strip special type of monoclonal antibodies on it.
So when urine drops are poured into this kit, if the urine has human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG), these monoclonal
antibodies will attach to it, and the strip will change its colour. Thus, giving the proof that lady is pregnant.
Cancer detection

you create special type of monoclonal antibodies that artist to cancer cells in the body. Now you sprinkle special
radioactive material on these monoclonal antibodies.

Now give it to patient, these monoclonal antibodies will travel through his body can attach to the hidden tumour. Then
you check radioactivity on the X-ray machine and you can see the location and severity of the tumor.

35 S&T Mrunal
AIDS detection

You take out the blood of a person, add monoclonal antibodies in it, along with some drops of deactivated virus, and
check chemial reactions. Thus you can detect whether person is HIV positive or not.
Limitations

when it was first discovered, people thought that monoclonal antibodies could be used as magic bullets or panacea for
all diseases.

But it didnt work out like that, why? Because monoclonal antibodies are prepared from the B cells of a mouse. So
when it is introduced in our body, our own B-cell treat it as an antigen (badguy) and a circle around and destroy these
monoclonal antibodies.

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Thalassaemia,Hemophilia,Leukemia & the Basics of Blood
What is bone marrow?
it is a soft, pulpy tissue that fills the cavities of bones.
Why is bone marrow important?
Because It produces all of the bodys blood cellsred blood cells (RBC), white blood cells (WBC), and platelets.
What do red blood cells (RBC) do?
They transfer oxygen from the lungs to the cells.
(technically correct):

It is not red blood cell, but red blood corples (RBC). because cells have nucleus, RBC doesnt have nucleus so it is not a
cell and hence they die after 120 days. (or atleast thats what the Anatomy professor had told me.). but to keep the
matter simple, I shall refer It as RBC/ Red blood cell.
Why do red blood cells have red colour?

Because they contain haemoglobin.

Haemoglobin contains iron,

that's why red colour.

36 S&T Mrunal
Photo by Dr. Tony Brain/Science Source/Photo Researchers, Inc.
What is anemia?

When your blood has less hemoglobin (=Hence Less RBC)

so, less oxygen is transferred from your lungs to your cells.

That's why less energy is produced, and you get tired very easily. That is anemia. Majority of girls in India, suffer from
Anemia because of malnutrition.
What is Thalassaemia?

When you bone marrow produces defective type of red blood cells, you have thalassaemia.

It means your own blood cannot carry oxygen from lungs to the cells so you need to have a healthy persons
blood in your body.

And since red blood cells have a lifespan of only 120 days, you require regular blood transfusion from a normal
person.

Thalassaemia is a genetic disorder. (=heriditary disease)

means it is transferred from one generation to another.

Mind it: thalassaemia is not a contagious disease. (means you cannot get it by infection, like in common cold,
swine flu or chickenpox.)

It is important to learn the mechanism of thalassaemia for CSAT prelims point of view (WFST questions).
Because it is an example of Mendels experiment on peas given in the NCERTs.

Anyways, Ill try to simplify by getting not so technically correct.

How does a person get thalassaemia?

Suppose a person has recessive (=bad) gene that causes thalassaemia. But he himself doesn't show the symptoms
of thalassaemia, he appears totally normal. So we'll call this guy a carrier.or Thalassaemia Minor. E.g.
Amitabh Bacchan and Amisha Patel. About 6% of Indian Juntaa is Thalassaemia Minor.

Now Another lady is completely healthy and doesn't have any bad genes. We call her non-carrier.

When Carrier marries with non-carrier, the baby thus produced will be either normal or carrier. (50-50%
change) but there is 100% guarantee that the baby will not have thalassaemia disease.

But, if two Carriers marry, there is 25% chance that their baby will be suffering from thalassaemia. See the photo
for chart, to get the idea.

37 S&T Mrunal

Image by Microsoft Encarta 2009. 1993-2008 Microsoft Corporation.

For this reason, prospective brides and grooms should not only check the kundli (horoscope), but also their blood
reports. Just think about future of your baby, the expensive medicines and inconvinient blood transfusion for the rest
of his/her life.
Treatment Of Thalassaemia

as we saw, defective bone marrow produces defective red blood cells and so thalassaemia occurs.

So to fix thalassaemia permanently, we have to get fresh and healthy bone-marrow from a donor and transplant it in
the patient. = Bone marrow transplant.

Problem: hard to find compatible donors and it is very expensive.

What is Sickle cell anaemia?

Normal and healthy red blood cells look like a round/oval/coin shaped drug tablet, like in this photo.

But if a person has defective genes, his bone marrow will produce RBC with sickle shape (that agricultural tool) like in
this photo.

Because of this abnormal shape, such sickle RBC cannot flow freely in the tiny blood vessels = less oxygen supply.

Sickle cell anaemia, has the same genetic mechanism/Mendels law explained in thalassaemia case.
Interval WFST

which of the following statements are true?

Thalassaemia is a contagious disease.

if a person with recessive genes for thalassaemia, marries with normal person, there is 50% chance that the baby will
have thalassaemia disease.

38 S&T Mrunal

Sickle cell anemia is not a hereditary disease.

In normal Anaemia, healthy diet improves the blood quality but in Thalassaemia/ Sickle Cell Anaemia, diet will not
bring improvement in Blood quality

Enough talk about RBC, lets move to second type of blood cells called white blood cells (WBC)
What do white blood cells (WBC) do?

They are the policemen of our body.

They defend our body by attacking virus, bacteria and other antigens. (=badguys): no FIR, No Chargesheet, No court
case, Direct encounter.

But here is a problem: during organ transplant (kidney, liver, etc), these WBC also consider the forieng Kidney as
badguy and attack it. so patient is given variety of immunosuppressant drugs.

It is the same reason why doctors insist on organs from siblings and relatives. Because then WBC will not be very angry
with them!
What is leukemia (blood cancer)?

WBC / white blood cells are also known as leucocytes.

When your blood has abnormally high number of WBC, you have leukemia, also known as blood cancer.
What is platelet?

When your body gets injured, after some time blood stops flowing from the wound.

Because of this platelets, blood gets clotted.

So, they are also good guys, otherwise , even in the smallest injury. Your bleeding will not stop and you will die.

Platelets are also known as thrombocytes.

What is Hemophilia?

It is another hereditary blood disease characterized by the inability of blood to clot.

means if you get wounded, the bleeding will not stop.
Mechanism is similar to Thalassaemia / Mendels law of heredity.
Interval WFST

In Hemophilia bone marrow produces defective type of red blood cells (RBC).

39 S&T Mrunal

In Thalassemia, blood clotting does not occur.

Hemophilia doesnt follow Mendels law on heredity.

Vitamin E is helps in Blood clotting and is soluble in water

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Shale Gas: Advantages and Disadvantages as an Energy source
What is Shale Gas?

Shale gas is natural gas formed from being trapped within shale formations.

Shale gasan unconventional source of methane, like coal-bed gas (in coal seams) and tight gas (trapped in rock
formations)

It is Colourless, odourless, lighter than air.

In Europe shale gas isnot used because of green rules and limited property rights. But In America, use of Shale Gas has
already started and In future, it will give a spur to the domestic manufacture of anything needing large amounts of
energy.

Whatre the Advantages of Gas as a source of Energy?

A flexible fuel, capable of heating homes, fuelling industrial boilers and providing feedstock for the petrochemicals
industry, where it is turned into plastics, fertiliser and other useful stuff.

40 S&T Mrunal

It is also making small but significant progress as a fuel for lorries and buses.

Biggest advances have been in power generation: because it is cheaper to generate electricity from gas, and the process
releases up to 50% less carbon dioxide than does coal.

Gas power stations are relatively cheap to build, beating nuclear power hands down in terms of capital costs, and in
most cases they are also less expensive than renewables.
Whatre the problems with Gas as a source of energy?

It is difficult and expensive to transport.

Because of those hefty transport costs, gas does not behave like a commodity. Only one-third of all gas is traded across
borders, compared with two-thirds of oil.

Gas has no global price.

Gas prices in different parts of the world are set by quite different mechanisms, they vary wildly across the globe.

Gas pipelines cost million of dollars a kilometre to build.

alternative is to ship the gas in liquid form, as LNG. But projects to liquefy gas also require huge investments

GK: Gazprom is Russias huge state-run gas producer and supplier of 25% of Europes gas.

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Higgs Boson Particle, CERN : Meaning, significance
What is Standard model?

The standard model is a theory of Particle Physics.

It says all the material around us is made up of 12 matter particle (also known as Fermions).

The other 11 particles predicted by the model have been found and only Higgs particle was not yet found, so the CERN
was trying to find it.
What is Higgs Boson particle?

This particle is theoretically responsible for mass, without which there would be no gravity and no universe.

Therefore it is also called the God particle.

The Higgs particle was proposed in the 1960s by British physicist Peter Higgs as a way of explaining why other
particles have mass.

CERN has been attempting to find evidence of its existence.

Big Bang and universe Formation

The Big Bang occurred approximately 13.75 billion years ago, and it is responsible for the creation of the Universe.

But after the Big Bang, the universe was a gigantic soup of particles racing around at the speed of light without any
mass to speak of.

41 S&T Mrunal

It was through their interaction with the Higgs field that they gained mass and eventually formed the universe.

Thus finding the Higgs particle can throw more light on how universe was formed.
What is CERN?

The European Organization for Nuclear Research also known as CERN

It is the worlds largest nuclear physics laboratory carrying out various experiments,

It is situated at Geneva, along France-Swiss border.

It has been operating several particle accelerators the latest one being the Large Hadron collider.
How do they find God particle?

They use the Large Hadron Collider.

It is the worlds biggest and most powerful particle accelerator

Two beams of protons are fired in opposite directions around it before smashing into each other to create many
millions of particle collisions every second in a recreation of the conditions a fraction of a second after the Big Bang,
when the Higgs field is believed to have switched on and did the magic.
Why waste money on a stupid experiment?

Yep, some Jholachhap leftist from JNU might say why waste so much money and electricity finding this elusive God
particle, while millions of people die in poverty and starvation in India and Africa?

Well, It is not hard to show that expenditure on basic science often leads to discoveries of enormous economic and
practical importance.

For example,

discovery of the nucleus = led to nuclear power stations, that provide clean energy.

Only through the discovery of electromagnetic waves = mobile communication became possible.

Only after Faraday gave the laws of induction, we could invent the motors, and one of them is currently rotating the
fan inside your Computer cabinet to cool your CPU.

So only God can imagine at this point, what inventions will follow once the God particle is thoroughly studied and
how itll benefit the mankind.
Who is Bose?

The work done by Bose and Albert Einstein laid the foundation for the discovery of the God particle.

The sub-atomic particle boson is named after Bengali physicist Satyendra Nath Bose whose pioneering work in the
field in the early 1920s changed the way particle physics has been studied.

He was awarded Indias second highest civilian award, the Padma Vibhushan in by the Government of India.

What makes totally awesome- he never received a Ph.D, nor was he awarded a Nobel Prize, though the Nobel
committee recognised other scientists for research related to concepts he developed.

42 S&T Mrunal
Archana Sharma
(may be for random 2 markers)

a scientist of Indian origin, working at CERN involved in CMS experiment over there. She has been involved in this
since 1987.

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RITSAT, PSLV, Agni V, ICBM and Mars Mission
Risat I:

Radar Imaging Satellite-I first of its kind in India.

Launched using PSLV-C19.

Microwave Remote sensing satellite with a Synthetic Aperture Radar payload.

Advantages and Applications:

Imaging surface feature during both day and night conditions.

All weather monitoring.

Microwave remote sensing helps cloud penetration.

Applications in paddy monitoring, disaster management during floods, cyclone.

Orbit:

Polar sun synchronous, solar powered.

Sun Synchronous satellites are those which follow solar time i.e you can find the satellite over one country at same
local time every day, follows the clock of sun essentially to harness the solar power.

Such satellites are used mainly for remote sensing, spy satellites.
PSLV:

Polar satellite launch vehicle- normally carries a payload of 1600kg.

Puts satellites in sun synchronous orbits of 620km above earths surface.

Workhorse of Indian satellite programs- Earned the name following 20 continuous successful missions of its total 21
flights.

PSLV-XL a variant of PSLV was used to launch Chandrayaan-I.(India only nation to use PSLV for moon missions,
normally Geo synchronous launch vehicles(GSLV) are used for such missions).
Advantage of PSLVs

they are economic compared to GSLVs, but payload of PSLVs is around 1600kg, while GSLV has a payload capacity of
2500kg.

43 S&T Mrunal

Next addition to our launch vehicles GSLV mark III with payload capacity of 5000kg,

This will boost India to commercial market launches.

Agni V:

Agni V a surface to surface Inter-continental ballistic missile developed by DRDO of India.

Only 5 other nations of the world have such capability.( US,UK,France,China,Russia)

Agni series of India has 5 versions starting from 700Km to 5000Km target distance.

Agni 5 capable of traveling 5000+ Kms

has capability to attack multiple targets( called MIRV system) on ground, making anti-missile shields inadequate.
What is ICBM:

ICBM = Inter-Continental Ballistic Missile a range of missiles traveling a distance more than 3500 Km and attacking
specified Targets.

Ballistic missiles are those following a parabolic trajectory.

They mainly rely on using the gravitational force during their downward flight.

Cruise missiles on the other hand are guided throughout their travel path to attack targets effectively and accurately.

But ballistic missiles compact and less expensive.

Mars Mission:

India planning a mars mission similar to Curiosity mission of NASA, to be launched by November 2013.

Official announcement was made in Independence day speech of the PM.

Already sanction to the tune of Rs.125 crores has been made.

Technical details of this mission are still not revealed.

ISRO is in-charge of this mission.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
+++++
Cloud Computing: Meaning, Advantages, Disadvantages
What is Cloud Computing?
Situation 1

I am looking for a house. My first constraint, being a middle class man, obviously is money. The House owner here is
ready to give his house on rent to me. But demands more than my budget. And this is a house which can accommodate
more than 4 persons. Now we both came to a deal:

I shall share the house with 3 other persons.

44 S&T Mrunal

They shall share the rent.

Now the deal is both economical and efficient in the usage of the living space.
Situation 2

I want a cycle, I want it to be the latest, the best, but only for a month. Here came the cycle salesman. He gave me a fair
deal, a decently modern cycle which I can own for myself just for 1 month after which I have to give him back his cycle
with usage charge for his service.

These transactions are pretty common in our daily life. Do you understand these? Then you have understood CLOUD
COMPUTING only thing, replace the house and the cycle with hardware and software.

Definition of Cloud Computing

Cloud Computing provides the infrastructures (both software and hardware) as services on a semi permanent
(rented) basis

you dont add physical assets (server computers, Air conditioners, special IT staff to maintain those server rooms etc.)

instead you are provided with great flexibility and choice in your purchase is known as Cloud computing.

45 S&T Mrunal

Based on different computing resources, services include

Type

Purpose

Provider(Eg)

Infrastructure as a
service (IaaS)

Entire systems (virtual machines) will be provided to the users. Users can access
the systems through internetService providers charge based on the resource
allocated

Amazon

Platform as a service
(PaaS)

In this model entire system along with the operating systems, software is
provided.

Google App
Engine

Software as a service
(SaaS)

Storage as a service
(STaaS)

This one is more commonSoftware created by service provider.

Yahoo, Gmail
End users use these services on a subscription basis

Storage is provided getting rid of maintaining separate storage devices.

Windows
Skydrive

Pros and Cons of Cloud Computing

Pros

Cons

No responsibility of creation,
maintenance of systems.

Data security.

Need for high speed internet connection (Essentially a big

46 S&T Mrunal

Easy implementation and economical.

Flexibility in hardware and software

i.e., pay as you use.

Easy up-gradation to match current

technology.

Universal standardization required which makes

interoperability among providers difficult as of now.

Efficient usage of resources.

Dependent on service providers even for trivial applications.

Location independence i.e., accessible

from anywhere.

constraint for a country like ours).

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
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Genetically Modified Crops, Bt-Brinjal, Cartagena & Nagoya Protocol: Meaning, Issues
What are DNA and Gene?

Always a human gives birth to humans, and a baby is said to inherit his/her parents characters. This is made possible
only because of the so called genes. Genes are the books where all your personal, family characters are coded passed on
to you from your parents.

DNA is a polymer of nucleic acid specifically deoxyribonucleic acid which is in turn is comprised of sugar component
and nitrogenous base.there are 4 type of nitrogenous base that is adenine , guanine, cytosine and thiamine. It is the
sequence of theses nitogenous bases that determine our genetic charecter. [courtsey- Ritesh's comment]

DNA aids in protein synthesis.

Their expression gives you characters.

What do we need here?

Scientists have now mapped, analyzed these genes of various plants and animals. i.e., understood the ABC of gene
make up

Here now they are capable of manually rearranging these genes, inserting a part, deleting one changing the way one
behaves, like stunted coconut trees giving coconuts at your arms stretch.

Such organisms are called TRANSGENICS, transformed genetic make-up.

What is the necessity for GM technology?

Already a population of 7 billion and growing energetically.

3% increase in agri production needed to ensure food security to this population, while current growth rate is only 2%.

Stress on land resource already huge- use of insecticides, pesticides.

27% of worlds undernourished people proudly are Indians- Urgent need to feed those hungry mouths. Else National
shame will be the result- as our PM remarked on the HUNGAMA report.

To address above problems GM aids the development of specific traits in crops like:
1.

Herbicide resistance

47 S&T Mrunal
2.

Pest resistance

3.

Viral resistance

4.

slow-ripening

5.

Fungal and bacterial resistance

6.

Quality improvement (protein and oil)

7.

Value addition (Vitamins, micro-and macro-elements)

Ok then let us move quick into this akshayapaatra Hold on, every coin has one more side:

Biosafety first concern

Direct health effects (toxicity)

The stability of the inserted gene

Nutritional effect associated with genetic modification

Any unintended effects which could result from the gene Insertion.

Autonomy of farmers affected because the seeds of these tech crops are monopolized and are marketed by big private
firms. If he is unable/does not provide us the requisite seeds, we have a problem.

Genetic erosion of our local varieties.

Bt Brijnal
Current issue:

In India it all started with Bt cotton and Bt Brinjal, regarding control, regulation, marketing production, safety of such
crops.

Here the Bt refers to Bacillus thuringenesis soil bacterium from which the genes are introduced in to the native cotton
and brinjal varieties.

48 S&T Mrunal

The gene gave an expression in cotton which produced a protein in the cotton crop that was toxic to the boll worms and
stem borers (pests) i.e., pest resistant variety.

Now the issue with us already with many political parties, farmers complaining introduction such GM cotton,
Brinjal(stopped after initial intro) as the cause for increasing farmer suicides in Karnataka, Vidharbha region. High
input cost of seeds, genetic erosion of local varieties, farmers dependence on private seed cos are said to be the
reasons.

In this scenario our parliamentary committee on Agriculture has submitted a report on CULTIVATION OF GENETICALLY
MODIFIED FOOD CROPS PROSPECTS AND EFFECTS
Recommendations of the committee:

No GM food trials, till a stronger regulatory system is established.

Current regulation by GEAC (Genetic Engineering appraisal committee) flawed, GEAC under dept. of Biotech which
has one of its aims to spread modern biotech. One cannot regulate his own product is the reports view.

Farmers of cotton already under strain, new Bt cotton seeds are expensive, input costs high, yet farmers are left with
zero choice.

Strict labeling giving choice for consumers to know what they buy is must. Especially imported foods are now a
concern.
What is this GEAC:

Established under MoEF,

GEAC is the apex body to accord approval of activities involving large scale use of hazardous microorganisms and
recombinants in research and industrial production from the environmental angle.

GEAC is also responsible for granting approvals relating to release of genetically engineered organisms and products
into the environment including experimental field trials.

The GEAC also has the powers to prohibit, revoke, supervise and take punitive action in case of non-compliance,
furnishing of wrong information or in case of any damage to the environment.
Procedure to accord approval:

laboratory and greenhouse experiment,

open field trials for generation of biosafety data,
commercialization and market approval
Large scale production.
International conventions related to this:
The committee report passes references to all these conventions.
Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD)

CBD is a legally binding agreement adopted during Rio Earth Summit in 1992. India signed the CBD and ratified it.
USA is not a party to this Convention.

While reaffirming sovereign rights of nations over their natural resources, this Convention establishes three goals:
conservation of biological diversity, sustainable use of its components, and fair and equitable sharing of benefits
arising from the use of genetic resources.

49 S&T Mrunal

India is hosting CoP-11 to the CBD to be held in Hyderabad in October 2012, which is the year of 20th anniversary of
Rio Earth Summit is an added information.
Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety (CPB)

The CPB, the first international regulatory framework for safe transfer, handling and use of LMOs(living modified
organisms) signed on 2000. India has acceded to this Biosafety Protocol.

Difference between LMO and GMO is that GMO is a broader term including LMOs within it, all organisms live, dead
whose genes are modified are GMOs but LMO as the name suggests are living organisms which are genetically
modified.

The objective of the Protocol is to contribute to ensuring an adequate level of protection in the field of the safe transfer,
handling and use of LMOs resulting from modern biotechnology that may have adverse effects on the conservation and
sustainable use of biological diversity, taking also into account risks to human health, and specifically focusing on
trans-boundary movements.

As a Party to the Protocol, the first and foremost requirement is the setting up of a National Biosafety Regulatory
Framework India has introduced the national biosafety rules even before the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD)
was adopted at Rio de Janeiro in 1992.

Even though the text of the Protocol has been adopted, several critical issues such as risk assessment, liability and
redress, documentation and identification of LMOS for Food Feed and Processing etc., are still under discussion.
Nagoya Protocol on Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS)

The CoP-10 to the CBD held in Nagoya, Japan in October 2010 adopted the Nagoya Protocol on Access and Benefit
Sharing .India is a megadiverse country rich in biodiversity and associated traditional knowledge. Hence,
implementation of the ABS provisions of CBD is of special interest to us.

The objective of Nagoya Protocol is the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from utilization of genetic
resources. The Protocol establishes a clear framework on how researchers and companies can obtain access to genetic
resources and to associated traditional knowledge, and how benefits arising from the use of such material or
knowledge will be shared with locals.

The ABS Protocol is expected to address the concerns of biodiversity rich countries such as India relating to
misappropriation of genetic resources and associated traditional knowledge.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
+++++
Bio Fertilizers & Green Manure: Meaning, use, advantages, disadvantages
Biofertilizers

a substance which contains living microorganisms

when applied to seed, plant surfaces, or soil, it promotes growth by increasing the supply or availability of primary
nutrients (nitrogen, Phosphorous etc.) to the host plant.
Examples of BioFertilizers:

1.

Rhizobium,

2.

Azotobacter,

3.

blue green algae (BGA)

4.

Azospirillum

50 S&T Mrunal
Pros and Cons
Advantages

Disadvantages

1.

It increases crop yield by 20-30%,

2.

replaces chemical nitrogen and phosphorus by

25%, and stimulates plant growth.

3.

It can also provide protection against drought

and some soil-borne diseases.

4.

Bio-fertilizers are cost-effective relative to

chemical fertilizers. They have lower
manufacturing costs, especially regarding
nitrogen and phosphorus use.

5.

environmentally friendly also helps to some

extent cleanse the plant from precipitated
chemical fertilizers.

1.

Their effects are is slower compared to chemical

fertilizer.

2.

Difficulty to store: theyre sensitive to

temperature and humidity changes.

3.

much lower nutrient density requires large

amounts to get enough for most crops

4.

requires a different type of machine to apply

than chemical fertilizers

5.

sometimes hard to locate/purchase in faraway

rural areas

Green Manure

green manure is a type of cover crop grown primarily to add nutrients and organic matter to the soil.

Typically, a green manure crop is grown for a specific period of time, and then ploughed under and incorporated into
the soil while it is green or shortly after flowering.

Government of India provides subsidy Subsidy on the purchased of seeds & cost on production of seeds for green
manure plants.
Examples of Green Manure plants
Leguminous plants

Non-leguminous plants

Example

Cowpeas, soybeans

sudangrass, millet, sorghum, and

buckwheat.

Why are they used?

for their nitrogen fixing abilities

for weed suppression and addition of

biomass to the soil.

Pros and Cons of Green Manure?

Advantages
1.

soil improvement and soil protection.

2.

provides forage for pollinating insects.

3.

Root systems of many green manure crops to efficiently penetrate compact soils thus increasing the aeration of the
soil.

4.

The deep rooting properties of many green manure crops make them efficient at suppressing weeds

5.

They fix nitrogen in soil, thus Less chemical fertilizers are required.

51 S&T Mrunal
6.

provide habitat for predatory beneficial insects, they kill and eat the pests / harmful insects thus less pesticides are
required.
Disadvantage

1.

Leguminous plants require good amount of irrigation.

2.

The time factor: you cannot plant the primary marketable crop during green manuring phase.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
+++++
Mobile Tower Radiation and Steps taken by Government
What is Mobile tower radiation

Mobile phone towers hold antennas and other communications equipment.

They flood the area for miles around with powerful high frequency radio waves to support the use of cell phones.

This radiation allegedly causes health problem.

Im using the word allegedly because our Government said in parliament that mobile tower radiation doesnt cause
health problems.
Why is it in news?

Because an MP asked in parliament whether radiation emitted from base stations are hazardous?, the Government replied,

From all evidence accumulated so far, no adverse short or long term health effects have been shown to occur from the
RF signals produced by Mobile tower base stations.

But (just to be safe) well bring down the exposure limit of radio frequency fields (mobile tower base station emissions)
to one-tenth of the existing level from September 1, 2012.
Inter-Ministerial Committee (IMC) on EMF Radiation.

EMF=electromagnetic field. Government had setup this Committee in 2011 to study the hazards of Mobile radiation.
The Committees findings
1.

most of the laboratory studies were unable to find a direct link between exposure to radio frequency radiation from
mobile towers and health;

2.

scientific studies as yet have not been able to confirm a cause-and-effect relationship between radio frequency
radiation and health.

3.

The effect of emission from cell phone towers is not known yet with certainty.

4.

However, as a precautionary measure, the IMC recommended reduction of mobile tower base station emissions to onetenth of the present limit.

5.

It suggested stricter SAR limits (1.6 watt per kg) for mobile handsets.

6.

Indian Telegraph Act, 1885 should be amended so that only mobile handsets satisfying radiation standards (SAR)
should be permitted for import / manufacture or sold in the country.

52 S&T Mrunal
Timeline

200
8

DoT has decided to adopt the International Commission on Non-Iodizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP)* guidelines
in the telcom sector.

2010

Government sets up Interministerial Committee on Electric and Magnetic Field (EMF) radiation and its effects on
health.

2011

Committee submits report.

2012

DoT made rules to mandate to all mobile phone manufacturers to comply with the specific and absorption rate
(SAR)*.

ICNIRP guidelines
In short, they suggest that based on scientific research, if mobile radiation is below xyz level then there is no harm to humans or
animals. So all the Governments across the world should make laws and rules to keep mobile radiation below xyz level.
What is SAR?

specific and absorption rate

it is a measure of the amount of radio frequency energy absorbed by the human body while using a mobile phone) so
that radiation does not affect human health.

Presently, Indias SAR limit is 2 watt per kg

The Inter-ministerial Committee wants SAR to be 1.6 watts per kg. and that all the mobile manufacturers gives specific
information about SAR on their product packages.

This new SAR limit would not affect the mobile manufacturer because almost all of them already adhere to the US
standard.

However, itd increase the production cost for cheap mobile phone manufacturers (Chinese type) because theyll have
to use better quality material to comply to the new SAR limits.

By the way, if mobile radiation doesnt affect health then why is all the hue and cry by activists and PILs in Highcourts etc.? So,
How and why does Mobile Radiation affect humans?

Human body is itself is electromagnetic (very low around 10 hertz frequency).

Each of our cell has its own electromagnetic field when we exposed to the cellular tower frequency which is very high
our bodys EMF (electromagnetic field) disturbed and thus caused very serious types of damages to our cells, brains etc

human body consists of 70% liquid. It is similar to that of cooking in the microwave oven where the water in the
food content is heated first.

Microwave absorption effect is much more significant by the body parts which contain more fluid (water, blood,
etc.), like the brain which consists of about 90% water.
Animals and Mobile Radiation?

You have ever seen a bee, sparrow, pigeon, or any bird flying and staying near the cell tower?. I think No.

53 S&T Mrunal

The reason is surface area of a bird which is larger than human body, so they absorb more radiation.

Since fluid content is small due to less weight, it gets heated up very fast and also the magnetic field disturbs their
navigational skills.
Steps taken by Environment Ministry

The Ministry of Environment and Forest (MoEF) asked the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) :
1.

Not to allow new mobile towers to be constructed within a one-kilometer radius of the existing towers.

2.

New towers should not be permitted within a radius of one kilometer of the existing towers.

3.

Any new towers do not obstruct the flight path of birds, or increase the combined radiation of all towers in the area.

4.

Put in GIS mapping to help monitor the population of birds and bees or the welfare of animals in protected wildlife
areas.

5.

Do not install any towers near zoos or any wildlife protected zones without consulting Forest Dept.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
+++++
Blue Moon : Meaning and Occurrence
What is Blue Moon?

Blue moon is the second full moon in appearing in the same month.

By the way Blue Moon is just a term used to describe the second moon, otherwise, the date of a full moon, all by
itself, doesn't affect the moon's color.

So, second moon in the same month, will be pearly-gray, as usual and not of blue color.
Why Blue Moon?

The Moon is not actually blue.

However, greenish- and bluish-tinted Moons are sometimes observed just before sunrise or just after sunset when
large quantities of dust or smoke particles are concentrated high in the atmosphere, filtering out the longer
wavelengths of colours such as red and yellow.

Smoke from forest fires and volcano eruption can cause blue moons.
Why in news?

Because In the month of August 2012, The first full moon was seen on 2 nd August and second full moon was seen on
30th August 2012.

Next Blue Moon will be sighted in 2015.

On average, a blue moon occurs once every 33 months.

Bionic Eye
BIONIC EYE

54 S&T Mrunal
The implants are said to be capable of completely restoring sight to blind patients, but only if their blindness was caused by a
faulty retina, as in macular degeneration (suffered by millions of elderly people), diabetic retinopathy or any other degenerative
eye disease.
latest developments in Bionic Eye Implants
Argus II

Bio-Retina

roughly four-hour procedure

operation only takes about 30 minutes can be done under

local anesthesia.

Costing around $115,000

cost of about $60,000

involves the installation of an antenna behind the

affected eye that works in with a pair of cameraequipped glasses, which send signals to the antenna.
The antenna is wired into the retina which creates
display for the brain to interpret.

does not incorporate an external camera but

instead utilizes a vision-restoration sensor that is
actually placed inside the eye, on top of the
retina.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
+++++
The Hindu science & Tech (May-Aug 2012) for GS (Mains) 2 Markers
Dhiraj 101

groundnut variety that does not need much water. (UPSC has nasty habit of asking some rice/wheat variety every now
and then.)
Balwan Pyaj

Onion variety has a longer shelf life as compared to other commercial varieties.
Coniophis

A transitional snake

an intermediate form between lizards and the highly evolved snakes seen today

combining a snake-like body with a lizard-like head

Spin OLED

Spin organic light-emitting diode (OLED)

U.S. physicists have invented it.

It is brighter, cheaper and more eco-friendly LED light than those currently widely used in electronic devices.
Nano-crystalline cellulose (NCC)

anti-oxidant compound

55 S&T Mrunal

in the tree pulp

flexible, durable, and also stronger than steel.

help improve health and anti-aging products by neutralizing more of the harmful free-radicals found in the body
NASAs Cassini spacecraft

For studying Saturn and its moons.

CQD solar Cells

colloidal quantum dot (CQD) Solar cells.

Theyre Very cheap compared to regular solar cells.

Change

Name of lunar probe launch of China.

first in 2007

Change 2 in 2010

both named for the Chinese goddess of the moon.

Shenzhou-9

spacecraft became Chinas longest-ever space mission and was notable for including the nations first woman
astronaut.
CO-4 grass

variety of grass used to feed the milking animals in South India.

Dark circles around eyes

Why do we develop dark circles around our eyes when we have had insufficient sleep?

Skin under the eye lids is very thin and delicate. This makes it prone to show both dehydration and water-logging in an
exaggerated fashion. Sleeping less also usually implies overwork and poor eating. This results in a generalised
dehydration causing the thin under eye skin to go into a fine wrinkling pattern which gives the appearance of dark
circles under the eye.

On the other hand, it is common to have puffy eyes after a long bout of sleep. This can be explained by the fact that
when we lie flat the excess fluid that normally pools in the lower limbs gets distributed all over the body.
Dragon capsule

unmanned space capsule

developed by a private U.S. space company, Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX),

Itll dock with the International Space Station.

In future private companies will try take on the task of transporting humans and cargo to orbits around Earth.
Zero farming

56 S&T Mrunal

Zero farming method requires no ploughing, fertilizers or weeding.

It dispels the myth that hybrid seeds, fertilizers, and pest-control techniques alone can guarantee good yield.

Concept revolves around the theory that nature knows best and hence it is better to leave everything in her care.
Pearlspot farming

fish farming in captivity

requires minimum investment and harvesting is easy. Even small scale farmers and women can grow the fishes in the
backyard.
green rust

A rare kind of mineral

could be used to scrape toxic metals and radioactive species from the environment,
Kasalath

A rice variety origin in eastern States of India,

Growing rice in soil poor in phosphorus possible with this variety.

Telstar

was the first communications satellite, launched in 1962

2012 marks the half centuary of its launch.

OraQuick

Oral kit for HIV Test

It detects antibodies developed within 1-3 months after getting infected. It cannot pick up acute or recent infection.

in a stigmatised disease like HIV, getting people to test is the hardest part. This is due to lack of privacy and loss of
confidentiality and fear of visibility in public settings. So people desire private testing options.

The over-the-counter OraQuick test is a historic milestone because it is a step towards destigmatisation of HIV and
normalising an HIV diagnosis.
Truvada

oral pill to reduce HIV transmission

Type Ia supernova

important stellar phenomena, used to measure the expansion of the universe.

How mosquitoes fly in rain

mosquitos strong exoskeleton and low mass render it impervious to falling raindrops.
Can curd and yoghurt be called as probiotics?

57 S&T Mrunal

No. Curd and yoghurt cannot be called as true probiotics.

According to the 2001 definition of probiotics by FAO/WHO, it is important that for any strain/product to be classified
as a probiotic it must be or must contain live microorganisms (generally numbering one billion) which are resistant to
gastric acid, bile and pancreatic juices and reach the target site (small intestine/large intestine) in numbers sufficient
enough to elicit a beneficial effect. It should be scientifically validated through well controlled clinical trials.

Curd is defined as a product obtained by souring boiled or pasteurized milk naturally, by harmless lactic acid bacteria
or other bacterial cultures. It may contain a wide variety of bacteria, which are not defined qualitatively/quantitatively.
The number and type of bacteria also vary from home to home.

Yoghurt, on the other hand, is obtained by lactic acid fermentation of milk by Lactobacillus delbrueckii subspecies
bulgaricus and Streptococcus thermophillus, which are not true probiotics as per the definition.

The role of buttermilk in treating diarrhoea has not been scientifically proven. But it is given during diarrhoea to
rehydrate, and hence it imparts some benefit.
lactose intolerance

In this disease patients cannot digest lactose since they lack the enzymes that are needed to break down lactose, the
milk sugar.

In fermented products like curd and buttermilk, most of the lactose is converted to lactic acid/acetic acid by the
enzymes that are found in fermenting bacteria. Hence these products are easier to digest and used by those patients.
Isocyanic acid

Forest fires and emission of air pollutants, which include fumes from vehicles running on diesel and slow burning of
coal and charcoal, release toxic isocyanic acid in the troposphere.
Jimmy Wales

Wikipedia founder
Kinesio tape

a strong elasticated tape, was developed more than 30 years ago by a Japanese chiropractor.

Popular among atheltes.

Kinesio tape can stretch and contract, inhibiting damaging movements but allowing the right kind.

Runners can continue to train even when they have a problem.

Naper Bajra grass

also called as NB CO-4 hybrid or Emperor grass.

This grass can be grown in most soil types,

can supply raw material to run one 10 MW biomass electric power mill, continuously, all through the year without
break
Chromosphere

area of the suns low atmosphere

constantly changing magnetic fields

58 S&T Mrunal
NuSTAR

NASAs Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array

to see the highest energy X-rays in our universe, in future help in the hunt for black holes.
Probiotics

microorganisms that exhibit beneficial health effects for hosts when a sufficient amount of them are ingested.

probiotics can shorten the duration of diarrhoea by half-a-day

Probiotics are generally beneficial in treatment and prevention of gastrointestinal disease.

Red tide

a tiny aquatic organism in harmful algal blooms.When the algae are present in high concentrations, the water appears
to be discolored or murky, varying in color from purple to almost pink.

They deplete the dissolved oxygen from water and release toxin substances thus killing the marine and coastal species
of fish, birds, marine mammals, and other organisms.
Refrigerated onions

How does refrigerating onions prevent them from causing tears in our eyes when chopped?

When you cut the onion, enzymes start mixing and produce a volatile sulphur compound that starts wafting towards
your eyes.

The gas that is emitted reacts with the water of your eyes and forms sulphuric acid. The sulphuric acid thus produced
causes burning sensation in your eyes and this in turn leads to the tear glands secreting more tears.

Thus you end up with watery eyes every time you cut onions at home.

When you chill an onion, either in the refrigerator or in a bowl of cold water, the enzymes in the onion slow down at a
molecular level.

This means that when you cut into a cold onion, the slow-moving enzymes and sulphur molecules have less
momentum when they combine to make the irritating sulphurous molecules.

They also move much more slowly as they escape the onion walls and often will not reach your eyes or nose. This
simple tactic can greatly reduce or eliminate an onions ability to make you cry.
Curiosity

NASAs program on Mars exploration

Launched in 2011

test the soil samples to see if there are signs of life in the history of Mars.

determine Mars geological conditions and changes, and if there are any microorganisms present on the planet.

Curiosity will test the Mars soil only with its own equipment after it lands on the planet in August 2012

but future missions will bring samples back to Earth for more study,

Curiosity will help pave the way for future manned Mars missions

59 S&T Mrunal

Curiosity also will take video images for the first time and send them back to Earth

The rover also will be the first to use nuclear power

will enable Curiosity to operate for at least a full Mars year (687 Earth days, or 1.9 Earth years).

will travel almost 352 million miles (567 million km) to reach Mars
Science Express

a train for promoting scientific temper

began its fifth journey, this time to raise awareness about the countrys unique biodiversity

The Science Express Biodiversity Special (SEBS)

Solar storms

Solar storms occur when the sun hurls large clouds of electrically charged particles into space and these strike the
earth. The solar cycle takes around 11 years to complete.

can overload electricity networks causing breakdowns, cause satellites to fail, and endanger astronauts and people in
aircraft

A solar storm in mid-March 1989 did in fact disrupt power supplies to millions of Canadians for several hours and cut
contact with around 1,600 satellites.

Since then many electricity networks have improved their equipment, but preparations need to be made, not only for
events similar to those in the past, but also for the extreme events that might arise only once in a thousand years.

the cycle will rise in strength to a peak in 2013.

tropical enteropathy.

This is a condition which affects the intestines (hence entero-) by killing or disabling the villi and microvilli covering
the surface of the small intestine, and helping the absorption of the digested food into the blood and lymphatic
systems.

It also leads to inflammation and mal-absorption. The benefits of whatever the child eats are not being transferred and
utilised in the system for growth and development.

And the cause of tropical enteropathy is infection by the bacteria found in faeces. Children (and adults) living in
conditions of poor sanitation are affected in great measure by such faecal bacterial infection leading to enteropathy.
Nirmal Rajya

Sikkim Is Indias the first Nirmal Rajya 100 per cent open defecation-free state.

over 626 million Indians do not have access to toilets, Government has initiated the Nirmal Bharat Abhiyan (NBA) or
Total Sanitation Campaign, which would attempt to banish open defecation within a decade.
Mt Tongariro

Volcanic Mountain in New Zealand, recently eruptions were felt.

Food Irradiation

useful process employed in preservation of food, control of sprouting of items such as potato and onion and control of
food-borne diseases.

60 S&T Mrunal

Irradiation destroys or inactivates organisms that cause spoilage thereby extending shelf life of certain foods.

One of the reasons for the unpopularity of food irradiation is the mistaken notion that irradiated food is radioactive.

These radiations do not have sufficient energy to make food radioactive.

No radioactivity is produced or released during the process.

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VitaVallis, Trap Crops, GRAIL, Nexus-7 and E-cigarettes (2 markers for GS Mains)
GRAIL

Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory (GRAIL) is an American lunar science mission in

Why? to study the gravity field and geological structure of the Moon and determine its interior structure.
Trap Crop

A trap crop is a plant that attracts agricultural pests, usually insects, away from nearby main crops.

For example, a few Mustard plants are grown near near strawberries to attract bugs and thus protecting the main crop
(strawberries).

Similarly, Marigold can be used asa a trap crop in potato farming.

It results into more profits for the farmers, due to reduced insecticide use and pest attack.
VitaVallis

It is a nano-dressing for applying on wounds.

Created by Russian scientists

It helps clean up wounds of all known types of toxic bacteria.

It does not get stuck to the wound and heals burns, cuts and any septic and infected wounds two to three times faster
than traditional methods do.

The dressing stops bleeding, ends inflammation, eliminates swellings and stimulates skin regeneration. It also helps
kill pain and remove foul wound odour.

it contains no antibiotics and is therefore effective against drug-resistant bacteria

E-cigarettes

Electronic cigarettes are devices that deliver nicotine through a vapour, rather than smoke. There is no combustion
involved but the nicotine in the device is still derived from tobacco.

It used by smokers trying to quit the lethal habit of smoking can actually cause lung damage
Nexus-7

61 S&T Mrunal

Tablet PC from google.

Made in partnership with hardware maker Asus.

Contains Jelly Bean version of Google's operating system (OS)

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Nirbhay, NAG, NAMICA, Helina, LAHAT, Tropex-2012, RISAT, SPOT-6, Project, Glass and Glivec
Nirbhay

sub-sonic cruise missile

Nirbhay is Indias equivalent of Tomahawk, a long-range, sub-sonic cruise missile, developed by the U.S.

developed by Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO)

will travel at a sub-sonic speed (less than the speed of sound).

NAG

fire and forget anti-tank missile.

can destroy enemy tanks four km away

NAMICA

Nag Missile Carrier

It is a vehicle to carry and launch NAG missles.

NAMICA
Helina

the helicopter-fired version of Nag.

62 S&T Mrunal

Helina =Helicopter + Nag

LAHAT

Laser Homing Attack or Laser Homing Anti-Tank missile

anti-tank missile, will be used in the upgraded Arjun battle tanks.

Tropex-2012

theatre-level readiness and operational exercise

conducted by the Indian Navy

To test new platforms, weapons sensors, communication systems and tactics in order to optimise the network combat
power of the fleet.

Do you recall JIMEX? If not go to www.mrunal.org/diplomacy

Shoor Veer

Combat exercise in the Thar Desert in 2012

To test Armys operational readiness to undertake swift multiple thrusts across the border.

Army and IAF tested new battle fighting concepts with real time pictures of the battle zone provided to a centralized
command using fighter jets, unmanned aerial vehicles and attack helicopters
National Large Solar Telescope (NLST)

worlds largest solar telescope

set up by the Department of Science and Technology, in Ladakh.

aims to study the suns microscopic structure

RISAT 1

RISAT 1 is Indias first radar imaging satellite

It can scan the earth surface during both day and night under all weather condition.

It will help in paddy monitoring and management of natural disaster like flood and cyclone.
ISROs 100th mission

Using PSLV-C21 rocket, ISRO launched two foreign satellites

SPOT 6: French satellite

Proiteres: Japanese micro satellite

From Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh

Project Glass

63 S&T Mrunal

a research and development program by Google.

resembles a pair of normal eyeglasses where the lens is replaced by a heads-up display.

Project Glass is a wearable computer that provides information not through a screen, but rather through your
eyes.

It gives you data about your surroundings without the need to whip out your smartphone and know what to
search.

For example, if you go into a bookstore, Google Glass will be able to provide you with an indoor map of the place,
and lead you to your desired book.

Glivec

blood cancer drug

Novartis is fighting a patent case in India for this drug.

Treatment of Glivec costs Rs.1,20,000 per month per patient. But Novartis maintains they give it free of cost to the
needy patients.

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+++++
Answerkey to Mock Q GS II by Tushar (Science & Tech Portion only)
Modified Embaraer EMB 145I aircraft.

It is a result of Indias long standing quest to have full functional Airborne Early Warning and Control System
(AEWCS).

Embaraer EMB 145 are the aircrafts provided by Brazil onto which the AEWCS is being fitted.

AEWCS has been totally designed by DRDO CABS (Center for Airborne System) facilities at Bangalore.

Its primary missions include airspace management, fighter positioning and intercept control, signals intelligence, and
support for maritime, borders, and Exclusive Economic Zones surveillance and security.

With this, very soon India will be in the group of nations which have their own operational AEWCS.
Accelerated Technology Assessment and Commercialization (ATAC)

Under this program, three organizations have came together

1.

Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO),

2.

BASIX a Social Enterprise Group,

3.

Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FICCI)

to collaborate on long term basis to develop and execute viable and scalable models for commercialization of the technologies
developed by DRDO with the specific intent of developing and enhancing livelihoods.
Project Ahaar / BASIX-AAHAR

64 S&T Mrunal

Recently they (^FCCI_DRDO) have launched a project called Aahaar.

Aahaar is a hygienic, nutritious and convenient meal that tastes fresh yet has longer shelf life, that is tasty yet quick to
serve.

Roti has a shelf life of 15 days and the two variants of dal have a shelf life of 12 months.
HuGaMMA Report.

Hunger and Malnutrition Report (Refer Economic Survey 2012)

MCA-21
It is e-governance project of Ministry of Corporate affairs through which all corporate related services are being provided on the
online platform with a liberal procedures.
London Declaration on Neglected Tropical Diseases. (NTD)

The main problem associated with the NTDs is, NTDs are mostly confined to the Asian and African countries out of
which most of them are least developed. Health burden because of the NTDs is tremendous.

WHO has designed a target to eliminate the most of the NTDs by 2020.

London Declaration of 2012 is a mile stone in this endeavor.

First time, many big Pharma companies and NGOs have come together and made a commitment to raise the required
resources to eradicate at least 10 deadliest diseases by end of the decade.
Sevottam Model.

This is the initiative of the government towards the Citizen Centric Adminsitration and providing the quality services
to the Citizens.

It includes ISO certification of the service provider, Citizen Charters, E-governance, effective implementation of the
RTI to enhance accountability.
OVR SagarNidhi

Sagar Nidhi a state of art ice-class research vessel can accommodate 30 scientists with endurance of 45 days.

This is an Ice-class research vessel adopted with Dynamic Positioning System will keep its position stable, which is
required for oceanographic research.

It has a huge deck area for deploying ROV/Manned submersibles/ Tsunami monitoring system
Mobile Based Crime and incident reporting platform (MCIRP)

MCIRP is funded by the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (DSIR) and is exclusive to NIA for tackling
crimes and prevent acts of terrorism.

This is a step towards the utilization of mobile technology to curb the criminal activities. This has been launched in
July 2012.
Low Temperature Thermal Desalination (LTTD)

65 S&T Mrunal

Developed by National institute of Ocean Technology.

One of the key research area of this institute is the conversion of the sea water into regular domestic usable water.

There are variety of desalination process, one of them is a specific process called LTTD. The concept of the variation in
the ocean water temperature with an increase in depth is used in the Low Temperature Thermal Desalination (LTTD)
to flash evaporate the warm water at low pressure and condense the resulting vapour with the deep sea cold water.
Starting from a small laboratory based 5m3/day capacity scale model, the group has successfully commissioned one
100m3/day capacity land based plant at Kavaratti and one 1000m3/day capacity floating barge based desalination
plant off the coast of Chennai.
ASTROSAT and its instrumentation.

ASTROSAT will be a multi-wavelength astronomy mission on an IRS-class satellite in a 650-km, near-equatorial orbit.

It is currently scheduled to be launched by the Indian launch vehicle PSLV from the Sriharikota launch centre in 2012.

The expected operating life time of the satellite will be five years. There were five payloads on the launching vehicle.
Bio Toilet

66 S&T Mrunal

Designed by DRDO and especially bacteria used.

It is invisible to the naked eye and originated in the uninhabitable climes of Antarctica. This humble bacteria known
as Psychrophile holds the potential to solve Indias sanitation problem in the years to come.

The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) is using these bacteria for the bio-digester technology it
developed for disposal of human waste in an eco-friendly manner.

DRDO has already tied up with the Indian Railways for bio-toilets on trains.
The Defense Institute of High Altitude Research (DIHAR)

It aims to invent new varieties of vegetables and fruits that can be grown in high altitudes and in cold deserts such as
Ladakh.

Year 2012 is mile stone in their endeavor. DIHAR has entered the Limca Book of Records for making possible the
production of 78 varieties of vegetables at the frigid heights of Ladakh.
Reservetrol

Reservetrol is a natural compound found in many of the food articles like red grapes and red wine. Recent studies have proved
that it is very helpful to prevent cancer cell growth, the CVDs and diabetes. It has also proved as life span enhancer for some of
the organisms.
In Vitro meat.

It is lab grown meat with the help of tissue.

A particular part of the animal is being developed in the lab and then it can be used for human consumption.

This invention holds a key for future food security. Apart from this, during long voyages in the space as well.
Difference between 3G and LTE mobile technology.

3G and LTE are the mobile network technology characterized by their speed and method of data transfer. As per UN
Telecom Union the data transfer rate for 3G is 2Mbps in stationary and 384 kbps in mobility.

Similarly for LTE (4G) is 1Gbps and 100Mbps respectively.

67 S&T Mrunal

However, the stark difference between two is, 3G uses the switching between data and calling functions whereas
LTE/4G is totally based on Data i.e even calling is also performed over data transfer. Therefore mobile handset
requirements are totally different for both.

Generation

Definition

Speed

Technologies

1G

Analog

14.4 Kbps

AMPs, WMT,TACS

2G

Digital Cellular

14.4 Kbps

TDMA, GSM, CDMA

2.5G

Packet data on 2G

20-40 Kbps

GPRS

3G

Digital Broadband packet data

Max 3.1 Mbps, 500-700 Kbps (avg)

CDMA EVDO, UMTS, EDGE

3.5G

High Speed Packet Access

Max 14.4 Mbps, 1.3 Mbps (avg)

HSPA

4G

Digital Broadband (All IP)

100-300 Mbps (Max), 3.6 Mbps (Avg)

WiMax, LTE, WiFi

Difference between the CMOS and CCD image sensors.

Both are used in cameras.

CMOS

CCD

Complemenary metal oxide semiconductor

Charge Couple Devic

compact in size, require less power and find application

in many compact digital cameras and mobile phones. It
captures the image in the form of pixels of different
colors. Therefore, pixel size is important for image
quality

While capturing the image it converts the data into

analog electrical charges therefore the quality of the
image is preserved.

Nowadays combination of both the technologies is used in professional cameras.

Tandem Solar Cell and its advantages.

The basic problem with Solar cells is, they have very less energy conversion efficiency (less than 10%). This is because;
solar cell responses to a particular band of the wavelength in the Solar radiation.

Tandem solar cell uses a different combination of solar cells to capture all radiation within the solar radiation. As a
result it gives higher conversion efficiency.

At present Tandem solar cell has achieved 10.6% of efficiency which has been certified by US dept of National
Renewable Energy Laboratory. (I dont know the year)
Gratzel Solar cell and its characteristics.

Again the same problem of efficiency has been addressed here.

This invention has got Millenium Technology Prize in 2010 for achieving highest efficiency ever of above 10%.

This has been invented by a Chinese scientist MickelGratzel. Speaking of about its characteristics.

It harvests the solar energy by virtue of color.It is called as die sensitized solar cells.

The concept was inspired from the wings of the butterfly.

Nuclear Powered Crops.

68 S&T Mrunal
These are genetically modified crops. The only difference is that the genetic modification is performed by the Particle
Accelerometer like CERN. ( I dont remember the news that came in somewhere in April/June)
Hydroponics and its potential advantages.

This is modern agricultural practice in which instead of soil, water with all required nutrients is used to grow plants.
This can be termed as a clean practice.

The potential advantages can be find in the urban areas where there is scarcity of land.

There people can grow fruits and vegetables in the buildings. (There was a big article in one of the YOJANA)
Curiosity rover

Much touted news of recent time. Everybody knows.

TARAs expedition
TARA was the group of scientist, an NGO, based in France, later absorbed in UN.
This group of scientists voyage across all seas around the globe and study about the planktons.
They have enumerated various types of phytoplankton and studied their role in the marine ecology.
(There was a good coverage in National Geo Magazine in March/April. The question in the prelims on plankton was inspired
from this.)
Saturated Fats
Saturated fats are of concern because it responsible for Cardiovascular Diseases in Humans. Therefore, the edible oil should
have relatively less content of saturated fat. For example. Ground Nut Oil (18%), Safflor Oil (Safola-10%), Coconut Oil (90%),
Butter (60%). So butter is ok but dont even touch the Coconut oil.
Pebble Reactor.

It is nuclear reactor of the 4th generation in which nuclear fuel is embedded in the metal pebbles of tennis ball size.

And the balls/pebbles are feed in the reactor through funnel shape channel.

This methodology has many advantages such as easy loading and replacing of the pebbles, easy maintenance, easy
removal of the all nuclear material which takes time in the reactors where nuclear rods are uses.

Presently the test reactors are operational in Germany, China, S Korea.

Generations of the Nuclear Reactors.

Please refer this image.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4e/GenIVRoadmap.jpg
Trophy Molecules

It is a big breakthrough in nuclear technology.

It is a step towards the design of safer 4 th generation nuclear reactors.

Trophy molecule is referred to Uranium Nitrate which is used as nuclear fuel as it has higher fissionable density and it
is more stable.

The only problem is storage. Previously it required about -250 oC to store it.

69 S&T Mrunal

The recent breakthrough by the scientists of Nottingham University has solved the problem.

They have invented a formulation of chemical such that now Uranium Nitrate can be stored at room temperate.
Leap second and Y2K bug

Leap second is a one second adjustment that occasionally needs to be done to be synchronous with the mean solar
time.

The recent adjustment has been done on June 30, 2012. As a result, in many software programs there was an
occurrence of the error. The error is called as Year 2000 problem /Y2K Bug in the IT parlance.
Colony Collapse Disorder and its implications.

In many parts of the Globe it has been observed that the hives of the honey bees are disappears suddenly.

This is called as Colony Collapse Disorder.

There is suspicion that the global climate change is responsible for this disorder. Recently under ministry of the
Agriculture, the scientist has proved by field trials that the electromagnetic waves emanating from the mobile towers
are responsible for this. It is serious phenomenon because it isdirectly affecting the agricultural production and
ultimately the food security in many parts of the world.
GHBs function in human brain

GHB -full form is complicated-forget it!

It is a substance found in Human nervous system, also in beef, wine, and some alcohols and in small quantities in
almost all animals.

The salt of this substance is used as illegal steroid.

It is almost tasteless and odorless and can be easily mixed in drinks. In many countries it is illegal.

In many cases of Rapes and sexual assaults in US recently, the extensive use of GHB has been observed.

Moreover, when consumed, traces of the GHB cannot be found after few hours. Therefore it is difficult to detect as well.
In common parlance in US, it is called as Date Rape Drug. This is also on the radar of WADA.
Date rape drug.

Refer GHB note given above.

Foot and Mouth Diseases (FMDs) Vaccine

One of the most economically devastating diseases in the world for those who raise cows, sheep, pigs, goats, deer and
other cloven-hoofed animals is foot and mouth Disease (FMD).This incredibly contagious and fast-spreading disease
causes fever, blisters on the feet and mouth (hence the name), loss of appetite, drooling, and lameness.

There are three problems associated the traditional vaccine on FMD.

One- There are many strains of FMD and because of this there is no unique vaccine applicable.

Second- Vaccine itself contains the FMD virus and it cannot be produce everywhere in the world.

Third- even after giving vaccine confusion occurs that weather it is infection or administered by vaccine.
Markhor

70 S&T Mrunal

Markhor is a goat species mainly found in the Central Asia, Palistan, Afghanistan region. It is national animal of
Pakistan.

The number of this goat was significantly low during 1990s. There were around only 2500 as reported by IUCN.

It has been labeled as Endangered. Recently the number has increased as a result of the efforts of WCS ( The Wildlife
Conservation Society). It includes the creation of the Community based conservation committees.

These committees have worked together to enforce local and global laws which has reduced the illegal hunting. At
present there are 53 such committees are working in Pakistan.
Gnathiid isopods and coral bleaching.

There have been reports of continuous deterioration of the health of coral reefs in the many seas around the world.

Because of pollution and climate change, appearance of the coral reefs is changing to complete white and it ultimately
reducing their photosynthesis capacity.

This is affecting the ecosystem of the seas. It is called as coral bleaching.

The scientist of NSF has found out one of the reasons behind this phenomenon in the Caribbean Sea. They have found
new parasitic species which they have named as Gnathid isopods.

These are blood sucking species are primarily responsible for the coral bleaching.
Transient Elastography

It is non-invasive method to test the human organs like liver, kidneys. In this method, vibrations are applied to the
body directed toward the target organ.

The response of the returning vibration gives the details of the organ such as its stiffness. This can be compared with
the healthy response.
Adulterated milk: testing problem

Technically protein is defined as 60% of nitrogen. Accordingly all milk-tests have been evolved to detect the protein
content in the given samples.

However, the protein may be derived from animal or synthetic bases. Example 400 gms water with 600 gms of urea,
technically the mixture can be termed as 1 kg of protein.

71 S&T Mrunal

Therefore there are some manual testing methods are required to detect the adulterated milk.
NASAs Kepler Mission

Kepler mission is designed to find the earth like objects in the universe which are revolving around the sun like star. Recently
Kepler has confirmed earth like object which it has named Kepler 22b.
Ballast water management convention (BWM convention).

Ballast water is the water pumped from the sea in the ship for the balancing purpose. Along with the water many local
species pumped into the ship .e.g. small fishes, planktons, shrimps, crabs.

These species are getting introduced to new habitat when such the ballast water is released. In the new habitats such
species are evasive and causes the biodiversity loss.

To address this issue IMO (International Maritime Organization) enacted BMW convention in 2004.

According to the convention a ship has to release the Ballast water above 200 miles from the maritime boundary of the
destination.
What is Dirty fishing?

Deep sea trawls have been used for mass scale fishing.

Along with it many unwanted species come in. Such unwanted species are again thrown into sea. Sometimes, the scale
such species are very high and thrown after long time after catching.

This practice causes the biodiversity loss, therefore it is called as Dirty Fishing
Environmental side effects of the Deep Sea Trawling.

Deep sea trawls uses a big net which it dropped into deep sea for fish catching. Heavy steel gates attached to such nets.

Each gate weighs about 500kgs. When a ship pulls such heavy nets, it rubs the ground of sea which unearths coral reefs
and many deep sea plants which are important for ecology of deep sea.

In this way deep sea fishing is causing environmental hazard.

Deep sea Trawl: advantages

It was developed by the Central Institute of Fisheries Technology (CIFT)

As Indian fishing industry is shrimp centered Indian trawls does not need the bottom trawls.

Bottom trawls unearths the coral reefs and causes harm to environment.

The trawl developed by CIFT is semi-palagic (confined to upper levels in the sea).

This trawl is not causing harm to the coral reefs with lower levels of unwanted catch.
Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs)

Year 2012 witnessed numerous high intensity CMEs. CMEs are the massive bursts occurring onto the surface of the
Sun.

It causes the Magnetic solar winds ejections in the space. It also reached to the earth causes the disturbances in the
magnetosphere. It also affects various communication satellites in the orbits of the earth.
How nitrous fertilizers contributes to the Global Warming?

72 S&T Mrunal

Nitrous oxide is one of the major gases contributing to human-induced climate change; it has a lifetime in the
atmosphere of more than 100 years.

In addition, a molecule of nitrous oxide has more than 300 times the heat-trapping effect in the atmosphere as a
molecule of carbon dioxide.
Uncany Valley in the Robotic Science.

It is hypothesis which concludes that human acceptance towards the humanoid robots as they becomes more intelligent will
drop significantly at particular point when human will become intolerant to the excessive intelligence possess by robots.
Greenpeace Report on Bt-Brinjal.

This news came on 30 April. The question of prelims could have been inspired by this news. It has concluded that
spread of the GE Bt gene would have considerable ecological implications, as well as implications for future crop
contamination and farmers rights.

Importantly, the spread of the GE Bt gene could result in the brinjal becoming an aggressive and problematic weed.

This may affect the non target organisms and butterflies.

Deep sea challenger.

73 S&T Mrunal

Is a 7.3 metres (24 ft) deep-diving submersible designed to reach the bottom of Challenger Deep, the deepest known
point on Earth.

On March 26, 2012 (11 kms in Marina trench) , Canadian film director James Cameron piloted the craft to accomplish
this goal, becoming the first person to reach Challenger Deep in a one-man craft.

Built in Australia by the research and design company Acheron Project Pty Ltd, the Deepsea Challenger includes
scientific sampling equipment and high-definition 3-D cameras, and reached the oceans deepest point after roughly
two hours of descent from the surface.
Solar Impulse.

74 S&T Mrunal

Solar Impulse
Solar powered aircraft designed in Switzerland. On 5 th June 2012 it has made a history by completing the first ever successful
transcontinental flight from Madrid (Spain) to Rabat (Morocco) through straight of Gibraltar. It was a 19 hrs journey.
Flame and Stuxnet.
These are male ware programs designed for the cyber espionage purposes which are being detected by the Russian Antivirus
Software company (Kaspersky lab). It is believed that the two maleware programs had been developed to spy the data of the
centrifuges which are operational in the Nuclear research facilities in Iran.
Karspersky Lab.
Refer Flame and Stuxnet.
Sector33- an iOS application from NASA.
This is an Apple application developed by NASA which is intended to teach aircraft flying skills to students including the
signaling and other necessary skills.
Voager1 and Voager2
These are the oldest unmanned space crafts launched by NASA under aegis of Voager Mission in 1970. In 2012 these space craft
have moved out of our own galaxy (Milky way) and still communicating with the earth.
A*star institute of technology.
It is the leading institute for electronics research situated in Singapore. Inventions such are AMOLED, SPIN LEDs, hardware
related researched had emanated from this institute.
Googles X Lab

75 S&T Mrunal

We discussed this project in previous Science-Tech article. Go to mrunal.org/snt

It is a research organization, one of the units run by Google. It is associated with the landmark innovative projects such
as Self driving cars technology, augmented reality glasses.

Recently it was in news because of the new successful neural network project. There Google scientists created one of
the largest neural networks for machine learning by connecting 16,000 computer processors, which they turned loose
on the Internet to learn on its own.
Superblooms/North Atlantic Blooms

It is also known as North Atlantic Blooms.It is an immense number of phytoplankton burst into existence, first
greening, then whitening the sea as one or more species take the place of others.

There have been various predictions for its triggering. Previously it was concluded that intense sunlight is causing the
burst of the bloom. Recently it has been revealed that the whirls of oceans are responsible for its triggering.

Springtime blooms of microscopic plants in the ocean absorb enormous quantities of carbon dioxide.

Therefore the study of the phenomenon has become important to understand global carbon cycle.
Ug99

The stem, black or cereal rusts are caused by the fungus and are a significant disease affecting cereal crops. Crop
species which are affected by the disease include bread wheat, durum wheat, barley and triticale

An epidemic of stem rust on wheat caused by race Ug99 is currently spreading across Africa, Asia and the Middle East
and is causing major concern due to the large numbers of people dependent on wheat for sustenance.

The strain was named after the country where it was identified (Uganda) and the year of its discovery (1999

Scientists are working on breeding strains of wheat that are resistant to UG99. However, wheat is grown in a broad
range of environments.

This means that breeding programs would have extensive work

N-u star telescope.

76 S&T Mrunal

NuSTAR (the Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array) is a space-based X-ray telescope that uses a Wolter telescope to
focus high energy X-rays from astrophysical sources, especially for nuclear spectroscopy, and operates in the range of 5
to 80 keV.

This is the first space-based direct-imaging X-ray telescope at energies beyond those of the Chandra X-ray Observatory
and XMM-Newton.

The launch was successfully conducted in June 2012.

Coral Bleaching.

77 S&T Mrunal
Refer Gnathid isopod.
White Nose Syndrome.

White-nose syndrome (WNS) is a poorly understood disease associated with the deaths of at least 5.7 million to 6.7
million North American bats.

The condition, named for a distinctive fungal growth around the muzzles and on the wings of hibernating bats, was
first identified in a cave in Schoharie County, New York, USA, in February 2006.
RightingBot

A lizard-inspired robot, called RightingBot, replicates the feat and its motion. If I remember correctly it called as Zoobotics.
Human Connectome Project

The research effort called the Human Connectome Project is seeking to explore, define, and map the functional
connections of the human brain.

The Human Connectome Project seeks to map the complete, point-to-point spatial connectivity of neural pathways in
the brain.
North Atlantic Bloom

Refer Superblooms
Foundation B612 (Near earth Objects)

It is a well known fact that there are asteroids in the space which are threat to life onto the earth. NASA itself has
identified such 1500 dangerous asteroids which it termed as NEO (Near Earth Object).

Therefore, it has become important to keep eye on such dangerous NEOs. Interestingly, the US based NGO has come
up with the mission that it is wanted to launch its own satellite for the same purpose.

The NGO name is Foundation B612.

Lab on Chip

A lab-on-a-chip (LOC) is a device that integrates one or several laboratory functions on a single chip of only
millimeters to a few square centimeters in size.

LOCs deal with the handling of extremely small fluid volumes down to less than pico liters. The target is to analyze the
blood samples so that quick diagnosis can be done. The target cost of the credit card size analyzer is 1 USD.
SeaFox-underwater drone.

These are the underwater drone designed by the US on the similar lines of Predator Drones. It is believed that it is part of the
future possible war strategies against Iran.
Soyuz Rocket
Russian made Soyuz Rocket launched in July 2012 from Kazakhstan which carried three men into the space. This was targeted
to dock at International Space Station.
IPv6

This is new Internet Protocol number system which is in the process of the implementation as the present IP numbers
available are running short. Present number system is IPv4.

As the number of computers, smartphones and tablets etc are increasing, IPv6 can cater the need. The IP numbers can
go up to 340 million million million with IPv6 which are practically impossible to be consumed.

78 S&T Mrunal

please see this comic to understand more: CLICK ME

Aerostat Balloon at Florida Naval Air Station.

It is a white 117-foot-long surveillance balloon called an aerostat by the military of America. It is specially designed for
surveillance in Afghanistan region.
IRVE-3 by NASA

Inflatable Reentry Vehicle Experiment (IRVE-3) team that is working to develop an inflatable heat shield.

The technology could be used to protect spacecraft when entering a planets atmosphere or returning here to Earth.
Fire Fly Cubesat satellite by NASA.

It is a small satellite designed by NASA aimed to capture the details of the lightening that happens in deep space.

The satellite is also called as Firefly which will be launched in the year of 2013. Firefly is designed to help solve the
mystery of a phenomenon thats linked with lightning: terrestrial gamma rays, or TGFs.

Bursts of gamma rays usually occur far out in space, near black holes and other high-energy cosmic phenomena.

Scientists were surprised when, in the mid-1990s, they found powerful gamma-ray flashes happening in the skies over
Earth.
National Year of Mathematics

India has declared 2012 as National Year of Mathematics as tribute to Srinivasa Ramanujan, an enigmatic maths maverick
who despite dying aged just 32 had already achieved enough to still be spoken of alongside Isaac Newton, Euclid and
Archemedes.
US Antarctic Blue Ribbon Panel.

The Antarctica Blue Ribbon Panel encourages us to take a hard look at how we support Antarctic science.

Recently it has made numerous recommendations to the US government that will augment the research activities in
Antactica.
Spin Organic LED

The new LED, known as spin-polarized organic LED or spin OLED, stores information in the electrons spin and the
electrical charges.

Apart from it as it is organic based it is eco friendly. In future it will reduce the burden of e-waste.

79 S&T Mrunal
High Resolution Coronal imager (Hi-C) telescope.

This is the telescope launched by NASA in June 2012 which will take sharper image of the Suns corona. In recent
times, the CMEs have been intensified and scientists are looking forward the detail images of the suns surface for
analysis.

The telescope focused on a large active region on the sun with some images revealing the dynamic structure of the solar
atmosphere in fine detail. These images were taken in the extreme ultraviolet wavelength.

This higher energy wavelength of light is optimal for viewing the hot solar corona.
Cluster beans (Guar) Gum and its industrial applications.

Recently, the commodity trading of the Guar is being aborted. (July-Aug2012). India is largest producer of the Guar
and exported as well.

The powdered Guar is used to create Gels which are useful in Ice-cream making. Another one, the oil of the Cluster
bean is useful for bearing lubrication.

It has special characteristics which automatically heals the corrosion in the bearings.
AirBus A350

This is the aircraft designed by the Airbus which has carbon fiber wings. The first test flight was conducted in April 2012 and
soon in coming years it will commercially launched.
Radio Tracking of Animals: 3 types
(This one contributed by Shobhit Awasthi)

VHF radio tracking

(Very High Frequency
Tracking )

Usually Radio transmitter are placed in the collar of animal and then scientists collect
information about their health. Conventional VHF tracking system consists of
Transmiter, Receiving system and Antenna.

Satellite tracking is similar to VHF radio tracking, but instead of a radio signal being sent
to a radio receiver, a signal is sent to a satellite. Scientists track their animal from
computer. It is a lot easier than VHF because scientists dont have to be near the animal.

Satellite Tracking is far less accurate than either conventional VHF radio tracking or GPS
radio-tracking. But Statellite Tracking is more useful over Antarctica and Arctic region
since there were no flights.

GPS tracking is the newest technology, The radio receiver picks up signals from special
satellites. The receiver has a computer that then calculates the location and movement of
the animal.

The data gathered by the receiver is then sent to another set of satellites. The second set
of satellites then sends the data to the scientists.

Satellite Tracking

GPS Tracking

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
+++++

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IPCC- Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change: Meaning and functions
What is IPCC?

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

H.Q in Geneva

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is the leading international body for the assessment of climate
change.

It was established by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the World Meteorological
Organization (WMO) in 1988.

To have a clear view on the present scenario of Climate change and its future impact on Enviornment, Livelihood,
Economics.

It does not conduct any research nor does it monitor climate related data or parameters.
It merely assesses the most recent scientific, technical and socio-economic information produced worldwide relevant
to the understanding of climate change.

Thousand of scientists contribute to provide info voluntarily.

It is open to all member countries of the United Nations (UN) and WMO. Currently 195 countries are members of the
IPCC.
The Structure of IPCC

Each group assess the report in their respective proficiency and then a succinct conclusion can be configured out.
IPCC reports: how are they prepared?

81 S&T Mrunal
Check this flow-chart

timeline of reports

Assessment Reports

Year of Publication

first

1990

Second

1995

Third

2001

Fourth

2007
Why important?

The fourth Assessment Report (AR4) of the intergovernmental panel on climate change (IPCC) said that most of the warming
that has taken place since the middle of the last century is very likely the result of increase in the concentration of humaninduced greenhouse gases. A hot topic.
Fodder material can be mug up through the Yojana Disaster Management in India, comprising

Harnessing technology to employ systems which can efficiently predict monsoon, Early Warning System and bla.. bla.

Formulating a National Action Plan.

Implementation and regular assessment

Ascertaining the post disaster effects which are generally not counted in monetary terms as well as social terms.

Encourage the people to emit less and to plant more and all that.

Formulating the new policies like Carbon Trading, whose target is to ultimately bring down the concentration of GHG
irrespective of the nations.

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Japanese Encephalitis Menace in India: Reasons, Prevention and control
What is Japanese Encephalitis (JE)?

The suffix -itis means inflammation.

Encephalitis means inflammation of the brain

Meningitis inflammation of the meninges (the tissues that surround the brain or spinal cord)
What are the symptoms?

headache and stiff neck

Convulsions

Weakness of the arms, legs

Pain behind the eyes

Raised body temperature between 38 and 41 degrees Celsius.

If untreated, it can result in to Coma, paralysis Mental retardation or death. fatality rate can be as high as 60%
Geographical Spread

Flavivirus reproduces in pigs but doesnt infect them. So, Pigs are amplifying hosts. (also water birds)

Mosquitoes belonging to the Culex tritaeniorhynchus and Culex vishnui groups they usually breed in flooded rice
fields.

These Culex mosquitoes are normally zoophilic, i.e. they prefer to take blood meals from animals rather than from
humans.

These Mosquitoes usually prefer to drink the blood of such pigs. But when the population of such mosquitoes increases
exponentially (during rainy season, around August), human biting rate increases.

And thus Flavivirus gets transferred from pigs to humans and damages our brain= inflation of brain = Japanese
Encephilitis.

Man is the dead end host, i.e. JE is not transmitted from one infected person to other.

In short, Japanese Encephalitis requires four things

1.

Pigs with flavivirus (Amplifying host).

2.

Rice fields (Mosquito breeding ground)

3.

Culex mosquitos (carrier)

4.

Human (The innocent victim)

83 S&T Mrunal

Image from www.medindia.net

Therefore, JE is found throughout south east Asia, because Rice cultivation and pig rearing is common.
But because of the critical role of pigs, its presence in Muslim countries is negligible.
Solution for Japanese Encephalitis (JE)?
1.

Vaccination

2.

Chemical vector control (e.g. spraying chemicals to kill mosquitos)= not good solution, because the breeding sites
(irrigated rice fields) are huge.

3.

Keep larvae eating fish, such as guppies, in ponds.

4.

Personal protection (using repellents and/or mosquito nets) = good idea.

5.

There is no transmission from person to person and therefore patients do not need to be isolated.

6.

If there is large scale outbreak of JE, Government would need to eliminate pig population = problem of livelihood.

7.

Rice growing farmers should never be encouraged to do pig rearing as a secondary source of income.

8.

Firstly, there is no curative treatment for J.E. (i.e. No magic pill, injection etc. that will cure it). J.E. is treated
symptomatically by reducing the fever, analgesics for headache, sedatives for seizures and specialized intravenous
therapy to reduce cerebral swelling.

Apart from Japanese, there is another type of Encephalitis, known as Acute encephalitis syndrome (AES)
What is Acute encephalitis syndrome (AES)?

This is also inflammation of brain.

But it is caused by entero virus.

The virus comes in the air or water through open defecation and circulates mainly through shallow hand pumps in the
area.
Why is Japanese Encephalitis in News?

84 S&T Mrunal
In India alone, the of Japanese Encephalitis (JE) and Acute Encephalitis Syndrome (AES), which have claimed nearly 1,000
lives so far in 2012.
In Oct 2012, Government of India launched a Rs.4000 crore plan to tackle JE problem.
Main Target States : Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Bihar and Assam
This plan will jointly implemented by following Ministries of
1.

Health and Family Welfare,

2.

Drinking Water and Sanitation,

3.

Social Justice and Empowerment,

4.

Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation

5.

Women and Child Development.

Plan has following components:

1.

Vaccination of Children (1.5 to 15 years age group)

2.

provide safe drinking water to the affected persons by replacing shallow tubewells with deep tubewells (To prevent
Acute Encephalitis Syndrome (AES))

3.

Provide proper sanitation facilities. (Perhaps allotting more money under Total Sanitation Campaign)

4.

Provide alternative means of livelihood for pig-rearing farmers.

5.

Set up special schools for mentally challenged children.

JEEV (2 marker)

JEEV is the brandname of Indias first indigenously developed vaccine for Japanese Encephalitis (JE). There is no
other vaccine available to private doctors in India currently. But the company has yet to obtain approval of WHO to
export this vaccine to other countries. (important because this happened in Sept.2012)
National Vector Borne Disease Control Programme (5 marker)

It is a comprehensive programme for prevention and control of vector borne diseases namely Malaria,

Filaria, Kala-azar, Japanese Encephalitis (JE), Dengue and Chikungunya.

It is covered under the overall umbrella of National Rural Health Mission.

Mock Questions

Please note: you can find truckload of potential MCQs Statements and 2 markers from India Yearbooks chapter on Health and
Family Welfare.
Multi Choice Question (MCQ)
Which of the following statements are correct?
1.

Swine is the amplifying host of the virus responsible for Japanese Encephalitis.

2.

Aedes aegypti mosquito is the main carrier of Japanese Encephalitis.

85 S&T Mrunal
3.

Poultry culling is essential during the outbreak of Japanese Encephalitis.

4.

Japanese Encephalitis is widely prevalent in Arid and Desert areas of Africa.

5.

Japanese Encephalitis can spread by talking or touching a patient.

6.

The vectors of Japanese Encephalitis breed in large water bodies such as paddy fields.
Mains

1.

To what extend the geography and climate of India are responsible for the menace of Malaria, Dengue, Chikungunya
and Jap.Encephalities. Suggest long term mitigation efforts required to uproot these diseases. (25 marks).

2.

Suggest measures for prevention and control of Japanese Encephalitis in India (12 marks)

3.

The JEEV vaccine has been making the headlines in the recent months. Who make the ideal candidates for receiving
this vaccine and what are its benefits? (2 marks)
Interview

1.

As a district collector what steps would you take in case of an outbreak of Japanese Encephalitis / Dengue / SARS?

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
+++++
Stem Cell Research, Controversy, Noble Prize 2012
Nobel Prize for Physiology/Medicine (2012):

Given to John B. Gurdon and Shina Yamanaka for their discovery that differentiation of cells is a reversible
process (explained below).
What exactly are they talking about?

1.

To understand we need some preliminary info regarding human reproduction and development process.

2.

Humans reproduce sexually i.e. require two parents (need a sperm and an egg)

3.

The sperm fuses with the egg to form a fused product called zygote. This cell divides itself to develop in to a baby.

4.

Now here it is seen that we have only one cell (we know cells similar to brick of a wall, are bricks of our
body) zygote, which develops the entire human having eyes, heart, lungs etc. i.e. one cell capable of producing an
organism= totipotency (potential to develop a total organism).

5.

There are some other cells which have the capability to produce limited types of tissues, some which can produce only
one specific tissue based on which we classify them.. Look into the figure for the classification.
What are Stem cells?

Definition wise a stem cell should be:

Able to divide and differentiate itself into specialized cells.

Importantly should have the capability of self-renewal, i.e. reproduce itself.

Where are Stem cells found?

Usually human embryo is a very good source, where all cells are totipotent.

86 S&T Mrunal

Stem cells are also present in adults called adult stem cells or somatic cells. These cells are found in bone marrow
[a very popular source], blood etc.

These cells do the important function of replenishing tissues, to be simple replacing dead cells.
What are the application of Stem cells?

Stem cells can be potentially used to replace diseased cells, lost cells [malfunctioning heart, trachea etc.].

A cure for Parkinson like diseases [A degenerative disorder caused by cell death in brain]

Type I diabetes can also have a cure with stem cells.

Cure for blood cancer- leukemia.

And another most important application in organ transplants.

Organ transplant and stem cells

We have heard something called antibodies, some antigens, some WBCs(Police force of the body, ring a bell?? 8th class
science). In higher classes, we were told, X has a kidney failure, needs kidney transplant to survive, but the kidney has
to be from a blood relative else organ rejection will occur!

The actual story here: Our body has its own frontline defense white blood corpuscles, which do not allow any foreign
national whatsoever in to its boundaries. So an outsider kidney=alien, rejected entry, so the only way is to get a
replacement from relative. In this application stem cells are a sustainable replacement
Controversy surrounding stem cells:

Stem cells were essentially sourced from human embryos in the beginning, which required embryonic cells. But some
people saw this as killing of a child and charged it as murder.

Also religious institutions resented to the use of embryos for research.

Use of adult stem cells face the difficulty in extraction.

Stem Cell research in USA

87 S&T Mrunal
US is one country where issues surrounding stem cells and their therapeutic usage are complex:

State funding in stem cell & embryonic research was common in US

Problems started with legalizing abortions in 1973.

Now fearing that further state funding would encourage abortions, women especially poor and
vulnerable would be exploited ban was placed on state funding on researches involving human embryos.

As usual private, scientist lobby and great range of possibilities like a cure for parkinsons, blood cancer , cardio
problems with the loophole of lack of regulation in private sector all forced the government to lift the ban in 2001.

Bush administration was behind this policy framework, which got critics from churches, anti-abortion movements,
general public.

Even now US has only partially lifted the ban still a moratorium remains, whereby embryos created solely for research
only can get state funding.
Stem Cell : Pro and Anti Arguments

Favor

Against

1.

Promising cure for various ailments.

2.

Private practice unregulated, so no use closing

state practice

3.

Conversion ratio of an embryo into living being

very low, the remains are as of now wasted.

4.

So better we put them to use

Organ donation incases of brain death legal,

and to think organ donation can increase
murders=foolish

Similarly thinking embryo donation=increased

abortion is foolish

1.

Legally Embryo the day it is formed= Human

life, so it enjoys all rights,like Art 21=Right to
life[Indian scenario]

2.

Embryo sale can start, poor can be exploited

easily.

3.

Not an Inclusive Plan as such, poor will stay out

of reach of benefits.

4.

Ill effects of cloning like break of social fabric,

5.

misuse in the hands of terrorists etc bound to

happen

6.

Not a panacea to all ills as it is made out to be.

Experimental results as of now are not reliable.

Thus there was a need for pluripotent and totipotent cells for various purposes and that too bypassing all the above ill
effects.

It is here the two laureates [Gurdon and Yamanaka] came in with their contributions.

Now Lets try to understand what they did in simpler terms.

Birth to Death- Not only you, your cell also grows:

In Life the cells of an organism proceed from initial undifferentiated stage to mature specialized stage through the
process of differentiation, like a student in schools, studies science, history, geography, English while during
graduation narrows his focus only to his subject of specialization, during doctorate further narrowed thought to one
area in a subject!!

Similar to this our cells at birth manage all functions, with maturity they specialize: eye cells for vision, heart cells for
purification, pumping etc. And this natural process isirreversible, that is once they mature, cells never exhibit
their magical ability to be the jack of all trades. This was the plight in 1950s.

88 S&T Mrunal

Now in 1960s this person called Gurdon said Ordinary cells have only temporarily lost their pluripotency and if
necessary changes made can become stem cells.

Gurdon proved it in his experiment, he simply took the nuclei (grain of brick, i.e. part of our cells, of course the master
of a cell is its nuclei) of a mature cell from a frog replaced it for nuclei in a newly fertilized egg (already told you egg
cells=totipotent) and developed it in to a new tadpole. i.e. here the nuclei of a mature cell developed the new tadpole.

But the second person Yamanaka went further proving, no need the help of an egg cell to develop a new offspring,
just any mature cell, like that of a skin, can be simply made pluripotent. His major contribution was he identified the
required genes and codes for making a mature cell pluripotent. The result was increased accuracy, efficiency in
converting a mature cell to immature cell.[Dedifferentiation]
Significance of Gurdon and Yamanakas Discovery

Their discoveries were answers to problems surrounding use of stem cells.

Was an easy way to convert ordinary cells to stem cells. A reliable source for pluripotent cells

No destruction of embryos involved.

Basis for cloning, the discovery of Gurdon was the basis for cloning.

Yet some problems still remain in this technology:

Reliability, efficiency of conversion is still low.

If put to improper use without sufficient research can lead to uncontrolled, cancerous growth of cells.

89 S&T Mrunal

Conclusion:

Thus we see that these scientists have furthered a revolution and in here lays the answer to many incurable diseases of
today.

Though clinical trials, human experimentation are not into practice yet, some preliminary treatments like bone
marrow transplant, cardiovascular treatments with stem cells have been demonstrated elsewhere is a sample for the
success of the technology.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
+++++
PREDICCS, LCROSS, HXMT, Life on Mars (Space related S&T from Hindu Sept-Oct-2012)
Life on Mars
Why life is possible on Earth but not on mars: some reasons
1.

Our moon is of the right size, able to control the spinning of the earth and its axis of rotation, thus stabilizing our
climate and seasons.

2.

ozone layer, which shields molecules on earth from being zapped away by cosmic radiation

3.

gravitational strength of Earth keeps useful gases from escaping off into space.
NASAs Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO)

Used for acquiring 3-D views of the moons surface.

PREDICCS

web-based tool

for predicting and forecasting the radiation environment in near-Earth, lunar and Martian space.

It will provide critical information as preparations are made for potential future manned missions to the Moon and
Mars.
LCROSS

NASAs Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing satellite,

90 S&T Mrunal

It has detected presence of water locked inside the soil of moon.

Hard x-ray modulation telescope (HXMT)

Chinas first space telescope.

Will be used for studying blackholes.

Zero Gravity effect

disembarking astronauts are taller than embarking ones.

This growth is due to zero gravity the vertebrae of the spine spread out.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
+++++
SCOAP3, Electronic Nose, Baxter, Lytro
Electronic nose

Prototype electronic instrument.

It can detect small quantities of harmful airborne substances.

can be used for Batch to batch consistency during production. (perfumes, food)

Detection of contamination, spoilage, adulteration

Bio-inspired microbot

Developed by China

It is capable of not just walking on water but jumping up and down on the waters surface like the insect.
Nano-tech: Some new applications

1.

Manufactured nanomaterials (MNMs): by adding them to soil, we can increase crop yield.

2.

radioactive gold nanoparticles= used for prostate cancer treatment in dogs. It has a chance of being used in humans.
SCOAP3

Initiative by CERN. (those God-particle wallas)

Sponsoring Consortium for Open Access Publishing in Particle Physics.

Under this project, about 7,000 particle-physics papers, published in subscription journals, will soon become freely
accessible to anyone from any part of the world.
Baxter

A humanoid robot with common sense, made in USA.

It is designed to work safely alongside its human co-workers on factory production lines,

91 S&T Mrunal

Baxter Robo looks like this

Marconi vs Bose: Wireless

Guglielmo Marconi is often credited with inventing radio transmission

But the record clearly shows that wireless transmission of electromagnetic waves was first successfully demonstrated
by Sir Jagdish Chandra Bose and that too in Kolkata

Bose reported on his experiments at the Royal Institution in London.

But soon after Boses talk, Marconi changed the design of his detector and cameup with his invention.
Lytro

New type of camera that lets users adjust the focus after taking pictures. shoot now, focus later.

Lytro Camera

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
+++++
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
+++++
ENCODE, GPCR, LNT, Disease in Dish, RNTCP & other 2/5 markers from The Hindu S&T (Sept-Oct 2012)

92 S&T Mrunal
Antibiotic resistance

It is the ability of certain microorganisms to withstand attack by antimicrobials drugs

Main factor for the rise and spread of resistant microbes= Overuse and misuse of antimicrobials drugs.

The spread of drug resistance is faster in India due to many reasons lack of infection control practices in hospitals,
absence of antibiotic policy, sanitation issues in the community etc.

Super-spreading of Dengue

Super spreading means, one infected person passes on a disease to lots of others,

This is an important factor driving dengue transmission in places.

Since mosquitoes are concentrated in only a couple of homes in each locality, an infected individual in those houses or
in their immediate vicinity was likely to get bitten and pass on the virus to a large number of mosquitoes, who then
pass it on to many other humans

mosquito Aedes aegypti carries the virus for Dengue.

Humanised mice

It is engrafted with human liver cells.

Itll help research liver-to-blood stage infection of Malaria.

93 S&T Mrunal

RNTCP (Revised National TB Control Programme)

Meant for 2012-2017

It aims to involve private sector into the fight against Tuberculosis.

Nearly one lakh new multidrug resistant (MDR) TB cases are estimated to occur every year.

The only way of reducing mortality and morbidity is by engaging the private sector
Reproduction

Q. Why does the immune system in females not attack sperms (foreign bodies) that enter the female body?

human immune system is that it can differentiate self from others. This allows the body to fight off any foreign cells
which it encounters. That is why it is difficult to transplant organs without suppressing the immune system

However, when it comes to reproduction, the human body not only ignores the sperm, but also fails to recognise the
foetus (which has half of its material from a foreign donor) as a foreign body

Studies have confirmed the presence of markers on the surface of the human sperm

These markers on the sperm are universally recognised by any womans immune system, and trick the immune system
into believing that the sperm is harmless. That is why reproduction can occur between any two people.
Spicy food and Tears

Why are tears produced in our eyes when we eat something which is spicy or spicy over our limits?

When we eat food the sensory nerve endings on our tongue are stimulated.

This nerve also serves as the sensory nerve to the surface of the eye and face.

When we eat very spicy food the sensory nerve endings on the tongue are irritated and an overload of noxious stimulus
is carried to the eyes as well, hence tears.
G-proteincoupled receptors (GPCRs)

Human cells have these receptors

It enables them to sense chemical substances hormones, poisons and drugs in their environment.

2012 Noble Prize in Chemistry is given for this topic.

94 S&T Mrunal
Pineapple itching

Why do we get an itching sensation in our mouth when we eat too much of pineapple?

Pineapple, botanically, is not a single fruit berry. It is a collection of individual fruits (each fruit, marked on the surface
by the near-hexagonal demarcation)

Pineapple contains a proteolytic (protein hydrolyzing) enzyme

When we have eaten the pineapple, this enzyme temporarily stays on the tongue and interiors of the mouth and starts
attacking the proteinous muscle parts of the tongue and the mouth while sensitizing the nerve endings there.

These neurological signals, when transmitted to the brain, make us feel the pricking and itching sensation.
Blank Slate Cells / Reprograming Cells / Disease in Dish

Terms associated with stem cell research done by Gurdon and Yamanaka (they got Noble-2012 for it).

Once created, these blank slate cells can be used for developing into other cell types.

For example, Skin cells can ultimately be transformed into brain cells.

This Reprogramming allows scientists to create particular kinds of tissue they want to study, like lung tissue for
studying cystic fibrosis, or brain tissue for Huntingtons disease.

By reprogramming cells from patients with a particular disease, they can create new tissue with the same genetic
background, and study it in the lab. That can give new insights into the roots of the problem.

In addition, that approach allows them to screen drugs in the lab for possible new medicines.

(more discussed in earlier guest article by Mr.Manikandan)

ENCODE project

ENCyclopedia Of DNA Elements, which was started in 2003.

The goal is to find all functional elements in the human genome.

Until recently, the majority view has been that much of the DNA is junkDNA that is never transcribed and has no
biological function and only 1% of the DNA is actually responsible for everything.

But ENCODE project has found that not one per cent but more than 80 per cent of the genome has an active role or
function.
Single-dose drug cure for malaria

Scientists claim to have discovered a drug that could cure all strains of malaria with a single oral dose and also block
transmission of the deadly parasite from person to person.

Will be made from synthetic molecule from the aminopyridine class.

HIV drops in India

HIV which causes AIDS was detected in India nearly 25 years back. Though more than 2 million people are
affected by the virus, India is said to be one of the few countries which has actually made significant reductions in HIV
infections.

95 S&T Mrunal

India had witnessed a sharp decline in the number of new HIV cases a 56 per cent drop in the past 10 years,
because of the National AIDS control Programme.

Antiretroviral therapy (ART) =Used for HIV treatment.

Linear No Threshold (LNT) concept

means that harmful effects of radiation increase with radiation dose and even small radiation doses can cause some
finite harm.

Some scientists challenge the validity of LNT concept.

They say, in low dose radiation we would be fine, and would not have any cellular damage.

(then it leads to debate on mobile phone radiation etc. we already saw it in an earlier article.)
Tobacco law & WTO

Australia enacted worlds toughest law on cigarette promotion, meaning tobacco companies will be prohibited from
displaying their logos on cigarette packs that will instead feature images of cancerriddled mouths, blinded eyeballs
and sickly children.

But Australia faces a potential challenge to its laws through the World Trade Organization,

Three tobacco growing countries Ukraine, Honduras and the Dominican Republic making official requests for
consultation on plain packaging.

Consultations are the first stage of the WTOs dispute resolution process.
Mock Questions

Which of the following statements are correct?

1.

Aedes aegypti carries the virus for Dengue.

2.

India launched national antibiotic policy in 2007

3.

Pineapple is a single fruit berry.

Mains/Descriptive

1.

What are the salient features of National Aids Control Programme. Evaluate its success. What steps should be taken in
future, to reduce the spread of HIV even further? (25m)

2.

Write a note on the Revised National TB Control Programme (10m)

3.

Examine the need for a National policy on Antibiotics? 10 marks

4.

Examine the ethical issues involved in Stem cell research. What is the policy of Government of India, regarding Stem
cell research?

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
+++++
GeneXpert, Project Axshya, MALDI, Dermoscope, Bariatric Surgery, Neurostimulator
What is GeneXpert/ CBNAAT?

96 S&T Mrunal

Problem with MDR-TB= it takes almost 8 weeks, for doctor to diagnose this disease.

You already know about multi-drug resistant TB (MDR-TB) , if not click ME

Basically the MDR-TB bacteria donot die with the conventional TB-drug.

GeneXpert/ CBNAAT is the latest device that can diagnose this MDR-TB in just two hours.

GeneXpert TB-Detection Device

Advantages of GeneXpert

Fastest detection of TB.

can be installed at any place and can be used by paramedical staff.

A health worker just needs to collect sputum of the suspected TB patient and mix it with a chemical and put it under
the Device and get the result.

World Health Organisation (WHO) has approved this device and its testing accuracy.

Government has decided to install these GeneXpert devices under Revised National Tuberculosis Control
Programme (RNTCP)

This device costs Rs.10 lakh, but Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics (FIND), an international NGO has
donated funds to India to install it in various cities.
Project Axshya/ Mr.Sputum

Xshya= Sanskrit word for TB. Axshya=TB free.

Project Axshya is a civil society initiative to make India TB-free.

Bulgum Bhai (Mr.Sputum) is their mascot. He appears on TV, Radio ads, street plays, to spread the message, If you
have been coughing for more than two weeks, better get your sputum tested

India has the highest TB burden in the world, accounting for nearly one-fifth of the global incidence.

Union World Conference on Lung Health was held in Kuala Lumpur. This Mr.Sputum project was featured there.

Now, Following terms/current affairs topics based on Cleveland Top 10 Clinical awards.

97 S&T Mrunal
Bariatric surgery

Bariatric surgery (weight-loss surgery)= of procedures performed on people who are obese.

Basically it involves surgically reducing the size of the stomach or removal of a portion of the stomach.

also helps lowering blood pressure and cholesterol of the patient.

Experts believe it can greatly help with Type 2 diabetes.

Neurostimulator

New therapy for Migraine (type of Headache).

Migraine is a chronic disease (long-term disease, unlike Common fever.)

Neurostimulator is a device size of an almond. see above image.

It is placed in the upper gum of patients mouth, through a small surgical incision.

When a patient feels a headache or Migraine coming, the device delivers stimulation to block the headache pain.
MALDI

It is a new Mass-Spectroscopy technique to detect Bacterial infection in blood, sputum, tissue etc.

MALDI=Matrix assisted laser desorption/ionization.

MALDI can accurately identify bacteria in minutes, which allows doctors to more quickly and appropriately treat
infections.
Dermoscope

98 S&T Mrunal

Melanoma=Skin cancer.

To Detect Melanoma, earlier dermatologists had to put incision (cut) on the skin, take sample, and observe It under
microscope.

Dermoscope is a new handheld device for skin-cancer (Melanoma) detection.

The device uses imaging technology that, in less than one minute, visualizes the micro-vessel structure of just below
the skins surface. So Cancer can be detected without incision.
Cataract

Lens clouded by Cataract

eye disease in which natural lens of eye gets clouded.(observe above image)

Cataract is painless. But It causes blindness by obstructing passage of light, although the patient can distinguish light
from darkness.

Cataract is a common disease for people over 50 years of age. However, it can happen at young age also, if a person is
suffering from Diabetes.

Cataract can be successfully cured using surgery.

The present Cataract surgery involves using surgical blade or laser, to cut the the clouded parts of lens (or removing the
lens and planting a new artificial lens)
Femtosecond Cataract Surgery

Femtosecond=one quadrillionth of a second.

This is the latest surgical for Cataract, using a computer Laser system, now the the surgeon can soften and break up the
cataract within Femtoseconds.

This surgery is more precise and causes less inflammation after surgery.
Ex-Vivo Lung Perfusion

Lung transplant surgery is required in patients with diseases such as Chronic pulmonary disease, cystic fibrosis etc.
(usually associated with heavy smokers.)

Problem: 80 percent of donated lungs, cant be used, either because theyre too full of fluid, infected with bacteria, or
otherwise damaged.

99 S&T Mrunal

Ex-Vivo lung perfusion =A new way of treating these lungs and make them donor friendly.

In this technique, a special chemical solution is injected into dead-persons lungs and then he is kept on a ventilator for
4-6 hours. This can reverse lung injury and dry out excess fluid. Then lungs can be removed and transplanted to the
patient.
Mock questions

Q1 Consider these statements:

1.

Cataract is an extremely painful inflammation of eye.

2.

A diabetes patient is more likely to develop Cataract at young age.

3.

Bariatric Surgery is required for Melanoma.

4.

Dermoscope is a new device to treat dandruff, hairfall and baldness.

Which of above statements are correct?

a.

Only 1 and 4

b.

Only 2 and 3

c.

Only 2

d.

Only 1, 2 and 4.

Q2. Consider these statements

1.

Mass Spectroscopy can detect viral infection but not bacterial or fungal infection.

2.

Migraine is an acute disease.

3.

Gene Expert is the latest AIDS detection test, 2 times faster than ELSA test.

Which of above statements are correct?

a.

Only 1 and 2

b.

Only 2 and 3

c.

Only 1 and 3.

d.

None

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
+++++
No Touch Breastscan, Chemin, TLS, CFL vs Tubelight choke etc from The Hindu S&T, Nov 2012
No Touch BreastScan (NTBS)

Imaging device, based on thermography, to detect brast cancer.

Increased metabolism in cancer cells leads to increase in temperature.

100 S&T Mrunal

The NTBS device looks for temperature hot spots at the surface of breast and detects breast cancer.

However, US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) has found no evidence to support the claim that thermography
is a replacement for mammography.
CheMin

Name of device in NASAs Curiosity rover.

Full name=Chemistry and Mineralogy instrument

It is used for soil analysis on Mars.

CheMin uses X-ray diffraction, the standard practice for geologists on Earth using much larger laboratory instruments.

This method provides more accurate identifications of minerals than any method previously used on Mars.

CheMin found that minerals on the Red Planet are similar to those found in volcanic soils in Hawaii.
Tunable Laser Spectrometer (TLS)

Name of device on Curiosity Rover.

The presence of methane is an important sign to indicate that life may have existed in the planets past.

TLS analysed a small sample of Martian air to come to the conclusion, had actually detected a few parts per billion of
methane.

However, recognising that the reading was too low to be significant, it sounded a No.
Gale Crater

Located on Mars planet.

Curiosity rover found signs that water may have flowed in the past through Gale Crater.
Volcanic Activity in New Zealand

New Zealand lies on the Pacific Ring of Fire, where the Earths tectonic plates collide, making it a hotspot for volcanic
and earthquake activity.

In the late 1800s, Mount Ruapehu, Mount Tarawera of New Zeland had erupted, caused destruction of life and
property.

Recently Mt. Tongariro erupted in New Zealand. This Volcanic mountain was used as a backdrop in famous Hollywood
movie Lord of the Rings
Step-Throat and Salt water gargaling

Why do we feel relief when we gargle with salt in hot water when suffering from throat pain?

Soreness of throat is generally due to the infection of the bacterium called Streptococcus .

So it is called strep throat.

A strep throat is usually inflamed due to bacteria making widespread damage on our soft tissues or mucosa.

101 S&T Mrunal

These inflammations (known as edemas) are usually filled with water.

When we gargle with warm salt water that is saltier than our body fluids (hypertonic solution), through osmosis the
salt draws out the edema fluid.

Moreover gargling with salt water does not actually help to heal the strep throat like a medicine would, but it does
provide temporary relief.

If we do not experience relief as a result of the salt water gargling and if the pain persists we must consult a doctor to
get proper antibiotic treatment.
Why no Choke needed in CFL?

Why is a choke required in a tube light and not in a CFL?

Both tubelights and CFLs (compact fluorescent lamps) are low pressure mercury vapour discharge lamps.

When electrical discharge could strike the column of the tube, lot of invisible UV radiation having is generated.

This UV radiation when strikes the white coating inside the tube made of fluorescent material- phosphors gets
converted to visible light through the process of fluorescence. Thus we see the white light.

For a conventional a tubelight, a choke is required, to initiate the electrical discharge process.

But CFLs, being smaller in dimensions offering much lower electrical resistance do not require such bulky chokes.

Instead the discharge in CFLs is initiated by much compact electronic circuits integrated into the CFL holder.
Mock Questions

Q1. We feel relief when we gargle with salt in hot water when suffering from throat pain, because
a.

Hot Salt water kills the bacteria responsible for throat pain

b.

Hot Salt water works as muscle relaxant

c.

Hot salt water salt draws out the edema fluid from the throat.

d.

None of Above

Q2. Find correct statement

1.

Tubelight is a low pressure mercury vapour discharge lamp

2.

CFL is a high pressure mercury vapor discharge lamp.

a.

Only 1

b.

Only 2

c.

Both

d.

None

Q3. Which of the following is/are incorrect regarding devices of Curiosity rover?
1.

Tunable Laser Spectrometer (TLS) analysed the soil of Mars

2.

CheMin analysed the presence of methane in the atmospere of Mars

102 S&T Mrunal

a.

Only 1

b.

Only 2

c.

Both

d.

None

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
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TheHindu Dec12: Asteroid Mining, GRAIL, MoonKAMs, Liquiglide, Oraquick and more Science-Tech for UPSC CSATSpace
related
Asteroid Mining + Space Station
NASAs plan for Asteroids?

NASA scientists are planning to capture a 500,000 kg asteroid, and transform it into a space station for astronauts to
refuel at on their way to Mars.

This technology would also open up the possibility of mining other asteroids for their metals and minerals.

Some asteroids are full of iron which could be used for in the making of new space stations

Others asteroids are made up of water which could be broken down into hydrogen and oxygen to make fuel

NASA plans to accomplish this in next 10-12 years.

Asteroids

Small rocky or metallic body that orbits the Sun.

Most asteroids are found between the orbits of the

planets Mars and Jupiter in a wide region called
the asteroid belt.

It is because of their small size and large numbers

relative to the major planets that asteroids are also
called minor planets.

Comets

small icy body in space that sheds gas and

dust.

A Comet appears generally as a bright head

with a long tail.

The length of the tail grows in size as it

approaches the sun. (because Suns heat
coverts the ice directly into gas without
melting).

The tail of a comet is always directed away

from the sun

Halleys comet, appears after nearly every 76

years.

103 S&T Mrunal

Meteors

Meteroites

A meteor is usually a small object that Occasionally

enters the earths atmosphere.
At that time it has a very high speed. The friction due to
the atmosphere heats it up.

Some meteors are large so that they can reach

the Earth before they evaporate completely.

The body that reaches the Earth is called a

meteorite

It glows and evaporates quickly. Hence known as

Shooting stars.

Comet and its tail

Mercury Messenger

Mercury is the innermost planet in the Solar System.

NASAs MESSENGER spacecraft has reported presence of water-ice on Mercury.

GRAIL

GRAIL (Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory) mission.

It is NASAs first planetary mission to carry cameras fully dedicated to education and public outreach.
MoonKAMs

MoonKAM= Moon Knowledge Acquired by Middle School Students.

The MoonKams captures images of the moons surface and sends them to the students for study.
Ebb and Flow, Sally Ride

Two NASA spacecraft Ebb and Flow, equippped with MoonKAMs and orbitting around Moon since 2011 under
GRAIL mission.

104 S&T Mrunal

But they did not have sufficient altitude or fuel to continue science operations. Hence NASA team crash-landed them
on Moon in Dec 2012.

The place where they crash landed is named after Sally K. Ride, Americas first woman astronaut.
Science-Tech
LiquiGlide

Ketchup wont stick inside bottle anymore!

A coating material for any type food containers glass, ceramic, metal and plastic.

It is super-slippery and non-toxic hence you can easily pickout last drop of honey, fruitjam, ketchup or oil from the
insides of food containers.

No scraping, rinsing of bottles required.

And the compound is safe enough to eat.

Other applications

Keep ice off the wings of an airplane

Help easy flow in oil and gas pipelines where insides of pipes sees buildup of organic compounds that clog supply
networks.

For cosmetics: can pour last drop of expensive lotions out.

Plastic light bulb

a new kind of light bulb that uses plastic polymers and nano materials to generate light

It is more energy-efficient than current fluorescent lights and is easier on the eye.

It doesnt produce humming sound like those fluorescent tubes.

Nuke Desalination plant

Nuclear Desalination Demonstration Plant (NDDP) located at Kalpakkam, Tamilnadu.

It is the worlds largest hybrid seawater desalination plant coupled to an existing nuclear power plant.

105 S&T Mrunal

Principle:

when the pressure drops, the boiling point of seawater also drops.

The excess heat generated from nuclear reaction causes seawater to flash evaporate into pure water vapour.

The water vapour is then condensed to produce distilled water.

MakerBot Replicator

Using makerbot, you can print your own 3D toys!

desktop-size 3-D printer.

Instead of using ink, it spreads ultra-thin plastic layers, each melting into the layer below to create a 3D-object.
Switchblade Drone

Its a kamikaze (suicide bombing) type drone.

The person controlling it uses a real-time video feed from the drone to crash it into a precise targetsay, a sniper and
its tiny warhead detonates on impact.
Element 113

Japan has created three atoms of the highly unstable superheavy element 113.

This element is yet nameless, but it has an enormous nucleus containing 113 protons and 165 neutrons.
Biology
Biological Plough Redgram

Pigeonpea, commonly known as redgram, arhar or tur,

It is leguminous plant.

it is capable of fixing atmospheric nitrogen and thereby restores nitrogen content in the soil.

106 S&T Mrunal

Its deep rooting system helps in extracting nutrients and moisture from deeper soil layers thus making it suitable for
rainfed condition.

Deeper rooting system of the crop also helps in breaking the tough dry soil and it is also called as biological plough.
Handheld Dental X-ray

Genuine Handheld X-ray sets are very expensive. But now Chinamade Cheaper products are in the market.

But they do not have adequate shielding in the X-ray tube.

And leads to accidental leakage radiation.

In India, use of such medical X-ray instruments need approval from Atomic Energy Regulatory Board. (AERB)

Use of radiation generating equipment not approved by AERB is a violation of the legal provisions and will attract
action under the appropriate provisions of the Atomic Energy Act 1962
Why skin itching during wound healing?

Histamine =chemical mediator involved in the allergic reactions.

Histamine dilates blood vessels to facilitate the entry of immune cells onto the wound site to ward off infection.

But It also acts on the nerve endings causing itching.

Itching can also be caused due to allergy for the ointments/ medications applied

When new skin that is formed is devoid of the normal oil glands .This dryness also provokes the nerve endings causing
itching.
OraQuick Home

Oraquick-Detect HIV @Home

Its the first Do It Yourself testkit for detecting HIVthe same one that health professionals use but without the trip to
a doctors office or the need to wait days for results.

107 S&T Mrunal

Parkinsons disease

is caused by loss of the neurons that produce the neurotransmitter dopamine (known as dopaminergic neurons).

Researchers have now derived dopaminergic neurons from bone marrow stem cells in monkeys to cure it.
Dogs in Mudumalai Tiger Reserve

Mudumalai tiger reserve = Tamilnadu.

Issue: Domestic dogs from surrouding villages are hunting small birds and mammals near forest edges.
Why problem?
1.

Lower prey availability for wild carnivores like tigers and leopards

2.

These dogs may also be spreading rabies and other diseases to wild animals

3.

Mudumalai, also has large populations of the endangered wild dog or dhole.

4.

They eat infected carcasses hunted by domestic dogs=spread of disease.

5.

Training village dogs to procure wild meat is a criminal offence under the category of poaching. But the larger harm
that goes unnoticed is that it indirectly threatens the survival of non-target animals.
NHRDF-RED-2

New onion variety for North India.

Developed by National Horticultural Research and Development Foundation (NHRDF), Nashik.

This foundation => established by National Agricultural Co-operative Marketing Federation of India Ltd (NAFED)
Mock Questions
CSAT MCQs

Q1. Find incorrect Match?

NASA missions

1.

MESSENGER

GRAIL

a.

Only 1

b.

Only 2

c.

Both

d.

None

Location

Mercury

Moon

108 S&T Mrunal

Q2. find correct Match

Term

Associated with

1.

Shooting star

Minor planet

a.

Only 1

b.

Only 2

c.

Both

d.

None

Asteroid

Meteor

Q3. which of the following is not correct about Asteroids?

1.

Theyre found in the Asteroid belt between Mercury and Jupiter.

2.

Some of them contain metals and minerals.

a.

Only 1

b.

Only 2

c.

Both

d.

None

Q4. Which of the following is correct about the tail of Comet?

1.

It grows bigger in size as it moves away from the Sun.

2.

It is always directed towards the Sun.

a.

Only 1

b.

Only 2

c.

Both

d.

None

Q5. Correct Match?

Wildlife species

Found in

Narcondam Hornbill

Nagaland

109 S&T Mrunal

Dhole

Tamilnadu

a.

Only 1

b.

Only 2

c.

Both

d.

None

Q6. (Decision Making Q for CSAT-Paper II) There are reports of domestic dogs hunting small birds and mammals in a
wildlife sanctuary and thus posing risk to the foodchain and health of the wild animals. As the Chief Warden of this sanctuary,
which of the following step would you take?
a.

Promise cash reward to anyone who kills those domestic dogs.

b.

Set up Electrical fence to prevent those domestic dogs from entering in the Sanctuary.

c.

Order people of the surrounding villages not to feed or shelter those domestic dogs, else face punitive actions.

d.

Capture, Vasectomize and release those domestic dogs in area far away from the Wildlife Sanctuary.
General Studies Mains

Write 20 words about following terms

1.

Oraquick home

2.

GRAIL

3.

MOONKams

4.

Liquiglide

5.

NAFED

6.

NASA MESSENGER

7.

3D-printing.

For previous entries related to Science-Tech, visit Mrunal.org/snt

want to add your entries, then participate in Current Affairs Marathon (click me)

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
+++++
Space, IT related: KSLV, Luna Glob, Black Beauty, COMET, SKA, SAGA-220 (Jan, Feb 2013)
Telescopes
#1: Square Kilometre Array (SKA)

worlds largest and most sensitive radio telescope

will be 50 times more sensitive, and be able to survey the sky 10,000 times faster, than any imaging radio telescope
array previously built.

110 S&T Mrunal

will be completed in 2024

Location: South Africa + Australia.

Benefit: developments in many technology areas, including antennas, signal transport, signal processing, computing,
software and data archiving

India is actively involved in this project

#2: Solar telescope, Solar winds

Will be built in the Ladakh region of Jammu and Kashmir .

Itll have capability to do both day and night astronomy.

Will help in understanding sunspots: process of their creation and decay.

Sunspots pose a threat to the communication system on earth as well as space satellites.

Increased sunspot activity=> increase in the outflow solar wind.

Solar wind contains charged particles that can interfere with the operation of satellites by introducing what is called
background static.

Solar winds also interact with atoms in the upper part of earths atmosphere, wreaking havoc with the communication
systems on ground.

Satellites in low earth orbit face greater risk as during periods of heightened solar activity.
Space mission related
#1: Luna Glob

Russia will launch this robotic lunar mission in 2015.

#2: KSLV-1

Korea Space Launch Vehicle-1 (KSLV-1)

South Korea will launch this satellite and gain entry to an elite global space club that includes Asian powers China,
India and Japan.

Earlier, South Korea couldnt launch satellite program for many years, because its main military ally the U.S., feared
S.Koeras arms race with N. Korea.
#3: Pishgam

name of Monkey that was recently sent to space and returned back, under Iranian space mission.

In Farsi, Pishgam = Pioneer.

IPK

original kilogram known as the International Prototype Kilogram or the IPK.

It is made up of platinum-based weight.

All other measurements of mass are set against this IPK model.

111 S&T Mrunal

Problem: This kilogram has become heavier as contaminants have built up on its surface.
Black Beauty

It is a 320 gram space rock from Mars.

Discovered in Moroccos Sahara Desert in 2011

It contains more water than any other Martian meteorite previously found.

could unlock vital clues to the evolution of Mars

Black beauty: Rock from Mars

IO: the moon of Jupiter
IO

Moon

Jupiter planet has 5 major moons.IO is the innermost of them.

Earth as only one moon.

Has many active volcanoes. In fact, most volcanically active body in the solar
system

No

Smaller than our moon

bigger than IO

Jupiter has a few natural satellites orbiting it

Doesnt have any natural satellites orbiting

it.

COMET online monitoring system

112 S&T Mrunal

Communication Plan for Election (COMET) is made for use of Election Commission.

It is a high-tech SMS-based alert system.

Officials on the election duty just need to punch in a few letters to send various coded SMSes.

The information is instantly available online and can be used by the Election commission and poll officials in the state
capital and district.

It also helps in monitoring events down to a particular polling booth at the click of a mouse, for example

1.

When did the staff reaching the polling station

2.

voting percentages every two hours

3.

did the poll party reached safely at the EVMs deposit centre or not?
Indias IT Development

HEC-2M

First computer in India (imported from UK) in 1955. Installed @ Indian Statistical Institute (ISI),
Calcutta.

70s

networks such as NICNET and the Very Small Aperture Terminal (VSAT),

80s

Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) was developed by ECIL and Bharat Electronics.

LPG reforms
(90s)

Led to rise of private players such as Infosys, Wipro, Satyam.

SAGA-220

Supercomputer built by ISRO @Vikram Sarabhai space centre.

PARAM

Supercomputer built by C-DAC, Pune.

Ubuntu

Open source operating system (OS) Linux for computers.

Android = Googles open source operating system for smartphones and tables. (based on linux)

Now Ubuntu is also coming to tablet platform.

petabytes

a peta is a million billion or 10 raised to power 15

MillatFacebook (MFB)

Pakistans version of Facebook.

website was launched after the Lahore High Court banned Facebook after some members started a `Everybody Draw
Mohammad Day competition.

objective was to provide a platform for all Muslims and nice, decent and sophisticated people of all religious and
faiths to come together and make a network.

113 S&T Mrunal

Direct-to-Home (DTH) movie release

one of the controversies surrounding Kamal Hasans recent movie.

Kamal Haasan wanted to release his movie Viswaroopam on DTH platform as a pay-per-view screening a day ahead of
its intended theatre release. (=you can watch it on your dish tv, tata sky etc.)

But Theatre owners and distributors said DTH is not video piracy-proof and hence, if new movies are immediately
shown on DTH= it will drastically cut ticket revenues.

Kamal Haasans argument: It is not impossible to record the contents of a digital set top box. and he was just
attempting to explore a legitimate source of revenue. Besides the single pay-per-view show priced at Rs. 1,000 per
activation = mostly upper middle/rich class will watch. This will not hurt the business of theatre owners, because their
target consumer base belongs to different income group.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
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Public Health, EnB related: Virtopsy, Vomitting Larry, Hydrogel, Mauritia (Jan Feb 2013)
Gardasil and Cervarix

names of the new HPV vaccines made by GlaxoSmithKline.

The Health activists say it is not properly tested, theyve filled PIL in supreme court. their arguments

1.

Though both vaccines are claimed to prevent cervical cancer, the truth is cervical cancer takes twenty or more years to
develop. The vaccines have just not been around that long to prove their efficacy!

2.

neither of these vaccines had been studied to determine their potential to cause cancer
Vomiting Larry

Vomiting Larry
Larry is a humanoid simulated vomiting system designed by British scientists. It is being use to how norovirus spreads.
Acute flaccid paralysis (AFP)

114 S&T Mrunal

Polio is a disease caused by a virus.

But AFP can also arise for other reasons, including infection by non-polio pathogens.

No child in India has been diagnosed with polio for nearly two years now and all the indications are that the virus
responsible for it is no longer circulating here.

However, the countrys polio surveillance system has indicated a sharp increase during recent years in the number of
non-polio AFP cases.

most of the countrys non-polio AFP cases occur in just two States Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.

cases of children with non-polio AFP were not being monitored by either the polio eradication programme or the larger
state health care system.

As a result, there is no clear picture of what was causing the AFP, the kind of diseases these children displayed, or how
many of them were seriously affected
Virtopsy

Autopsy=examination and dissection of a dead body to determine cause of death.

Previously, doctors would use scalpel, cut the chest open and examine tissues.

Often, relatives of the dead donot agree for autopsies because of the disfigurement caused by such cutting and
incisions.

Now scientists have come up with a non-invasive technique for conducting autopsy. This is called Virtopsy(=virtual
autopsy).

Here, doctor examines the corpse in 3-D via computer screens.

Virtopsy

Virtopsy combine the images from high-powered magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), computed tomography (CT) and
surface scans of dead bodies.

Combined, the devices are referred to as a virtobot.

115 S&T Mrunal

The technique allows the detection of injuries such as lesions and blows often undetectable during a traditional
autopsy, as well as air pockets, heart attacks and even cancer.

The method has already allowed the discovery of haemorrhages and fractures that were not picked up during
conventional autopsies.
Health communication

It means generating awareness among population regarding a particular disease.

In India, two most successful examples of Health communication =polio + HIV

#1: Polio

Polio messaging for example was built on simple idea two drops that could save your childs life. This message was
everywhere from print, TV and radio from the more urban and semi-urban audiences and on roadsides, on the back
of buses and lorries and in small village fairs.

A host of agencies worked together to develop this multi-pronged strategy

It was led by communication professionals. (and not doctors)

This helped in creating multiple strategies to engage diverse audiences.

#2: HIV

HIV was perhaps Indias most complex disease communication exercise

Because our Indian society has deep-rooted double standards, limited womens rights and a complete lack of
conversation on sexuality and sexual diversity. So talking about HIV may have been impossible. But Government took
help of external agencies, communication professionals.

thus HIV campaign used every possible medium and celebrities to transmit messages on prevention, on treatment and
on stigma.
Conclusion

Finally, public health authorities need to take up public health communications as a priority. (because prevention
better than cure.)

Health communication needs to be managed by communication professionals and not doctors.

Public health communication must be multi-pronged, regionally suitable and easy to absorb.
COPSS Award

In USA, this award is given to young statisticians below 40 years.

Dr. Nilanjan Chatterjee won the COPSS for his overall contribution to the field of genetics and biostatistics.

He found that Smoking causes lung cancer, but smoking alone does not determine who will develop lung cancer.

A person may have some good genes that reduce the risk of lung cancer. So what might be important to know is what
kind of genetic background a person may have to know if he is prone to lung cancer.
Mauritia

It is a submerged continent in the Indian Ocean, recently found.

116 S&T Mrunal

lies under Mauritius and extends more than 1,000 km northwards till Seychelles.

First scientists found crystals called zircons on Mauritian beaches.

Zircons are resistant to erosion or chemical change and some of the ones they found were almost two billion years old,
much older than any of the regular soil or sand samples found on nearby islands.

Scientists thought such old crystals could only belong to a submerged continent.

they consulted satellite data which can help detect submerged land masses.

this continent Mauritia may have existed as an archipelago, a cluster of islands squeezed in between Madagascar and
the Indian subcontinent.

Study of this continent can help us in better exploration of oil and gas in the oceans.
DNA as a storage device

Scientists are working to use DNA as a storage device. (like how computer can store information in form of 0 and 1).
Similarly DNA could also save information using its 4 bases ACTG

Advantages

Problems

DNA is a long-lived, stable and easily

synthesized storage hard drive. While the
current electronic storage devices require active
and continued aintenance and regular
transferring between storage media

Data reading, writing speed is slow and expensive at the

moment.

DNA based storage needs no active

maintenance. Just store in a cool, dark and dry
place!

Hydrogel

myocardial infarction= when heart tissue is destroyed, it blocks the oxygen supply to heart muscles.

When cells of heart do not receive oxygen= they get permanently damaged.

Such damaged heart cells cannot regenerate, thus a thick scar develops in heart.

This is where Hydrogel can help.

Hydrogel is derived from a pigs heart.

The basic function of the gel is to provide a scaffold (platform) for new heart cells to form.

Thus hydrogel can the damaged heart recover and function like a healthy one.
Saliva functions

The function of saliva (watering in mouth) is to

1.

destroy pathogenic bacteria,

117 S&T Mrunal

2.

help in swallowing the food

3.

serve as a solvent for the molecules that stimulate taste buds

aid speech by facilitating movements of lips and tongue.

It also helps to neutralize gastric acid when there is regurgitation (reflex act of ejecting the contents of the stomach
through the mouth)

reduces heart burn

In humans, the sight, smell and even thought of food causes salivationThis is because the salivary secretion is
conditioned. Ivan Pavlovs classical experiments of conditioned reflex: A bell was rung just before the meat was placed
in the dogs mouth, and this was repeated a number of times until the animal would salivate when the bell was rung
even though no meat was placed in its mouth.

Salivation by humans on the sight, smell or thought of the tasty food is, therefore, a conditioned reflex.
Banana peel

Banana peel stays yellow for a much longer time when it is covering the fruit, but when we remove it, peel turns black
in a few minutes. Why?

Blackening of the banana peel is due to the presence of an enzyme, which is oxygen dependent.

As soon as we peel the banana the inner portion, the inner skin, gets exposed to atmospheric oxygen much more than
when it is still covering the fruit.

Inner skin is thin compared to outer layer.

While peeling, inner-skin cells get damaged and liberate chemicals known as amines.

This leaked out amines come into contact with enzymes present closely in the inner skin.

This results in immediate oxidation in the presence of atmospheric oxygen = peel turns black.

But this enzymatic reaction needs a little warmer conditions. That is why in summer and hot conditions even the outer
skin turns brown, black faster compared to that in cooler environment.

Not only banana, fruits like apples, grapes and vegetables like potato, raw banana also turn brown, black on peeling
due to the presence of that enzyme

Since bananas are tropical fruits the cells get damaged due to chill injury when we refrigerate them unlike apples
which are temperate fruits which can be stored in the fridge safely.
Bio-inspired technology

It is new branch of science and technology.

It learns from the properties and behaviour of plants and animals, particularly their modes of defence and offence

Then it attempts to produce new technological products, inspired by these properties. For example
Lizard : Adhesives

A household lizard can run effortlessly on the ceiling, defying gravity and without dropping off to the floor.

Because the palms of lizard, contains millions of tiny hairs.

118 S&T Mrunal

These hairs attach to the surface through very weak attractive forces called the van der Waals interaction.

The force of each hair is negligible, but put together thousand and millions of them, and that adds up to considerable
strength. If you shave of these hairlets, lizard will become not be able to climb walls.

After understanding this phenomenon, scientists have been able to make tape-based adhesives (like Post It).
Velcro: Maroolimatthai

Cocklebur flowers plant is found in Madurai region of Tamilnadu. Locally known as Maroolimatthai.

This plant has a number of small ball-like flowers

Each of them has lots of short pin-like hairs all around, which stick to your socks and clothes.

A swiss scientist studied this structure designed Velcro, the hook-and-loop fastener.
Porcupin: Surgical Patches

Porcupin is a large rodent. It carries as many as over 30,000 quills on the back surface of its body.

The quill has an unique structure, it allows for easy penetration into the skin and beneath, but extremely painful during
its removal or extraction.

The tip of quill is very sharp hence enables easy penetration.

But when it has to be removed by pulling it out, each of the barbs resists by opening up (a bit like an umbrella),
adhering to the skin, damaging it.

Now scientists are creating synthetic quills using polymers.

Such a biomimetic or bio-inspired polymer patch would be useful for the development of mechanically interlocking
tissue adhesives or needles, trocars and surgical staples.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
+++++
Current Affairs compilation 2012-13: missiles, joint exercises, operations, organizations
Intro

Agni, Prithvi, Trishulwhenever youre preparing for UPSC, State PSC, IBPS, SSC or LIC youve to prepare these
things over and over again. Sometimes it feels as if Indian Government tests these missiles not only to annoy China
and Pakistan but also to annoy the competitive exam aspirants. Anyways, earlier I gave the compilation for persons in
news 2012-13. click me if you havent read it already. Now here a new article dealing with defense related current
affairs (2012-13) and basic stuff.

If you feel any important term is missing, do mention it in the comments below.
Defense exercises

Kinda one of the most important topics for CSAT paper I. Its not that UPSC asks defense exercises every year but just because it
was asked once or twice then it becomes important forever, especially when it has a catchy name hahaha.

119 S&T Mrunal

Name

Bold Kurukshetra

Cormorant Strike
Iii

Garud Shakti

Indiaex-2012

Indra

Iron Fist

Jimex

Konkan

Malabar

Milan

Passex

Pralay

Red Flag

Shakti

Shatrujeet

Shoor Veer

Simbex

Tropex

Vajra Prahar

Country

force

India, Singapore in UP

Army (Tanks)

India, Srilanka, China, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Maldives. (held in Sri

Lanka)

All 3

India, Indonesia

Army

India, US

Navy

India, Russia, bi annual

Navy

Only India. In Rajasthan

Air Force

India, Japan

Navy

India, UK

Navy

India, US

Navy

India and 14 other countries: Australia, Bangladesh etc.

Navy

India, Japan

Navy

India only, in North East

Airforce+Army

India, US in Nevada

Airforce

India, France in Uttarakhand

Army

India, US in California

Army (Infantry)

Only India, Rajasthan border

Army

India, Singapore

Navy

TROPEX=Theatre Level Operational Readiness Exercise.India only

Navy

India, US in Uttarakhand

Army (Special
Forces)

120 S&T Mrunal

Varuna

Yudh Abhyas

India, France

Navy

India, US in Rajasthan

Army (Tanks)

^this is one of the uses of pib.nic.in

Missiles, weapons and vehicles
Agni

Surface to surface missile by DRDO.

Range increases as version increases.

>5000kms.

It is Indias first Intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM).

India is the 7th country to have ICBM. Other 6 are= US, Russia, China, UK, France and Israel.

North Korea is also developing an ICBM named Taepodong-2.

Agni-5

Agni-4

4000kms

Agni-3

3000kms

Agni-2

2000kms. Pakistans HATF-5 (Ghauri) has range of about 1300 kms.

Agni-1

700kms (some books/magazines say 800 but India 2013 Yearbook says 700 so I keep it 700).
Prithivi

Surface to surface. Short range (150-350)

Range increases as number increases: Prithvi I=150, II=250 and III=350kms

Its naval version is known as Dhanush. Dhanush can be launched from Navy ships.
Aircraft destroyer

Akash

Surface to air (SAM)

It can destroy many targets at once, using Rajendra radar system.

Its range is higher than trishul.

121 S&T Mrunal

Astra

Trishul

Air to air missile to destroy enemy aircrafts.

Surface to air (SAM)

Destroy low level flying objects. E.g. from a ship against low flying attacking enemy missiles.

Cruise

Brahmo
s

290 km range.

Only Supersonic cruise missile in the world. (speed close to 3 Mach)

Named after two rivers: Brahmaputra of India and the Moskva of Russia.

can be used against ship and land targets.

Can be installed on ships, submarines & aircraft and ground vehicles

Can receive navigation signals from both GPS (USA) and GLONASS(Russia).

sub-sonic cruise missile

Nirbhay is Indias equivalent of Tomahawk, a long-range, sub-sonic cruise missile, developed by the
U.S.

developed by Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO)

will travel at a sub-sonic speed (less than the speed of sound).

Nirbhay

Navy / Submarine

122 S&T Mrunal

Dhanush

It is the naval version of Prithvi II missile.

Nuke capable.

350kms

Can be launched from submarines. Range abt 700kms.

Will be used from nuclear powered submarines (like Arihant).

Anti-submarine torpedo

K-15 Sagarika

Varunastra

Anti-Tank

The helicopter-fired version of Nag (anti-tank missile).

Helina =Helicopter + Nag

Laser Homing Attack or Laser Homing Anti-Tank missile

will be used in the upgraded Arjun battle tanks.

fire and forget anti-tank missile.

can destroy enemy tanks four km away

NAMICA=carrier of NAG missile.

Both of them did not perform well during field trials in Rajasthan.

HELINA

LAHAT

NAG

NAMIKA

It is a vehicle to carry and launch NAG missles.

Invar

Anti-tank Missiles that can be launched from Arjun T-90 tanks. India will buy these from Russia

Adrushya

Anti-tank mine. By DRDO

Tanks and artillery

Arjun

Main battle tank. (T90)Kanchan=name of the armour used on this tank.

123 S&T Mrunal

Ajeya

T-72 tank

SARVATRA

Mobile bridge laying system. So armys tanks and vehicles can cross rivers.

DAKSH

It is a robotic vehicle for disabling IED (explosives).

Pinaka

Multibarrel rocket system (it looks like a truck with lot of rockets on its shoulder).

BHIM

155mm artillery gun. (these type of guns are known as howitzer) Bofors is also a howitzer.

BMP-2

Infantry combat vehicle. To transport soldiers in the battlefield.

Rifles/ uniforms

it is a self loading rifle (SLR)

by DRDO.

INSAS=Indian small arms system.

Before INSAS, we had ISHAPORE SLR.

Sujav

Compact communication and electronic warfare suit

Baby viper

An equipment for clearing land mines. By DRDO

INSAS

Indian Radars and Sonars

First understand the difference.

Radar

Sonar

RAdio Detection and Ranging

SOund Navigation And Ranging

Uses radio waves

Uses sound waves

Mostly used above water (air)

Underwater.

Faster response

Slower (because speed of sound is slower than radio waves and depends on medium
through which it travels)

124 S&T Mrunal

1.

aerial and naval

navigation

1.

Locate submarines and mines in the sea

2.

air defense

2.

underwater surveillance and communication

3.

checking weather
patterns

3.

mapping underwater terrains

Now lets check the DRDO projects related to Radars and Sonars

RADAR

Sonar

Revati (3d radar for navy)

HUMSA (shipborne)

Rohini (3d radar for airforce)

MIHIR (airborne)

Indra

Panchendriya, USUSH (Submarine)

Rajendra

Tadpole

Darpan

3D Car 3D Central Acquisition Radar

^most of these are given in India Yearbook, thats why important for MCQs.
Aircrafts
(list is definitely not exhaustive)

SU30-MKI

Fighter jets, India will buy them from Russia.

Dornier228

Transport aircraft

Saras

Transport aircraft

Light combat aircraft, Naval prototype 1.Indias first indigenous naval fighter jet (that can be used from aircraft
carrier ships such as INS Vikramaditya).
LCA NP-1
It has STOBAR capability. STOBAR= Ski Takeoff but arrested recovery.

Tejas

Light combat aircraft. (LCA)Kaveri=name of Tejass engine. It is Indias first indigenous gas turbine engine.

125 S&T Mrunal

It single seat, single engine, supersonic, light-weight, all-weather, multi-role aircraft.

Darin-III

It is upgraded version of Jaguar fighter. Developed by Hindustan Aeronautics ltd.

AEWC

Airborne Early warning and control system.

it is a really huge airplane , with high tech radar system.

It can detect enemy aircraft, ships and vehicles at long ranges.

Mirage

Fighter aircraft, From france

MiG-21

Russia

By the way, fifth generation air-craft were separately discussed in another article long time back. Click me
Helicopters

Mi-17 v5

Attack helicopter, India will buy them from Russia.Can carry out operation in any weather, any
terrain, day n night + disaster, Search-rescue operations.

Rudra

Attack helicopter.

Dhruv, Cheetal,
Chetak

Utility helicopter= transporting very few men, material etc.

AgustaWestland

Transport helicopter. From Italy but deal is stuck due to scam.

UAV/Drones

NISHANT,
Rustom-I,
Lakshya-I

These are UAV= Unmanned Aerial vehicles. Developed by DRDO

NETRA

Mini-UAV. CRPF will use it to fight naxals. BSF in counter-insurgency.It looks like that helicopter
Mr.Lobo was building in 3-idiots (and then heconveniently committed suicide so that Amir Khan could
fix it and dance on a song.)

Harpy, Heron,
Harop

These UAV are bought from Israel.

Submarines

126 S&T Mrunal

INS Chakra

Nuclear submarine. We rented this from Russia.Only US, UK, Russia, France and China had such nuke
submarines. (we are the sixth one)

INS Arihant

Nuclear submarine. Currently undergoing trial.

INS
Sindhurakshak

Submarine, bought from Russia

Navy Ship

INS Sahyadri

Stealth frigate.Project 17= Indian navy is building stealth frigates under this project.

Teg, Tarkash,
Trikand

These are also stealth frigates. India bought these from Russia.These will be used for anti-piracy
operations.

Sudarshini

Indian navy ship. It is on sailing expedition to ASEAN nations.

INS Vikramaditya

Aircraft carrier ship. Originally known as Admiral Gorshkov. India bought this from Russia.

Coast guard ships

Again list not exhaustive, but following names were in news

Samudra
Paheredar

Pollution control

Rani Abbakka

Patrolling. By the way Rani Abbakka ruled over coastal parts of Karnataka, had fought against Portugese
in late 16th centuary.

Dahanu

patrolling (mainly Maharashtra coast)

Rajkamal

Patrolling

Coast guard vs Navy

Navy

Coast guard

Admiral

Director general

Overall Maritime-security

Coastal security in Territorial waters

Anti-piracy

Anti-smuggling

127 S&T Mrunal

Reports to Defense ministry

Same
Help fishermen in distressSearch and rescue
Marine pollution, environment protection

Navy: New bases

Dweep Rakshak

Indian Navys new base in Laskhweep islands.

Baaz

Indian Navys new base in Andaman Islands.

Blue water navy

It is a really powerful navy, can operate across the deep waters in open oceans. E.g US Navy.

Indian navy also wishes to be a Blue water navy. The purchase/induction of Vikramaditya, nuclear submarines, fifth
generation air crafts etc. are part of that strategy.
Defense PSUs

To run army, navy, airforce, coast guards or any other force you need weapons, vehicles, uniforms etc. so who provides
these materials?= 1) via import from Russia, US, Israel, etc.+ 2) domestic production via DRDO, defense factories and
PSUs.

Often, we import stuff from other countries, then our PSUs will refit them to suit Indian terrain and requirements.

Now lets take a look at the organizations related with domestic production

The main boss is Dept of Defense production >Defence ministry

Under this Department of defense production, youve two type of organizations

Defense factories

Make ammunition, explosives, weapons, uniforms etc.

Defense undertaking (or PSUs)

HAL, BEL, other shipyards.

DRDO is a separate R&D organization that directly reports to Defense ministry. DRDO does the research
Development stuff. Once that is complete, mass production starts with the help of factories / PSUs.

Tagline of DRDO = Balasya Mulam Vigyanam = the source of strength is science. (lolz but first you need money to
finance the scientific research, so then what is the source of strength?)
Defense Undertaking (PSUs)

(list not exhaustive)

HAL

Hindustan Aeronautics ltd.

128 S&T Mrunal

BEL

Shipyards

MIDHANI

NIRDESH

HAWK jet trainer

SU-30 MKI

LCA

Dornier (transport aircraft)

Dhruv (light helicopter)

Cheetal/Chetak (Helicopters)

Bharat Electronics

Sonar, communication devices, electronic systems for tanks, aircrafts.

Also develops solar cells, EVM (electronic voting machine) etc.

Garden Reach, Kolkata

Mazagon, Mumbai (and not Goa)

MIshra-DHatu NIgam ltd.

Provides high quality metals, alloys, materials required for air-craft, tank, weapons production.

National institute for Research and Development in Defense Shipbuilding.

For self-reliance in defense production related to navy.

Near Kozhikode, Kerala

It is not a PSU but a society.

Private sector

Before 2001, private sector wasnt allowed in defense production. But now

26% FDI is allowed in Defense sector.

Issue: 26% is very low. It doesnt encourage foreign players transfer their defense technologies in India, therefore
Commerce ministry wants this FDI limit to be increased to 74%. for more, click me to read the news article
Exhibitions

129 S&T Mrunal

AERO india: air force related. 2013s show held in Bengaluru.

Defexpo India: weapons, machines related to Land, Naval and Internal Security. 2012s show held in New Delhi.
Paramilitary forces?

Different books give different definitions of what is meant by Paramilitary forces.

For example, some would say Paramilitary = those fall under Home ministry and not under Defense ministry. E.g.
CRPF, BSF, ITBP etc. Others will counter it saying forces like IB and CBI also fall under Home ministry but by no
means theyre paramilitary.

In 2011, Government of India made the formal definition: Paramilitary force =headed by Military officer (and not an
IPS officer).

CRPF, BSF, ITPB etc are all headed by Director Generals but these director generals are actually IPS officers (and not
military officers.) Hence going by that definition, we are left with only three real paramilitary forces

1.

Assam Rifles

2.

Special Frontier Force

3.

Coast Guard

Ok then
1.

what are CRPF, BSF, ITBP, CISF and SSB? =these are Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF).

2.

Then what are RAW and IB = they are intelligence gathering agencies (internal and external)

3.

Then what are CBI and NIA= they are law enforcement agencies.
Organizations

Establishment Years are not important but the chronology is.

1835

1861

1920

Assam
Rifles

RPF

TA

originally Catchar Levy.

Also known as Sentinels of North East and Friends of the hill people (kinda too clichd,
hence unlikely for MCQs).

Falls under Home ministry (and not Defense ministry).

However, its DG is an army officer, hence it is a true/real paramilitary force.(and the oldest
one)

It also protects the Indo-Myanmar border. (SSB looks after Nepal, Bhutan border)

Railway protection force. Its evolution can be traced to Indian police Act made in 1861. Under
that Act, part of the British police manpower was deployed for protection of railways.

Territorial army. Falls under Defense Ministry.

130 S&T Mrunal

1939

1941

1946

1948

1962

1962

CRPF

CBI

Home
Guards

This is like a part time job. A member can continue his routine job / business as a civilian and
every year he has to render service in Territorial army for a few months.

Similar force in USA = known as National Guards.

CRPF (originally Crown representatives police).

Sardar Patel renamed it to Central Reserve Police force.

Falls under Home ministry. This is the main fighting force against naxal and internal
disturbances.

Under special police establishment Act. Later turned into CBI. (1963)

On TV channels, you often hear Congies giving argument that CBI is independent because
doesnt fall under Home ministry so we are not controlling CBI.

It is a bogus argument because CBI reports to Department of personnel and training, and
personnel ministry falls under Prime Minister. Although for corruption cases, CBI reports to
CVC.

Similar force in USA=FBI.

Home guards. (Army has similar force known as Territorial army). These are Voluntary
forces (part time job). Work: bandobast during election, rioting, traffic, disasters etc.

Home ministry frames the policies, functions, training for home guards. The cost of force is
shared between centre +states.

National cadet Corps.

Motto: Unity and Discipline (Ekta aur anushasan.)

Indo Tibetan border police. Setup in the wake of Chinese aggression.

It was also responsible for KASABs security in Mumbai jail. Then they asked crores of rupees
and Maharashtra Government refused to pay.

Falls under Home Ministry.

Special Frontier Force. For carrying guerilla operations behind Chinese lines.

Falls under Defense ministry.

NCC

ITBP

SFF

131 S&T Mrunal

1963

1965

1968

1969

1985

1990

1992

Originally Special service bureau, now Sashastra Seema Bal.

It protects Nepal and Bhutan border.

Border security force.

During war time, BSF will do the policing work in any enemy territories captured by Indian
Army + taking care of refugees and prisoner of war (PoW).

Research and Analysis wing (RAW)

Doesnt fall under Home / Defense / Foreign ministry. This organization directly reports to
PM.

Similar force in USA=CIA, Russia=FSB (earlier KGB), Israel= Mossad, China=MSS.

RAW looks into External intelligence gathering.

IB (Intelligence bureau) under Home ministry looks into Internal intelligence gathering.
Before RAW was created (1968), this IB used to do both internal and external intelligence
gathering.

Central Industrial security force. Protection of airports, PSUs, nuke labs and powerplants.

CISF is a cost-reimbursement force meaning its cost is borne by the client and not the
taxpayer. E.g. if airport is getting CISF cover, then air port has to pay them (so ultimately airpassengers have to pay.)

Infosys is the first private company to get CISF protection.

SPG

Special protection group. Setup after Indiras assassination. Provides security to PM, and his
family.

RR

Rashtriya Rifles. Counter insurgency in Kashmir. It is part of Army (hence defense ministry).

Rapid Action force

Made from CRPF

It was setup mainly for controlling riots. But nowadays also used in disaster Management,
anti-naxal ops, UN peace keeping ops.

Vajra= riot control vehicle of RAF.

SSB

BSF

RAW

CISF

RAF

132 S&T Mrunal

200
8

Falls under Home ministry.

Combat battalion for resolution action. Made from CRPF. To fight naxals.

Similar force of Andhra police Is known as Grey-hounds.

National investigation agency. After 26/11 attacks. Just like CBI, this one also reports to
Personnel Ministry.

COBRA

200
9

NIA

Lets try to consolidate some important stuff from above table

Defense ministry vs Home ministry

Defense ministry

1.

Army: Rashtriya Rifles, Territorial army

2.

Navy

3.

Airforce

4.

Home

1.

Internal security=CRPF, RAF, COBRA, Assam

Rifles(NE), CISF (PSUs, Airports etc.)

2.

Border security=SSB (Nepal Bhutan), BSF (Pak,

Bangla), ITBP (Tibet), Assam Rifles (Myanmar)

Coast guard

3.

Law Enforcement=CBI, NIA: but they dont report to

home ministry.

5.

For special ops: Marcos (Navy), Garuda

(Airforce), Ghatak (Army), Special Frontier
Force.

4.

Intelligence=IB (internal) + RAW (external) but

RAW falls directly under PM.

6.

NCC

5.

For special operations=NSG

Special forces across world

For Surgical operations like airplane hijack, terrorist/hostage situation.

NSG

India

SAS

UK

Delta Force

US

GSG-9

Germany

GIGN

France

133 S&T Mrunal

Shar-et-matkal

Israel

Mock questions
1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

Which of the following is not a UAV?

a.

Nishant

b.

Rustom

c.

Netra

d.

Dhruv

Which of the following has highest range in kms?

a.

Prithvi

b.

Brahmos

c.

Dhanush

d.

Agni-V

Which of the following country doesnt have ICBM missiles?

a.

India

b.

China

c.

USA

d.

South Korea.

Which of the following is not a Surface to surface missile

a.

Agni

b.

Prithvi

c.

Trishul

d.

None of above.

What is the FDI limit in Defense sector in India?

a.

b.

26

c.

49

d.

74

What is NIRDESH?
a.

State of the art electronic communication system for Navy

134 S&T Mrunal

7.

8.

9.

b.

An organization for making India self-reliant in defense technology

c.

Joint naval exercise between India and USA

d.

None of above

Correct statement
a.

Garden Reach shipbuilders= Andhra

b.

Mazagon dock= Goa

c.

Both A and B

d.

None

In terms of range, find correct order: from lower to higher?

a.

Agni V, Sagarika, Dhanush, Brahmos

b.

Sagarika, Dhanush, Brahmos, Agni V

c.

Brahmos, Dhanush, Sagarika, Agni V

d.

None of above.

Find the odd term

a.

Helina

b.

Nirbhay

c.

Sagarika

d.

Nirdesh

10. Find the odd sequence

a.

Indra, Rajendra, Mihir, Revati

b.

Mihir, Panchendriya, USUSH, Rajendra

c.

Indra, Rajendra, Rohini, Revati

d.

None of above.

11. incorrect Match

a.

Mirage=Russia

b.

J31=Japan

c.

SU30-MKI=S.Korea

d.

All of above.

12. Kaveri is an engine Developed for

a.

INS Arihant

135 S&T Mrunal

b.

Light combat aircraft

c.

T90 Arjun tank

d.

none of above

13. Which of the following ship can be used during oil spills?
a.

Sahyadri

b.

Arihant

c.

Chakra

d.

Samudra Paheredar

14. Correct Match

a.

Dweep Rakshak:Indian Navys new base in Andaman

b.

Baaz: Indian Navys new base in Maldives.

c.

Both A and B

d.

None

15. First private sector company to get CISF cover was

a.

TCS

b.

WIPRO

c.

Satyam

d.

infosys

16. Which of the following is not a central armed police force?

a.

BSF

b.

CRPF

c.

CISF

d.

Rashtriya Rifles

17. Which of the following is not a central paramilitary force?

a.

Assam Rifles

b.

Special Frontier Force

c.

Coast Guard

d.

NSG

18. Which of the following doesnt report to home ministry

a.

RAF

136 S&T Mrunal

b.

CRPF

c.

SSB

d.

RAW

Main article stop here. Now just some filler material.

Operations
this is too cliched for the MCQs.

Operation

Why

Force

year

Blossom

Evacuate Indians from Libya

navy

2011

Black Tornado

Kill terrorists responbile for 26/11

NSG

200
8

Sukoon

Evacuate Indians during Israel-Lebanon conflict.

Navy

200
6

Madath, Sea Waves, Castor,

Gambhir, Rainbow, Rahat

Relief after 2004 tsunami

Navy

200
4

Enduring Freedom

It was US operation in Afghanistan but India navy escored

American ships through straight of Malacca

Navy

2001

Navy

1999

Army

1999

Airforc
e

1999

Talwar

Vijay(99)

Kargil war

Safed sagar

Cactus

To prevent coup in Maldives

All 3

1988

Pawan

Peace keeping in Sri Lanka

Army

1987

Meghdoot

Capturing Siachen glacier

Army

1984

Triden, Python

Attacking Karachi port

Navy

1971

Vijay (61)

Capture of Goa, Daman and Diu and Anjidiv Islands

Army

1961

Polo

Hyderabad freedom

Army

1948

137 S&T Mrunal

Now Some more misc. GK that is not much important for MCQs.

Field formation, in terms of no. soldiers= corps > division > brigade > battalion > company > platoon > section.

In gallantry awards: Param Vir > Maharvir > Vir.

Ashok chakra = equivalent of Param Vir charka, given for bravery in peacetime. (e.g. given to police officers who
martyred during 26/11).

Medal of Honor = American equivalent of Param Vir Chakra.

Highest rank in Indian Army is not General but Field marshal. So far only two field marshals: Cariappa and
Manekshaw. In American system, these two are five star generals and rest (e.g. V.K.Singh, Bikram Singh, ) are four
star generals.

India= RAW (external intelligence) , IB (internal) Similarly UK = MI5 (internal intelligence) and MI6 (external
intelligence).

Finally some time pass questions/ food for thought

1.

If India has CBI and US has FBI then what does UK have?

2.

Every country would need a RAW but not a CBI why?

3.

USA has FBI + US Marshalls. FBI looks after federal investigation and US Marshalls do the transporting of federal
prisoners, serving warrants and securing federal courts. On that logic, While India has CBI, but why doesnt India have
Indian marshals?

Answers for time pass questions

1.

Nothing. Because UK is not a federal country. Although UK does have special police forces to fight organized crime
and narcotics. But in terms of jurisdiction and functions, theyre not equivalent to CBI/FBI.

2.

Hint given in answer 1.

3.

because most of the federal prisoners in India are either out on bail or doing Aiyaashi in the jail so separate police to
transport prisoners=not needed.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
+++++
Science Technology & Innovation (STI) Policy 2013: Salient features, highlights, criticism
Timeline

1958

Indias first Scientific Policy Resolution.

1983

New policy. focused on the need to attain technological competence and self reliance.

2003

This new policy wanted to

1.

Bring science and technology together

138 S&T Mrunal

2.

Bring higher investment into R&D to address national problems.

2013

Yet another science-tech policy. (made by Department of Science and Technology).

2010-20

India has declared this as decade of innovation

SRISHTI

Goal of new Science, Technology and Innovation Policy (STI) policy = SRISHTI.

SRISHTI= Science, Research and innovation system for High technology led path for India. (that is not SRISHTI.that
is SRISHTLPFI, but these Government officials will forcibly turn any scheme into a catchy phrase to harass the UPSC
aspirants.)
STI 2013 policy

1.

Released in the Indian Science Congress at Kolkata.

2.

use STI for faster, sustainable and more inclusive growth

3.

focus on both STI for people and people for STI.

4.

We will position India among the top five global scientific powers by 2020

5.

Well release more research papers.

6.

Well Encourage private sector to invest in Research and Development (R&D)

7.

Well Achieve gender parity in S&T. (meaning bring more female scientists)

8.

Global cooperation, science diplomacy.

Key features of the STI policy 2013
#1: Cash power

Average globle investment in Sci-tech-innovation = >1 trillion dollar (2009)

While India barely spends around 1% of its GDP in research, Development, innovation.

Therefore, Policy says, well increase the spending in sci-tech-innovation to 2% in next five years.

HOW?= via private sector participation, PPP.

To increase the private sector investment in R&D, well create a conductive environment (meaning well increase FDI,
well give private cos tax reliefs, well reform the IPR regulations and so on).
#2: Manpower

Well promote the spread of scientific temper amongst all sections of society.

139 S&T Mrunal

Well try to attract talented and bright minds towards careers in science, research and innovation.

Well increase the number of R&D personnel by 66% in next five years.

Well create environment for women to enter in R&D field.

well setup inter university centers= bringing together different disciplines of humanities and science together.
#3: Business

Well identify 10 sectors of high potential and put more resources into it for S&T.

Indias share in high tech products is around 8% globally. We want to double this.

Well increase R&D intentsity in Service sector, small and medium scale enterprises.

The investment in S&T is risky. So, We (Government) will share the risk with private sector, this will increase their
confidence.

Well provide new financing mechanisms for entrepreneurs (=loans at cheaper interest rate) so they can venture in
R&D without the fear of failure.

Well create a public procurement policy that favors indigenous innovations. (for example, if new type of pencil is
developed by Indians and S.Koreans, then Government departments will buy Indian pencils rather than Korean
pencils)

Well achieve synergy between R&D policy for agriculture vs. STI policy.
#4: Climate change

We already Development National Action plan for Climate Change (NAPCC). The STI policy will play active role in this.
#5: PPP

Well setup a National science, Technology and innovation foundation. This will help investing in S&T projects via PPP.

Well setup large scale R&D facilities via PPP mode.

When it comes to giving public funds, well treat private sector R&D institutions at par with public sector institutions.
#6: IPR

Well modify the Intellectual property rights(IPR) for social goods, IPR generated under PPP.

Well launch Technology business incubators (TBIs) and science-led entrepreneurship.

Well provide incentives for green manufacturing.

For sharing IPRs between Investors and inventors, well setup regulatory and legal framework.
#7: Participation
Inclusion

Well increase accessibility, availability and affordability of innovations, especially for women, differently-abled and
disadvantaged sections of society.

140 S&T Mrunal

NGOs

Well give NGOs pivotal role for delivery science-tech-innovation outputs especially related with rural / grassroot level.

Lot of new grassroot innovations are taking place, but they donot transform into commercial applications, well try to
bridge this gap.

Various ministries associated with socio-economic sectors, are already running schemes for R&D in their sector. Under
new STI policy, well try to leverage and coordinate these spending.
State Governments

State Governments are important stakeholders, so well setup state specific plans under new STI policy and well also
strengthen the Sci-Tech councils / boards in the States.

Centrally developed plans for investments are rigid. Well provide flexible approach, to fine-tune Five year plan
schemes in response to rapid changes in S&T.
International

Well forge strategic partnerships and alliances with other nations through both bilateral and multilateral cooperation
in science, technology and innovation.

Modern science requires truckload of resources. So well setup some international consortia with other countries to
create high cost global infrastructure.

Science diplomacy, technology synergy with other countries.

#8: Public awareness

People must be made aware of the implications of particular science-tech-R&D initiatives- be it ethical, social or
economic. (so that Jholachhap NGOs funded by Videshi Taaqat(foreign powers), cannot use them as cannon fodder
during protests against BT brijnal, Nuke powers etc.)

We will release white papers on new science projects to generate awareness.

Criticism
#1: private sector =no social good

1.

On one hand, STI policy wants inclusive Development and social goods. But on the other hand, it says the investment
in R&D sector is very low and well bring more investment from private sector.

2.

Here comes the problem: When private sector invests in R&D, their aim is always profitability.

3.

Theyre not much interested in delivery of social goods.

4.

For example a drug company would rather prefer to do research on new diabetes related drug / supplement rather
than some new product to combat malnutrition. Same way, iphone6 vs. clean energy / water recycling.

In this policy, Government says additional R&D investment will come from private sector = indirectly theyre hinting
that we (the State) are not interested in R&D investment because we want to control fiscal deficit. But history tells us
that no country, has developed without massive State investment in R&D.
#2: Indian private sector is lazy in research

Government is already giving many tax reliefs to Indian corporates so they can invest more in research, buying /
import necessary machinery without hassle etc. yet they donot invest that much in R&D compared to their American
counterparts.

141 S&T Mrunal

We take pride in our IT sector. But our IT sector is mostly involved in the back-office tasks and software coding for
international giants like Google, Microsoft and Apple. We dont have an Indian brand of our own, that can compete
with them.

Research Development has long gestation period. Indian businessmen are more concerned with short term gains.
Therefore, Government is over-confident when it expects that Indian private sector to invest lot of money in R&D.
#3: no lesson from past

The new STI policy doesnt provide any analysis / reason why the last three policies failed. And what precautions will
they take to make sure this new policy wont be another #EPICFAIL.

For example, It says India is not investing much in R&D sector, there is need to attract more manpower towards
science-research field.all these things have been repeated thousands of times in previous speeches of Presidents and
prime ministers and policies.
#4: No structural / fundamental reforms

To break the stalemate in research development, Government needs to fundamentally reform the higher education,
the funding and autonomy of universities, IITs, IIMs etc.

No amount of private sector investment can compensate the loss through brain drain. (and the Nobel prizes lost
because of it). But the STI policy is not much concerned with this angle.
#5: Conflicting Goals And Policies

Policy document repeatedly emphasizes that both economic growth and social good will be pursued through STI. But there are
two sets of problems here,
1.

Can private sector funded R&D directly deliver social goods?

2.

Can science really tackle the social sector problems (gender parity, inclusiveness) on its own, without the necessary
political will?
Mock Questions
Mains

1.

Write a note on the New Science Tech Innovation Policy of 2013. (12/15 marks)
Essay

1.

Gender Parity

2.

Green Economy

3.

Role of Science technology and innovation in social empowerment.

Decision Making question for CSAT paper II

Ok this is a non-serious question:

You are a Joint Secretary in Department of Science and Technology. And you have designed a really great scheme for nuclear
research / climate change / sustainable Development or whatever. But your proposed scheme doesnt have a catchy name /
phrase / abbreviation. Your boss says hell not forward your file to cabinet approval unless you come up with a catchy name.
What will you do?
a.

Ask your colleagues, facebook friends, wife, children, neighbors and relatives to help you get a catchy name.

142 S&T Mrunal

b.

Name the scheme after Nehru Gandhi family and directly forward the file to minister, bypassing your boss.

c.

Start from scratch. Throw away the file. Then First think of a catchy name and then design a scheme that fits into that
name.

d.

Forget about the scheme, go home and watch TV.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
+++++
Current Affairs Compilation 2012-13 for SSC CGL, UPSC CSAT
Prologue
Previous I released two Current Affairs compilations (2012-13)
1.

Persons in news, books, sports, Misc.GK = click me

2.

Defense, missiles etc= click me.

Now moving to the third article on the series: Space tech.

For competitive exams, the Space tech is further divided into two parts:

Part

What?

Source

1.

Theory / static

Basic info on planets, stars, supernova, big bang

theory, blackholes etc.

NCERT science textbooks/ GS

Manual / GK books.

Current affairs

Various space programs, satellites telescopes,

astronauts in news.

Newspaper, magazine, internet.

When it comes to MCQs (space tech):

Both theory and current affairs are important for For SSC CGL (Tier 1), UPSC CSAT, CDS, NDA, CAPF, State PSC
prelims exams.

However, for IBPS, SBI, LIC type exams, they usually dont go into theory. If they want to ask space related questions,
they generally ask it from the current affairs portion.

When it comes to Descriptive paper (Mains) of UPSC / State PSC

For space tech related questions, only current affairs is important (mostly 2 marker, 5 marker questions.) The theory
portion doesnt come into picture, in the descriptive papers.

The best way to prepare ^this (for mains)= maintain notes out of newspapers and magazines throughout the year, and
revise it often.

Mainly there are two types of players in competitive exam (based on their approach for Space-Tech):
1.

Those who donot prepare space tech at all, thinking Thik haifor 2-3 marks, why bother at all!?

2.

Those who prepare too much space tech e.g. On April 18, 2001, at 04.22PM, GSLV-1 was launched. Its weight was 1540
kg and height was 49m.

143 S&T Mrunal

Either approach is dangerous. Keep the middle path.
The Basics

before dwelling into ready revision of Space-Tech current affairs, Im going to write about a few basic concepts.

Please note: following basics are not necessarily technically correct. Theyre just meant to help you visualize and
remember things.
Basic: What does ISRO do?

1.

When something is sent to space, it can be Manned (with astronauts) or Unmanned (without astronauts).

2.

The unmanned missions have two things:

Examples

One Launch Vehicle

PSLV, GSLV

One or More Satellite(s)

INSAT, RISAT, CARTOSAT.

sometimes, instead of satellites, it can be rovers, space telescopes.

The Launch Vehicle (e.g. PSLV, GSLV) sends the satellite(s) into the space.

After covering a particular distance, the satellite (e.g. INSAT, GISAT) gets detached from the Launch Vehicle.

Then Satellite opens up its wings like a butterfly from cocoon. Those wings have solar panels, they provide electricity to
the satellite.

Satellite rotates around the earth and sends signals to and fro- thus it helps in telecommunication, TV signal
broadcasting, disaster/weather monitoring, sea navigation etc.

If we put the satellite @35800 km in the equatorial plane, itll appear fixed from any point on earth, and well call it a
Geostationary satellite.

And the Launch vehicle then returns back to Earth, usually falling in the ocean or uninhibited land. The scientists
collect the launch vehicle and re-use its parts for next mission.
Basics: ISS

ISS= International space station.

ISS is like a hostel in the space. Astronauts go there, stay for some weeks/ months do some observation, research,
repairwork and come back home.

US, Japan, Russia, Canada and many other countries have invested in this ISS space station.

But China is not a partner in ISS project. China wants to build its own Space station. Thats were Shenzhous-9 and
Tiangong-1 come into picture.
Basics: Tiangong and Shenzhou

Tiangong-1= means heavenly palace.

144 S&T Mrunal

This is Chinas experimental space station. So this is the hostel for Chinese astronauts in space.

Ok but how will you send Chinese astronauts to this heavenly palace? Ans. Via Shenzhou spacecraft.

Shenzhou means Divine vessel.

In 2012, China used this divine vessel (Shenzhou 9) to send its first female astronaut Liu Yang to that Heavenly
palace (Tiangong-1)

In 2013, China will send more astronauts to that Heavenly palace (Tiangong-1), using Shenzhou 10.
Basics: Atlantis Space shuttle

Ok recap again, to send satellites in the space, you need a launch vehicle (e.g. PSLV, GSLV).

Similarly to send people into space, you need a space craft / rocket e.g. Chinas Shenzhou. Americas Atlantis and
Russias Soyuz also do the same thing.

The Atlantis is a space shuttle of NASA. It looks like an airplane.

Atlantis can be used for launching space telescopes, satellites as well as people in to the space, as per the mission
requirements.

And Atlantis can come back and land on earth like a regular airplane (except that during the landing, Atlantis will open
parachute to reduce its speed).

It had carried 33 missions from 1985 to 2011

Atlantis was retired in 2012.

Columbia is another example of NASAs Space Shuttle. But in 2003, it crashed during re-entering into Earths
atmosphere.

India born female astronaut Kalpana Chawla died in this accident. We named our Weather satellite after her
(KALPANA-1).
Basics: Soyuz spacecraft

Just like China uses divine vessel (Shenzhou) to send people into space, similarly Russia uses Soyuz to send people
into space.

In 2012, three astronauts (including Sunita Williams) were sent to International space station (ISS) using Soyuz.
Basics: spacewalking

There are two types of missions/probes: Manned and unmanned.

Manned = sending people into space.

But what do people do in the space?

They go to moon, hoist the flag of their nations, E.g. Neil Armstrong.

They spend a few months on the international space station (ISS) or Heavenly Palace (Tiangong) or similar
hostel (space station. E.g. Indias first astronaut Rakesh Sharma spent 8 days in a Russian space station.

But often the outside body a spacecraft/hostel (space station) requires some repairing, maintenance or upgrades.

145 S&T Mrunal

So, when astronaut goes out of the spacecraft, wearing that white suit and ballon shaped helmet and does some
walking/repairing work, that is known as spacewalk.

Currently Sunita Williams holds the longest spacewalk record for females. (50+ hours). For males, it is Anatoly
Solovyev (77+ hours).

By the way, Sunita Williams also holds the record for the longest single spaceflight by a woman. (195 days).
Basics: Dragon capsule

Ok so far we know there are hostels in the space (e.g. ISS, Tiangong). People go there, spend a few weeks / months.
But if it is a hostel, itd require food and supplies.

A private company (Space X) has designed the Dragon capsule to deliver the food and supplies to space stations.

It successfully delivered cargo to ISS space station in 2012.

Basics: Anti-satellite missiles

We have learned the importance of launch vehicles, satellites and space stations.

But if an enemy shoots down our satellites then our banking and sharemarket system will collapse, Our army, navy and
airforce will not be able to attack back effectively, and more importantly juntaa will not be able to watch IPL matches
and saas-bahu serials or log into facebook and orkut.

Back in 2007, Chinese military used an Anti-Satellite missile to destroy its own weather satellite. This made Americans
(and Indians) very nervous.

But we have Agni-V missile. It has range of 5000kms. If we make some modifications in it, we can also use it to destroy
enemy satellites. So now China is also nervous.

Basics part is over. now lets get to business: Space Tech related current affairs (2012-13) for rapid revision. First well look at
the space programs of India, US, Russia, China and other countries. Then well look at telescopes and Persons in News (Space)
Space programs: India

Carried out by Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO)

Chairman=Dr. K. Radhakrishnan. He had replaced G Madhavan Nair. (First Chairman of ISRO was Vikram Sarabhai.)

HQ

Banglore

Satish Dhawan Space

centre

Shriharikota, Andhra. We usually launch satellites from here. (or from French Guiana in
S.America).

Physics research lab

Ahmedabad

Antrix

Banglore

Indias Launch Vehicles: PSLV vs GSLV

146 S&T Mrunal

PSLV

GSLV

Polar satellite launch vehicle

Geosynchronous satellite launch vehicle

Can carry upto 1600 kg satellite

2500kg

Used for launching Indian remote sensing satellites (IRS) such as

CARTOSAT, RISAT, OCEANSAT, RESOURCESAT

For launching Indian National satellites

(INSAT) such as INSAT 2E, 3A., GSAT-2,8,12.

Latest version is PSLV-XL. Can carry upto 1750 kg. It was used to launch
Chandrayaan, RISAT. And in future, itll be used for Mars mission as well.

Next version is GSLV MK-III, can carry upto

4000kg

Indias Satellites: IRS vs INSAT

IRS

INSAT

Indian remote sensing satellites

Indian National satellites (INSAT)

Monitoring natural resources, crops, minerals,

forest cover etc.

Telecom, TV broadcast, DTH, weather forecasting, telemedicine, teleeducation, search and rescue etc.

Launched using PSLV.

Using GSLV.

Examples of IRS = CARTOSAT, RISAT,

OCEANSAT, RESOURCESAT

Examples of INSAT= INSAT-2E, 3A,. And GSAT-2,8,12.

Now lets take a look at the satellites that have been in news recently (or mentioned in Yearbook)

147 S&T Mrunal

Aditya-1

For studying Solar Coronas.

Astrosate-1

For astronomy.

ISRO is building this remote sensing satellite.

It can take images of earth with resolution of 0.25 meters.

Itll be used for cartography and high resolution mapping.

Geo Imaging Satellite.

Itll be positioned 36,000 kms above the earth.

Itll be used for disaster management, border security.

This is Indias heaviest satellite so far.

It was ISROs 101st mission.

It was launched French Guiana.

It also carried second payload of GAGAN. (First payload of GAGAN was sent via GSAT-8).

Itll increase Indias telecommunication signals.

Indian Navy will also use it for communication.

after serving for 13 years, this satellite completed its mission life in 2012.

Weather satellite (meteorology), search and rescue operations.

At present Indias meterological observation is done by two satellites Kalpana-1 and INSET 3A. This
INSAT 3D is more powerful and advanced.

RISAT-1 is Indias first radar imaging satellite

It can scan the earth surface during both day and night, even in cloudy conditions. So it is an all
weather satellite.

CARTOSAT3

GISAT

GSAT-10

GSAT-7

INSAT-2E

INSAT-3D

RISAT-1

148 S&T Mrunal

Use= paddy monitoring and management of natural disaster like flood and cyclone.

It was launched using PSLV-XL launch vehicle.

Indo-French satellite

SARAL= Satellite with ARgos and ALtiKa.

It was launched From Sriharikota, Andhra.

Itll be used for marine meteorology, oceanography climate monitoring etc.

SARAL

ISROs first mission was to send aryabhatta Satellite into space. But at that time we did not have our own launch
vehicle, so we used a Russian launch vehicle.

Today ISRO has both Satellite + Launch vehicle. And we not only send our own satellites, we also help other countries
send their satellites into space, using our launch vehicles. (ofcourse after taking cash for providing the Taxi/courier
service.)

For these type of commercial activities, ISRO takes help of Antarix.

Antarix is a Government owned company, it works as the marketing and commercial arm of ISRO.
ISROs 100th mission

ISROs 100th mission was launched from Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriarikota, Andhra Pradesh.

Here, ISRO launched two foreign satellites using PSLV launch vehicle. The name of satellites are:

1.

SPOT 6: French satellite

2.

Proiteres: Japanese micro satellite

By the way, recall that ISROs 101st mission was GSAT 10. And GSAT 10 is the heaviest satellite ISRO has launched so
far. (because 100th mission is extremely clichd and blown out of proportion, so if UPSC wants to apply its
BackbreakingTM move, itd rather ask about 99th or 101st mission hahaha).
Indias own GPS: IRNSS

At present only three countries have their own global navigation systems

USA

GPS

Russia

GLONASS. More discussed in earlier article click me

China

Beidou

To deploy a global navigation system, you need to setup lots of satellites hovering around the world, so they can scan
and sent pinpoint location of anywhere to anywhere.

149 S&T Mrunal

During the Iraq war, the Americans sent wrong GPS navigation signals to the Iraqi jets and missiles, therefore Iraqis
could not attack Americans forces in accurate manner.

Moral of the story = Dont rely on other peoples navigation system.

For the short term, We (India) are designing our missiles and fighter jets in such way that they can use both GPS
(American) and GLONASS (Russian) signals for navigation. (so if we want to attack America or its ally, we can rely on
GLONASS and vice versa.)

But for long term, we will need our own GPS like system. Therefore, ISRO is developing IRNSS.

IRNSS= Indian regional navigational satellite system.

Now if you connect the dots: we need our own GPS (IRNSS) so we can accurately attack enemies. And we will need our
own Anti-satellite missile, to shoot down satellites of enemies so their GPS cannot work accurately.
GAGAN

GPS aided geo augmented navigation (gagan)

It is a joint effort by the ISRO and the Airports Authority Of India (AAI).

Its main use is to help Air traffic control and helps pilots fly / land aircrafts in bad weather.

But as the name suggests GPS aided meaning it is not a separate independent navigation system. It depends on
GPS (American navigation system). Therefore we need IRNSS.
Space Vision India 2025

This is what ISRO plans to for future:

1.

Use satellites for rural connectivity, security and mobile services

2.

Increase imaging capability for natural resource management, weather and climate change studies

3.

Get better understanding of solar system and universe

4.

explore planets.

5.

Develop Heavy lift launcher

6.

Develop Reusable Launch Vehicles.

7.

Send Humans to space.

Cryogenic Engine

Cryogenic engines work at very low temperature.

ISRO is developing cryogenic engines

1.

for GSLV launch vehicles.

2.

for Chandrayaan-2 moon mission

earlier ISRO had tried this in 2010 but it was an #EPICFAIL.

Chandrayaan-1

150 S&T Mrunal

It was Indias first unmanned moon mission.

It found evidence of water on Moon. It also did the surved the topography, craters, polar regions and environment of
Moon.

This happened in 2008 hence too old and too clichd to be asked for MCQs.

ISRO is now working on Chandrayaan-2 joint programme with the Russian Federal Space Agency, But Russians
suffered a setback due to their Phobos grunt mission.
Mars Mission

India planning a Mars mission similar to Curiosity mission of NASA. (probably in October/November 2013.)

Mohan made official announcement about this during Independence day speech.

Mars mission will be launched using PSLV-XL.

PSLV-XL is the most powerful version of PSLV launch vehicle. Earlier it was used for Chandrayaan Mission, RISAT
and GSAT-12.

This leads to Essay / group discussion / interview topic that when millions of Indians are suffering from poverty and
malnutrition, whats point of spending crores of rupees on Moon and Mars mission? But this article is written for MCQs, so lets
not dwell into that for the moment.
Space programs: USA (NASA)

NASA=National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

There is no end to NASA missions either, but from the current affairs point of view, I would classify them into three: 1)
Mars related 2) Moon related 3) Misc.
USA: MARS related
Curiosity

This is Maha clichd topic for MCQs but anyways

Name of the mission is MSL: Mars Science laboratory.

Under this MSL mission, NASA launched Curiosity rover to Mars in 2011.

In 2012, Curiosity rover successfully landed on Mars surface.

This mission has following aims

1.

Did life ever exist on Mars?

2.

Find presence of water, and other life supporting elements.

3.

Collect data related to geology, radiation levels etc. for planning next manned mission to Mars.

Device on
Curiosity

Function

151 S&T Mrunal

CHEMIN

Chemistry and Mineralogy instrument

It is used for soil analysis on Mars.

CheMin found that minerals on the Red Planet are similar to those found in volcanic soils in
Hawaii

Tunable Laser Spectrometer (TLS)

TLS

Presence of methane in a planets atmosphere indicates that life may have existed in the past.

TLS analysed a small sample of Martian air and detected very small amount of methane.

Gale Crater

Located on Mars planet.

Curiosity rover landed here and found signs that water may have flowed in the past through this Gale Crater.
Black Beauty

It is a 320 gram space rock from Mars.

Discovered in Moroccos Sahara Desert in 2011

It contains more water than any other Martian meteorite previously found.

could unlock vital clues to the evolution of Mars.

NASA: Moon related

Ebb and Flow, Sally Ride

Two NASA spacecraft Ebb and Flow, equipped with MoonKAMs.

They were orbiting around Moon since 2011 under GRAIL mission.

But they did not have sufficient altitude or fuel to continue science operations.

Hence NASA team crash-landed them on Moon in Dec 2012.

The place where they crash landed is named after Sally K. Ride, Americas first woman
astronaut.

Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory (GRAIL)

To study the gravity field and geological structure of the Moon.

NASAs Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing satellite,

GRAIL

LCROSS

152 S&T Mrunal

MoonKAMs

It has detected presence of water locked inside the soil of moon.

MoonKAM= Moon Knowledge Acquired by Middle School Students.

The MoonKams captures images of the moons surface and sends them to the students
for study.

NASA: Misc. Missions

153 S&T Mrunal

It found evidence of water on Titan.

Titan is the largest moon of Saturn planet.

Dragon capsule was designed by a private company space X. (and not by NASA)

It delivered food, supplies and cargo to International space station.

It was launched using Flacon 9 rocket.

It is a small satellite designed by NASA aimed to capture the details of the lightening that
happens in deep space.

This will help solving the mystery of terrestrial gamma rays, or TGFs.

It is a space observatory of NASA.

It is used for discovering earth like plants.

Mercury is the innermost planet in the Solar System.

NASAs MESSENGER spacecraft has reported presence of water-ice on Mercury.

NuSTAR (the Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array)

It is a space-based X-ray telescope.

NASA launched this under Pegasus mission.

NuSTAR telescope will use high power X-rays to locate black holes, collapsed stars and
supernova remnants.

web-based tool for predicting and forecasting the radiation environment in near-Earth, lunar
and Martian space.

It will provide critical information as preparations are made for potential future manned
missions to the Moon and Mars.

Cassini

Dragon Space X

Fire Fly Cubesat

Kepler telescope

Mercury
Messenger

NuSTAR

PREDICCS

Space Programs: Russia

154 S&T Mrunal

Luna Glob

Mars500

Phobos
Grunt

Rus

Soyuz
rocket

Robotic Lunar Mission in 2015.

Joint experiments conducted by EU, Russia, China for sending human missions on Mars.

Mars has two moons. Phobos is the largest of them.Russian sent Phobos grunt mission to study it. But the
spacecraft failed and crashed into Pacific ocean.

Name of the two seater spaceship developed by Russia

Launched from Kazakhstan, carried three astronauts to International space station (ISS), including Sunita
Williams in 2012.

Space Programs: China

Beidou

HXMT

Before Beidou, only two countries had Navigation systems: USA= GPS and Russia= GLONASS.

Beidou is Chinas own version of global navigation system.

Project will be fully operational by 2020.

Hard x-ray modulation telescope

Chinas first space telescope.

for studying blackholes. (recall that Americas NuSTAR is also meant for studying blackholes).

Chinas next manned space mission.

It will also carry Chinese astronauts to Tiangong-1.

It means divine Vessel.

Manned space mission of China.

It carried Chinas first woman astronaut Liu Yang to an orbiting module Tiangong-1.

Tiangong-1 means Heavenly palace- it is Chinas prototype for future space station similar to
ISS.

Shenzhous-10

Shenzhous-9

155 S&T Mrunal

For crop assessment and disaster management.

Yaogan

It is chinas new military communication satellite.

Chinasat

Space Programs: Other countries

Kore
a

Iran

Korea Space Launch Vehicle-1 (KSLV-1)

South Korea will launch this satellite and gain entry to an elite global space club that includes Asian powers
China, India and Japan.

Earlier USA did not let S.Korea developed launch vehicles for the fear of arms race between North and
South Korea.

Pishgam =name of Monkey that was recently sent to space and returned back, under Iranian space
mission. In Farsi, Pishgam = Pioneer.

Telescopes

There are two types of telescopes:

1.

Those on the ground (e.g. SKA, Solar telescope in Ladakh) and

2.

Those in the space. (Kepler, NuSTAR, HXMT and Herschel.)

^this list is not exhaustive, but these telescopes were in news recently.
Ground telescopes

Square Kilometre Array

(SKA)

Solar telescope

worlds largest and most sensitive radio telescope

will be completed in 2024

Will be setup in South Africa and Australia.

Applications: signal transport, signal processing, computing, software and data

archiving

India is actively involved in this project

Also known as National Large Solar Telescope (NLST)

Will be built in the Ladakh region of Jammu and Kashmir by Dept of Science and
Technology.

156 S&T Mrunal

This will be worlds largest solar telescope.

Can work in both day and night.

Will help in understanding sunspots: process of their creation and decay.

Sunspots and solar winds pose a threat to the communication system on earth as
well as space satellites.

Space telescopes

Herschel

HXMT

Kepler

NuSTAR

largest space telescope ever launched (2009)

It is named after Sir William Herschel who had discovered Uranus planet.

This telescope is in news, because soon its onboard liquid helium supply will be exhausted
and itll stop working.

Helium is required to cool the instruments on Herschele space telescope.

Hard x-ray modulation telescope

Chinas first space telescope.

for studying blackholes. (recall that Americas NuSTAR is also meant for studying
blackholes).

Launched in 2009.

To discover earth like planets.

Kepler was a German astronomer who gave laws to describe the motion of planets around
the Sun.

NuSTAR (the Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array)

It is a space-based X-ray telescope.

NASA launched this under Pegasus mission.

NuSTAR telescope will use high power X-rays to locate black holes, collapsed stars and
supernova remnants.

EU+U
S

China

US

US

PIN: Persons in News (Space)

157 S&T Mrunal

Liu Yang

first Chinese woman astro.

Neil Armstrong

Apollo 11. 1969. First man to land on moon. Dead.

Sally Ride

First American woman astro. Dead. A Moon crate named after her.

Sunita Williams

Longest space walk (female).Took command of international space station in Sep 12.

Dr. K. Radhakrishnan

ISRO Chairman.

Finally two topics:

1.

CERN, God particle= http://mrunal.org/2012/08/snt-cern.html

2.

Blue Moon= http://mrunal.org/2012/08/snt-blue-moon.html

Ok so these were the notable Space tech related events/ terms happened during Jan 2012 to March 2013. If you feel any
important thing was missed, or if there is any correction, do write it in the comments below.
Mock Questions
1.

2.

3.

4.

Which of the following country is not associated with International space station?
a.

Canada

b.

Russia

c.

Japan

d.

China

Correct Statements
a.

Tiangong-1 is the experimental space telescope of China.

b.

Shenzhou-9 is the name of Chinese space station

c.

Both

d.

None

Longest spacewalk record for Female Astronauts is held by

a.

Kalpana Chawla

b.

Sally James

c.

Liu Yang

d.

Sunita Williams

Which of the following is not a telescope?

a.

Hubble

158 S&T Mrunal

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

b.

Kepler

c.

NuStar

d.

Beidou

Incorrect Statement
a.

Antrix is a privately owned company of Airtel.

b.

Antrix is the commerical and Marketing arm of ISRO

c.

Both

d.

None

Find Incorrect Match

a.

French Guiana=in North Africa

b.

Satish Dhawan Space centre=Banglore

c.

Physics Research lab= Pune

d.

All of above

Correct Statements about Dragon Capsule

a.

It was designed by Nasa

b.

It was used for delivering cargo to International space station.

c.

Both

d.

None

Incorrect Statements
a.

Indian Remote Sensing satellites are launched using GSLV.

b.

Indian National satellites are launched using PSLV.

c.

Both

d.

None

Correct Statements about PSLV-XL

a.

It is a launch vehicle, used in Chandrayaan.

b.

Itll be used in Indias Mars Mission.

c.

Both

d.

None

10. Incorrect statements about Indian remote sensing satellites

a.

They are used for monitering natural resources.

159 S&T Mrunal

b.

Theyre launched using GSLV.

c.

CARTOSAT and RISAT are examples of Remote sensing satellites.

d.

None of Above.

11. Incorrect Match

a.

Aditya: Solar Coronas

b.

Cartosat-3: high resolution mapping

c.

GSAT-10: Indias heaviest satellite so far

d.

SARAL: Indo-Japanese Tsunami prediction satellite.

12. Correct Match

a.

Spot-6: Japan

b.

Proiteres: France

c.

Beidou: Japan

d.

None of above

13. Find the Odd sequence

a.

GLONASS, Beidou, IRNSS

b.

NuSTAR, HXMT, Herschel

c.

GAGAN, PISHGAM, SARAL

d.

None of Above

14. which of the following country doesnt have its own Global Navigation system?
a.

Russia

b.

China

c.

Japan

d.

None of Above

15. which of the following is not the main aim of ISROs Space vision 2025?
a.

Develop reusable launch vehicles

b.

Develop Indias own space station.

c.

Send humans to space

d.

Use satellites for rural connectivity, security and mobile services.

16. Name of the mission under which Nasa sent a rover to Mars in 2011?
a.

MSL

160 S&T Mrunal

b.

Curiosity

c.

Pegasus

d.

None of Above

17. Gale Crater is located in

a.

Mercury

b.

Saturn

c.

Mars

d.

Moon

18. Black Beauty is a space rock from

a.

Moon

b.

Mars

c.

Saturn

d.

Mercury

19. Who/ What is Sally Ride?

a.

First female astronaut of USA

b.

A Place on Moon where two NASA spacecrafts crash-landed.

c.

Both of above

d.

None of Above

20. What is the purpose of GRAIL mission?

a.

Study the gravity field of Moon

b.

Study the gravity field of Mars

c.

Study the gravity field of Mercury

d.

Study the gravity field of Venus

21. Correct Statement

a.

Titan is one of the moon of Mars

b.

Phobos is one of the moon of Saturn

c.

Both

d.

None

22. What is/ are common between NuSTAR and HXMT

a.

Both will are space telescopes used for finding black holes.

161 S&T Mrunal

b.

Both are launched by NASA under Pegasus mission.

c.

Both A and B

d.

Neither A or B

23. Beidou is the

a.

Space station of China

b.

Mars mission of China

c.

Global navigation system of China

d.

None of above

24. Worlds Largest radio telescope:

a.

Herschel

b.

HXMT

c.

Hubbles

d.

Square Kilometer Array

25. In 2012, Sunita Williams went to ISS using which of the following spacecraft?
a.

Atlantis

b.

Discovery

c.

Soyuz

d.

None of Above

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
+++++
Current Affairs 2012-13: Diseases, Drugs and Research (Part 2 of
Universal Immunization program (UIP)

Started in mid-80s.

Under UIP, govt. gives children vaccine for seven diseases

1.

Polio

2.

Measels

3.

Childhood TB

4.

Hepatitis B

5.

Tetanus

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6.

Diphtheria

7.

Pertussis (whooping cough)

Govt. also declared year 2012-13, as Year of Intensification of Routine Immunization.

India Declared Polio-Free

2010: Government introduced Bivalent Oral Polio Vaccine (bOPV).

In Feb 2012, World Health organization (WHO) removed India the list of Contries facing active wild polio virus.

They removed us from the list because India had completed two years without single case of Polio. (last case was
reported in Howrah, West Bengal).

Only PAN (Pakistan, Afghan, Nigeria) remain

Diseases eradicated from India

Disease

Caused by

Eradication year (India)

Smallpox

Virus

70s

Guinea worm

Parasite
2000s

Yaws

Bacteria

Polio

Virus

2012

Kala Azar
Parasite
Filariasis

Leprosy

Target:2015

Bacteria

Acute flaccid paralysis (AFP)

Polio is a disease caused by a virus. But AFP can also arise for other reasons, including infection by non-polio
pathogens.

No child in India has been diagnosed with polio for nearly two years now and all the indications are that the virus
responsible for it is no longer circulating here.

However, the countrys polio surveillance system has indicated a sharp increase during recent years in the number of
non-polio AFP cases.

most of the countrys non-polio AFP cases occur in just two States Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. cases of children with
non-polio AFP were not being monitored by either the polio eradication programme or the larger state health care
system.

163 S&T Mrunal

As a result, there is no clear picture of what was causing the AFP, the kind of diseases these children displayed, or how
many of them were seriously affected
Polio Virologist dead

Jonas Salk had developed the known as the inactivated polio-virus vaccine (IPV) in the 50s.

But before that, Hilary Koprowski had invented the live-virus oral vaccine.

Hilary Koprowski is in news, because he died in April 2013.

BIBCOL

Name of public sector undertaking (PSU)

It manufactures Oral polio vaccine for Universal immunization program.

Integrated Vaccine Complex

Govt. is setting this under Universal immunization program.

Location: Kanchipuram Distrct, TN

Itll provide vaccines at affordable prices.

Itll also manufacture Penta Valent Vaccine.

Penta-valent Vaccine

Penta=five. So penta-valent vaccine=five vaccines in one.

1.

Diphtheria

2.

Pertussis

3.

Tetanus,

4.

Hepatitis-B

5.

Hib. (Hib Haemophilus Influenzae Type B). It is Responsible For Pneumonia, Meningitis And Epiglottitis)

This is an injection (and not oral drops like polio vaccine.)

In India, pentavalent vaccine was introduced in Tamil Nadu and Kerala in December 2011, under the Universal
immunization program.

Recently Delhi and Jammu and Kashmir, Haryana, Puducherry, Goa and Gujarat also started using it.
Benefits

Pentavalent vaccine helps in reducing the number of shots a child receives from nine to three.

Convenient in storage space and transport because five vaccines are combined in a single vial.
JEEV

Indias first vaccine for Japanese Encephalitis.

164 S&T Mrunal

Company: Biological E Ltd. (BEL)

Vector control

National Vector borne diseases control program (NVBDCP)

This is under National rural health mission.

Directorate @Delhi gives cash and commodity to state Governments for implementing this.

Government plans to eliminate kala-azar and filariasis by 2015.

Comprehensive program against vector borne diseases such as

Disease

By

Notes

Via female Anopheles mosquitoes.

3 stages 1) cold 2) hot 3) sweating.

World Malaria day = 25th April

12th FYP wants Annual Malaria Incidence of <1/1000.

Synriam

Malaria

Piperaquine (trade name Synriam): this was launched on World Malaria

day in 2012

Synriam =First Indian anti-malarial drug. Ranbaxy produced it, with help
of Dept. of Science and Technology + ICMR.
ELQ-300

Protozoa
(parasite)

New anti-malarial drug.

Undergoing trials.
Humanized Mice

It is engrafted with human liver cells. Itll help research liver-to-blood stage
infection of Malaria.

Kala Azar

Japanese
Encephalitis

Via female sand fly

Leads to skin darkening, therefore called kala Azar= black sickness.

Target is to eliminate Kala Azar by 2015

Via Culex mosquitos

Virus

165 S&T Mrunal

Dengue

Chikungunya

Filariasis

Pigs to mosquito to man.

More details given in old article click me

12th FYP wants to reduce JE deaths by 30%

Via Mosquito: aedes Aegypti

Real time PCR essay: this will help detect dengue on first day.

In the recent past Dengue has been reported from almost all the states and
UTs except Lakshadweep.

Via Mosquito: aedes Aegypti

ELISA blood test needed for diagnosis

symptoms similar to dengue fever

Swahili word: that which bends up, because it leads to severe pain in joints.

12th FYP wants to Containment of outbreaks of Chikungunya.

Via black flies and mosquitoes.

target is to eliminate this by 2015.

Via mosquitos

It makes the skin and tissues around leg very thick- makes it look like
elephants legs.

Parasitic
worms
Elephantiasis

Continuing to more programs under NRHM

National program for control of blindness (NPCB)

100% centrally sponsored

Goal: reduce blindness to 0.3% by year 2020

Free eye checkup and spectacles to school kids

Blindness control

166 S&T Mrunal

This disease is caused by bacteria

100% centrally sponsored (the scheme, not the disease hahaha)

It uses Multi-drug therapy (MDT).

12th FYP wants to reduce new cases to 0 for all districts.

Iodine Deficiency => goiter, retardation (mental, physical), cretinism, squint etc.

Leprosy

Iodine

AIDS control
NACO

National AIDS Control Organization

It is a division of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare

NACO implements the national aids control program (NACP)

NACP phases

Phase

One

Year

1992-1999

What?

1986: first AIDS case in India detected, in Chennai, TN.

First phase to control the spread of HIV infection.

Treatment of sexually transmitted diseases in district hospitals and medical colleges

Establishing AIDS surveillance system

condom promotion.

The School AIDS Education Programme

National AIDS Prevention and Control Policy

National Blood Policy

NGOs involvement

focus on High Risk Groups (HRGs)

1.

prostitutes

1999-2006
Two

167 S&T Mrunal

Three

Four

2007-12

2012- 2017

2.

gays

3.

drug addicts

4.

bridge populations (truckers and single male migrants)

halt and reverse the epidemic in India over the next five years.

promote district-level network of people living with HIV/AIDS

income generation and other welfare activities for HIV positive people.

reach zero infection, zero stigma and zero deaths.

Prevent new infections

Prevent Parent-to-Child Transmission

Reduce stigma and discrimination of AIDS

Increase partnership with NGO and civil society.

Social protection and insurance mechanism for HIV positive people.

Provide comprehensive care, support and treatment to all.

Bridge Population

HIV first appears among most vulnerable (e.g. prostitutes and drug addicts) and.

Bridge population means those people who acts as Bridge for transferring HIV virus from

1.

high risk group (prostitutes, drug addicts, gays) to low risk groups/general population (housewives, future kids)

2.

Urban to rural areas.

Example of bridge population = single male migrant, truck drivers, bisexual men.
Mother to Child

If a pregnant woman is HIV positive, there are now drugs that can reduce the risk of her passing HIV virus on to her
baby in the womb or at birth.

Caesarean Delivery also reduces the risk of a baby becoming infected.

if a mother is HIV positive, beast-feeding will increase the risk of her baby becoming infected. (because some HIV
transmission can occur through breast milk.)
AIDS: 12th FYP Goal

12th Five Year plan wants to

168 S&T Mrunal

1.

reduce new infections to zero and

2.

provide comprehensive care and support to all HIV positive

Truvada

Worlds first Oral pill to prevent HIV

Developed by: Gilead Sciences.

Made of two anti-reteroviral drugs: 1) Tenofovir and 2) Emtricitabine

Given approval by US FDA.

Truvada: Issues/concerns

This drug only lowers the amount of HIV virus in blood. It doesnt make a person totally immune to HIV virus.

But Some idiots will think they have become totally immune against HIV, and then indulge in unprotected sex- further
spreading AIDS.

Experts also believe that same idiots (described above), will not take the medicine regularly, and HIV virus will become
resistant to Truvada.

Then another billion dollars and 10-12 years will be required to design a new drug.

In one clinical study, some prostitutes were given Truvada, yet it did not prevent the spread of HIV. Hence critiques
are not entirely convinced about the efficiency of this drug.
OraQuick Home

Its the first Do It Yourself testkit for detecting HIVthe same one that health professionals use but without the trip to
a doctors office or the need to wait days for results.

Oral kit for HIV Test can detect antibodies developed within 1-3 months after getting infected.

It cannot pick up acute or recent infection.

Red Ribbon Express (RRE)

A special train to spread awareness about HIV AIDS.

Started in 2007.

1st December = AIDS day.

Anti-retro viral drugs

e.g. AZT, DDL and DDC,

but their effect last only for a limited duration.

These drugs are very expensive and have severe adverse reactions

HIV quickly develop resistance with single-drug therapy.

169 S&T Mrunal

The emphasis is now on giving a combination of drugs including newer drugs called protease inhibitors; but this
makes treatment even more expensive.

WHOs present policy does not recommend antiviral drugs but instead advocates strengthening of clinical
management for HIV- associated infections such as TB, pneumonia and diarrhoea.
Two types of HIV

Both are transmitted through blood/sex/mother to child.

Both cause AIDS.

But there is difference:

HIV-1

HIV-2

Quickly transmitted

Less easily transmitted

Less

period between initial infection and illness is longer.

TB control

TB shortens the survival of patients with HIV infection.

Revised TB control program, Under National Rural Health Mission (NRHM)

Provide DOTS therapy.

DOTS= directly observed treatment short course. It could drastically reduce the TB treatment duration.

More on details, given in earlier article click me

12th FYP wants to reduce annual TB cases and deaths by 50%

Lets look at the current affairs associated with TB

Risorin
CSIR is developing this new Anti-TB drug.
GeneXpert/ CBNAAT?

Problem with MDR-TB= it takes almost 8 weeks, for doctor to diagnose this disease.

GeneXpert/ CBNAAT is the latest device that can diagnose this MDR-TB in just two hours.

Fastest detection of TB. can be installed at any place and can be used by paramedical staff.

In India, itll be provided at subsidized rate (less than Rs.2000)

Crystal TB Confirm

Another TB detection test. Based on chromatography.

170 S&T Mrunal

Designed by Scientists @Delhi university.

Provides result within twenty minutes.

(given in Indian yearbook, hence listed.)

Misc TB tests
1.

MGIT Liquid Culture

2.

Hain Genotype

(there may be five dozen more TB tests in the world, but these two were given in Hindus S&T edition hence listed hahaha)
Project Axshya/ Mr.Sputum

Xshya= Sanskrit word for TB. Axshya=TB free.

Project Axshya is a civil society initiative to make India TB-free. Bulgum Bhai (Mr.Sputum) is their mascot.

He appears on TV, Radio ads, street plays, to spread the message, If you have been coughing for more than two weeks,
better get your sputum tested

Union World Conference on Lung Health was held in Kuala Lumpur. This Mr.Sputum project was featured in that
conference.
Swine Flu, Avian Flu

Avian flu

Swine Flu

Bird

Pigs

H5N1

H1N1

Tamiflu, Relenza

Antiviral drug.

Tamiflu=trade name for the drug

Oseltamivir=generic name for the drug.

Used for swine and bird flu.

Another drug is: Relenza (Zanamivir)

Concern: report suggest that the swine flu virus (H1N1) is becoming resistant to this drug.

Antiflu= this is the cheaper version of Tamiflu, produced by Cipla.

Vaxiflu-S= Indias first indigenously manufactured vaccine to combat swine flu (Cadila).
Non Communicable diseases

171 S&T Mrunal

are not passed from person to person.

long duration and generally slow progression.

examples

1.

cardiovascular diseases (like heart attacks and stroke),

2.

cancers,

3.

Asthama

4.

Diabetes.

These diseases reduce productive years of human lives= economic loss to country.

Government launched National program for prevention and control of cancer, diabetes, Cardiovascular diseases and
stroke (NPCDCS). It involves

Awareness via Mass-media, ads, promoting healthy life style.

Settings up clinics, training personnel etc.

INDIAB study=India Diabetes study. ICMR (Indian council for medical research) conducted it.
Heart related
Hydrogel

myocardial infarction= when heart tissue is destroyed, it blocks the oxygen supply to heart muscles.

When cells of heart do not receive oxygen= they get permanently damaged.

Such damaged heart cells cannot regenerate, thus a thick scar develops in heart. This is where Hydrogel can help.

Hydrogel is derived from a pigs heart. The basic function of the gel is to provide a scaffold (platform) for new heart
cells to form.

Thus hydrogel can the damaged heart recover and function like a healthy one.
Statin

Theyre drugs used for cholesterol control.

But new research indicates these Statins pose heath risks.

Omega-3 Fatty Acids

Decrease the risk of heart disease, arthritis etc.

improve bone strength

Human body cannot synthesize them.

Found in some fishes

HDL vs LDL

172 S&T Mrunal

HDL

LDL

High Density

low-density lipoprotein

Good cholesterol

Bad

Decreases heart risk

Increases

Lupifio, Klotbuster

CSIR developed it

It can dissolve the blood clots and save heart attack patient.
Cancer related
No Touch BreastScan (NTBS)

Imaging device, based on thermography, to detect brast cancer.

Increased metabolism in cancer cells leads to increase in temperature.

The NTBS device looks for temperature hot spots at the surface of breast and detects breast cancer.

However, US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) has found no evidence to support the claim that thermography
is a replacement for mammography.
Dermoscope

Melanoma=Skin cancer. To Detect Melanoma, earlier dermatologists had to put incision (cut) on the skin, take sample,
and observe It under microscope.

Dermoscope is a new handheld device for skin-cancer (Melanoma) detection.

The device uses imaging technology that, in less than one minute, visualizes the micro-vessel structure of just below
the skins surface.

So Cancer can be detected without incision.

Magic Shotgun

US researchers are using this approach for developing more effective anti-cancer drugs.
Glivec, Novartis Patent

Novartis=swiss pharma company.

Glivec/ Gleevec=their blockbuster drug for blood cancer and gastrointestinal cancers.
Evergreening

As long as a company has patent for xyz drug, others cannot manufacture it. (for 20 years).

173 S&T Mrunal

But when the patent is about to expire, the company just slightly modifies the original drug formula to create a new
drug and seeks patent for that new drug.

This practice is known as everygreening

Indian patent act prohibits Evergreening. (under Section 3(d)).

In case of Norvatis, when their Glivec patent was about to expire, they had sought patent for similar new anti-cancer
drug (Imatinib Mesylate), but lost patent case. They approached Supreme

Now Indian companies can produce generic version of this anti cancer drug, and patient will get it at cheaper price.

one-month dose of Glivec costs around Rs 1.2 lakh, while generic Indian drugs can do it at Rs 8,000.
Zimmerman / Imatinib

Imatinib Mesylate= a drug molecule to fight cancer.

It was patented under Zimmarman patent.

Now, this Glivec contains a beta crystalline form of a drug molecule imatinib mesylate. (therefore, Glivec is not really
a new drug but a typical case of Evergreening, where company merely made some chances in the old drug molecule to
file new patent.)
Glivec case timeline

1970

Indian Patents Act

2006

Patent Office rejected Novartiss Glivec application, saying Imatinib Mesylate not a new anti-cancer drug molecule.

2007

Patent Appellate board rejected Norvartis claim

2013

Supreme court also rejected Novartis claim

Novartiss side of story

1.

Glivec already patented in more than 30 countries. So this is not a case of evergreening.

2.

We provide free medicine to needy patients.

3.

If drug inventions are not protected, then pharma companies will lose the incentive to invest more time and money in
research and Development of new drug molecules = in long term itll have negative consequences when the
virus/bacteria will become resistant to existing drugs.

4.

After the defeat in supreme court, Novartis said they will not invest in drug research in India anymore.
Gardasil and Cervarix

names of the new HPV vaccines made by GlaxoSmithKline.

The Health activists say it is not properly tested, theyve filled PIL in supreme court.

their arguments

174 S&T Mrunal

1) Though both vaccines are claimed to prevent cervical cancer, the truth is cervical cancer takes twenty or more years
to develop.

2) The vaccines have just not been around that long to prove their efficacy! neither of these vaccines had been studied
to determine their potential to cause cancer

Dressing

Kinesio tape

VitaVallis

a strong elasticated tape, was developed more than 30 years ago by a Japanese chiropractor.
Popular among atheltes.

Kinesio tape can stretch and contract, inhibiting damaging movements but allowing the right kind.

Runners can continue to train even when they have a problem.

It is a nano-dressing for applying on wounds.

Created by Russian scientists It helps clean up wounds of all known types of toxic bacteria.

It does not get stuck to the wound and heals burns, cuts and any septic and infected wounds two to
three times faster than traditional methods do.

The dressing stops bleeding, ends inflammation, eliminates swellings and stimulates skin
regeneration. It also helps kill pain and remove foul wound odour.

it contains no antibiotics and is therefore effective against drug-resistant bacteria

Instruments
Neurostimulator

New therapy for Migraine (type of Headache). Migraine is a chronic disease (long-term disease, unlike Common fever.)

It is placed in the upper gum of patients mouth, through a small surgical incision. When a patient feels a headache or
Migraine coming, the device delivers stimulation to block the headache pain.

MALDI

It is a new Mass-Spectroscopy technique to detect Bacterial infection in blood, sputum, tissue etc. MALDI=Matrix
assisted laser desorption/ionization.

MALDI can accurately identify bacteria in minutes, which allows doctors to more quickly and appropriately treat
infections.
Emmident Toothbrush

Worlds first no-brushing toothbrush.

There is no need to actually brush your teeth abrasively, because It uses ultrasound waves to clean the teeth.

Launched in UK.
Vomiting Larry

175 S&T Mrunal

Larry is a humanoid simulated vomiting system designed by British scientists. It is being use to how norovirus
spreads.
Handheld Dental X-ray

Genuine Handheld X-ray sets are very expensive.

Now Chinamade Cheaper products are in the market. But they do not have adequate shielding in the X-ray tube. And
leads to accidental leakage radiation.

In India, use of such medical X-ray instruments need approval from Atomic Energy Regulatory Board. (AERB)

Use of radiation generating equipment not approved by AERB is a violation of the legal provisions and will attract
action under the appropriate provisions of the Atomic Energy Act 1962
SAR

specific and absorption rate it is a measure of the amount of radio frequency energy absorbed by the human body while
using a mobile phone) so that radiation does not affect human health.

Presently, Indias SAR limit is 2 watt per kg The Inter-ministerial Committee wants SAR to be 1.6 watts per kg.
Virtopsy

Autopsy=examination and dissection of a dead body to determine cause of death. Previously, doctors would use
scalpel, cut the chest open and examine tissues. Often, relatives of the dead donot agree for autopsies because of the
disfigurement caused by such cutting and incisions.

Now scientists have come up with a non-invasive technique for conducting autopsy. This is called Virtopsy(=virtual
autopsy). Here, doctor examines the corpse in 3-D via computer screens.

Virtopsy combine the images from high-powered magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), computed tomography (CT) and
surface scans of dead bodies. Combined, the devices are referred to as a virtobot.

The technique allows the detection of injuries such as lesions and blows often undetectable during a traditional
autopsy, as well as air pockets, heart attacks and even cancer. The method has already allowed the discovery of
haemorrhages and fractures that were not picked up during conventional autopsies.
Electronic nose

Prototype electronic instrument. It can detect small quantities of harmful airborne substances. can be used for Batch to
batch consistency during production. (perfumes, food)

Detection of contamination, spoilage, adulteration

BIONIC EYE

The implants are said to be capable of completely restoring sight to blind patients, but only if their blindness was
caused by a faulty retina
OraQuick Home

Its the first Do It Yourself testkit for detecting HIVthe same one that health professionals use but without the trip to
a doctors office or the need to wait days for results.

Oral kit for HIV Test can detect antibodies developed within 1-3 months after getting infected.

It cannot pick up acute or recent infection.

176 S&T Mrunal

Surgeries
Femtosecond Cataract Surgery

Femtosecond=one quadrillionth of a second.

This is the latest surgical for Cataract, using a computer Laser system, now the the surgeon can soften and break up the
cataract within Femtoseconds.

This surgery is more precise and causes less inflammation after surgery.
Ex-Vivo Lung Perfusion

Lung transplant surgery is required in patients with diseases such as Chronic pulmonary disease, cystic fibrosis etc.
(usually associated with heavy smokers.)

Problem: 80 percent of donated lungs, cant be used, either because theyre too full of fluid, infected with bacteria, or
otherwise damaged.

Ex-Vivo lung perfusion =A new way of treating these lungs and make them donor friendly. In this technique, a special
chemical solution is injected into dead-persons lungs and then he is kept on a ventilator for 4-6 hours.

This can reverse lung injury and dry out excess fluid. Then lungs can be removed and transplanted to the patient.
Nobel Prizes
G-proteincoupled receptors (GPCRs)

Human cells have these receptors It enables them to sense chemical substances hormones, poisons and drugs in
their environment.

2012 Noble Prize in Chemistry is given for this topic.

Winners: Lefkowitz, Kobilka

Blank Slate Cells / Reprograming Cells / Disease in Dish

Terms associated with stem cell research done by Gurdon and Yamanaka (they got Noble-2012 for it).

Once created, these blank slate cells can be used for developing into other cell types.

For example, Skin cells can ultimately be transformed into brain cells. This Reprogramming allows scientists to create
particular kinds of tissue they want to study, like lung tissue for studying cystic fibrosis, or brain tissue for
Huntingtons disease.

By reprogramming cells from patients with a particular disease, they can create new tissue with the same genetic
background, and study it in the lab.

That can give new insights into the roots of the problem. In addition, that approach allows them to screen drugs in the
lab for possible new medicines.
Misc.
ENCODE project

ENCyclopedia Of DNA Elements, which was started in 2003. The goal is to find all functional elements in the human
genome.

177 S&T Mrunal

Until recently, the majority view has been that much of the DNA is junkDNA that is never transcribed and has no
biological function and only 1% of the DNA is actually responsible for everything.

But ENCODE project has found that not one per cent but more than 80 per cent of the genome has an active role or
function.
Telomer

They are situated at the ends of chromosomes and protect the DNA from damage.

Longer the size of telomer, means person will have longer life expectancy.
Memory Enhancer/ BESEB

CSIR developed this drug

From Brahmi plants

To improve brain memory.

Radioimmunoassay (RIA)

technique to measure hormones, vitamins, drugs etc. in vitro (outside body).

IRMA

Immuno radiometry Assay. same application like RIA.

Bhabhatron, the indigenous telecobalt machine

for cancer treatment.

developed by Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai

Program of action for cancer therapy.

Launched by IAEA.

Under this PACT program, we donated one Bhabhatron machine to Vietnam

These plant located in Trombay, Delhi, Banglore etc.

provides radiation sterilization for medical and surgical instruments.

In rural areas, midwifery kits and delivery packs are given after doing radiation
sterilization here. It reduces chances of infection during delivery.

means that harmful effects of radiation increase with radiation dose and even small
radiation doses can cause some finite harm. Some scientists challenge the validity

Bhabhatron

PACT

ISOMED

Linear No Threshold (LNT)

concept

178 S&T Mrunal

of LNT concept.

Drugs from Sea

They say, in low dose radiation we would be fine, and would not have any cellular
damage.

Program to harness the bioactive compounds from marine organisms for

therapeutic uses e.g. anti HIV, cancer, malaria etc.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
+++++
Current Affairs 2012-13: Government schemes, Policies, Yearbook stuff (Part 1 of 3)
Prologue
So far in the current affairs compilation

Persons in news, books, sports, Misc.GK

click me

Defense, missiles

click me

Sci-tech: Space tech, satellite launches

click me

Sci-tech: Healthcare/ public health related

In this article (3 parts)

Environment biodiversity

To be released

Economy

To be released

This series on Current affairs related to Public Health, contains three parts
1.

Part 1: Polity, laws, policies, bills, yearbook (schemes)+ any current affairs related to that.

2.

Part 2: Current affairs related to major diseases (AIDS, TB, Cancer, Heart), and other misc. science tech stuff from
Hindu related to Healthcare. click me

3.

Part 3: Mock questions based on part 1+2. click me

Constitutional provisions

FR

Article 21: life and liberty. It includes right to health, emergency medical aid, timely treatment in
Government hospitals etc.

DPSP

Preserve health and strength of workers and children

179 S&T Mrunal

Duties

Opportunity for healthy Development of kids

Public assistance for old age, sickness and disablement

Maternity relief

Raise level of nutrition and improve public health

Prohibit liquor and drugs consumption

Develop scientific temper (so one shouldnt go to Witchdoctor when his kid is ill nor he should prohibit a
polio vaccine worker from giving two-drops to his kids.)

7th Schedule

List

Matter

Opium cultivation, mfg. and export

Scientific/technical institutes of national importance.

Public health and sanitation

Duties on opium, hemp and other narcotic drugs

Lunacy and mental deficiency

Food adulteration

Drugs and poisons

Population control and family planning

Medical education

Legal, medical and other professions

Infectious and contagious diseases

Union

State

Concurrent

Bills/ Laws
Draft National Health Bill 2009.

180 S&T Mrunal

It aims to provide right to health as a legal right.

Regulations related to good treatment, emergency care, etc.

No individual should be denied emergency treatment because of he doesnt have the fees / cannot get police clearance.

Compulsory for the hospitals to address patient complaints.

patient has the right to know name of doctor / nurse involved in his treatment, summary of the treatment. He can also
complaint for over-charging of fees.

A body to enforce the right to health.

Transplantation of Human Organs (Amendment) Bill, 2009

Originally the Act was made in 1994: Transplantation of Human organ Act, 1994

Itll rename that act to Transplantation of Human Organs and Tissues Act.

To regulate the removal, storage and transplantation of human organs and tissues.

near relative can donate organ

If the donor is not a near relative of the patient, then permission required from state Committee.

Doctor has to inform and seek consent of donor

Organ swapping allowed between a pair of donor-recipient. (e.g. family A has donor and willing recipient but their
organs donot match medically then they can swap with another family B in similar situation IF donor from familyBs
organ is compatible with patient from family A and vice versa).

Increased penalty for illegal organ removal and trade.

PCPNDT 2004

Pre-conception and pre-natal diagnostic technique (PCPNDT)

This act prohibits sex determination tests.

Regulating the sale of ultrasound machines.

Authorities can search, seizure and seal the machines and equipment of the clinics.
NCHRH Bill 2011

National Commission for Human Resources in Health (NCHRH) Bill

National Commission for Human

Resources in Health (NCHRH)

This Commission will replace four existing (statutory) bodies for

healthcare professionals viz.

1.

Medical Council of India,

2.

Dental Council of India,

181 S&T Mrunal

National Board for Health Education

(NBHE)

National Evaluation and Assessment

Council (NEAC)

3.

Pharmacists Council of India

4.

Nursing Council of India

to facilitate academic studies and research.

conduct a screening test doctors.

An Indian citizen who wants to study medicine abroad has to obtain

an eligibility certificate from NBHE.

Its recommendation necessary to open new educational institutions in

medical and paramedical courses.

Bill also provides for

Setting up a fund to finance above bodies.

Penalties for educational institutes if they run courses without permission etc.

Parliamentary Standing Committee on Health and Family Welfare has rejected this bill in late 2012. WHY?
1.

The new regulatory body doesnt have provides any representation to state governments. (Even when Health is state
subject)= federalism ignored.

2.

Members will not be elected but nominated = democracy ignored.

Draft Mental Healthcare bill, 2012

Provides the mental patients with right to treatment, information, Confidentiality. Legal aid etc.

Provision for regulatory bodies at national and state level to enforce these rights.

No punishment for Suicide Attempt

Registration of mental healthcare establishments.

Draft DNA profiling Bill, 2012

provides for a national database of DNA profiles. This database will be used for

1.

crime detection

2.

as an evidence in judicial proceedings

more details in old article click me

Policies
National Population Policy 2000 (NPP)

182 S&T Mrunal

Short term

Provide contraception, health care infra, personnel, childcare

Medium term

Bring Total fertility rate to replacement level (=2.1) by 2010

Long term

Achieve stable population by 2045

To achieve above things, NPP policy formed National Socio-Demographic Goals for 2010.
1.

Reduce IMR, MMR, school dropouts

2.

Achieve universal immunization of children against all vaccine preventable diseases.

3.

Promote delayed marriage for girls, not earlier than age 18 and preferably after 20 years of age.

4.

Achieve 80 percent institutional deliveries and 100 percent deliveries by trained persons.

5.

Provide contraceptives, counseling for family planning.

6.

100 per cent registration of births, deaths, marriage and pregnancy.

7.

Reduce the spread of STD, HIV, communicable diseases.

National Blood Policy, 2002

1.

National Blood Transfusion Council (NBTC) shall be the policy formulating apex body. NACO will give them money.

2.

Similarly bodies @State/UT level

3.

Drugs Controller General India will enforce the standards for blood products.

4.

Trading in blood i.e. Sale & purchase of blood shall be prohibited.

5.

All blood centres shall adhere to guidelines given by Health ministry

6.

Each blood centre shall create and update a blood donors directory which shall be kept confidential.

7.

awareness, education, motivation to promote blood donation

8.

strengthen manpower, encourage research development, NGO involvement and other filler points.

Drugs & Cosmetics Act provides mandatory testing of blood for five major infections viz. HIV, Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C,
Syphilis & Malaria. Every unit of blood is tested for all these infections.
National Policy on NDPS 2012

NDPS= Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances

drafted by the Ministry of Finance (and not health ministry)

private sector may be allowed production of alkaloids (medical compounds) from opium.

183 S&T Mrunal

At present alkaloids from opium are produced only in Government Opium and Alkaloid Factories

Policy also aims to reduce

Reduce

By

use of satellite imageries to detect illicit cultivation of poppy and cannabis

strategy to address drugs-peddlers at street level.

periodic surveys of drug abuse

recognition of de-addiction centers,

provisions for treatment, rehabilitation and social re-integration of victims of drug

abuse.

supply of narcotic drugs

demand for narcotic

drugs

National Pharmaceutical Pricing Policy (NPPP) 2012

1962

Government started drug price control after China war

2004

Drug policy

2012

New pharmaceutical pricing policy.

At present, the government through the National Pharmaceutical Pricing authority (NPPA) controls prices of 74 bulk
drugs and their formulations.

With this new policy, 348 essential drugs will be put under price control.
Committees related to drugs

Mashelkar

Drugs Regulatory System, spurious drugs.

Pranab Sen

Drug pricing

Departments
Health ministry has only four departments
1.

Health And Family Welfare

2.

AYUSH

3.

Health research

184 S&T Mrunal

4.

AIDS control

Department of Pharmaceuticals falls under Chemical and fertilizer ministry (and not under Health ministry).
Yearbook (schemes)
Note: in part 1, well only see general schemes. Specific disease related schemes/current affairs given in part 2.
National rural health mission NRHM (2005)

Decentralized health delivery system in rural areas via ASHA workers, PRI, NGO, AYUSH paramedics etc.

Provide Better infrastructure, availability of manpower, drugs and equipment etc.

It has many components: e.g. Janani Suraksha Yojana, Vector borne disease control, Leprosy eradication, revised TB
control, Blindness and Iodine deficiency.
National Health Mission

In his 15th August speech, Mohan had said that National Rural Health Mission will be converted into a National Health
Mission (NHM).

National Health Mission would cover all villages and towns in the country.
ASHA worker

Every village/large habitat has a female Accredited Social Health Activist (ASHA) chosen by and accountable to the
Panchayat- to act as the interface between the community and the public health system.
She is given a Drug Kit containing generic AYUSH and allopathic drugsfor common ailments. She also works for family
planning, TB control etc. (and earns Commission).
Family planning

Started in 1952

Aim: reduce birth-rate to stabilize population at a level that is consistent with the requirements of economy. (Besides
family planning is also necessary to stop the ridiculously high level of competition in every exam e.g. 17 Lakh people
applied in SBI PO 2013 for just 1500 vacancies.)

India % land in the world

2.4%

India % population of the world

17.5%

Population as per 2011 census

1.21 billion

Population state/UT

Top 3
States

UT

Bottom 3
States

UT

185 S&T Mrunal

1.

UP

1.

Delhi

1.

Sikkim

1.

Lakshdweep

2.

Maha

2.

Chandigarh

2.

Mizoram

2.

Daman Diu

3.

Bihar

3.

Puducherry

3.

Arunanchal

3.

Dadra and Nagar Haveli

above Data based on page 130, Ch.14, Economic Survey 2012-13

Sex Ratio: 2001 vs 2011

year

2001

2011

0-6

927

914 (decreased)

overall

933

940 (increased)

Sex Ratio: Highest Lowest (Census 2011)

Top 3 (Highest)
States

Bottom 3 (lowest)

UT

States

UT

1.

Kerala

1.

Puducherry

1.

Haryana

1.

Diu Daman

2.

TN

2.

Lakshadweep

2.

JK

2.

Dadra Nagar

3.

Andhra

3.

Andaman Nicobar

3.

Sikkim

3.

Chandigarh

Sex ratio (Census 2011): Some points

Child sex ratio (0-6) is lowest since independence. Only 914 female/1000 males.

From 2001 to 2011, sex ratio decreased for these states: JK, Guj, Bihar, Uttarakhand

Punjab and Haryana : sex ratio has increased from 2001 to 2011. (can be used for MCQ, because many candidates
would guess that sex ratio would have decreased for Haryana from 2001 to 2011.)
Government schemes for Family planning

In villages, ASHA worker gets commi$$ion for

1.

Delivering contraceptives at doorstep

2.

Promoting couples to have time gap between two kids.

3.

Promoting institutional delivery for pregnant women.

186 S&T Mrunal

4.

Encouraging couples to opt for permanent family planning (vasectomy, tubectomy.)

Plus,

National family planning insurance scheme: it provides money to if person dies during vasectomy / tubectomy or if the
surgery fails or some complication arises.
Vasectomy vs Tubectomy

Vasectomy

Tubectomy

Males

Females

vasectomy will take only few minutes. It does

not require hospitalization

Lengthy surgery

Any plain MBBS with simple three-day

training can do it.

tubectomy is done with the help of a laproscope, which means that only an
expert and experienced doctor can do the job.

None

Risk of infections and menstrual complications like excessive bleeding and

pain in the abdomen.

Men can go back to work immediately.

One months rest necessary

Issue: in rural areas, men force their wives to undergo tubectomy, rather than going through vasectomy themselves.
Because of two myths, that after vasectomy
1.

Man loses libido after vasectomy

2.

Man will not be able to do strenuous work or lift heavy objects.

Contraceptives

RISYUG

Implanton

IUCD

Reversible Inhibition of Sperm Under Guidance

Long term male contraceptive. (injection)

Research still going on. (IIT Kharagpur)

Female contraceptive (sub-dermal rod)

A matchstick-sized rod is inserted in the arm.

It releases progestin hormone to prevent pregnancy.

intrauterine contraceptive device (IUCD) for females.

187 S&T Mrunal

Made up of copper / plastic.

KATNAL

Today Males have only two reliable birth control methods: 1) Condoms 2) Vasectomy. (male birth control pills havent
picked up popularity yet).

Katnal is the gene responsible for sperm development.

Now scientists are working to design a birth control pill for men, that can control this Katnal gene.
Mother and Child

First some stats:

Item

All India (approx.)

Highest

Lowest

Life Expectancy @Birth

66

Kerala, Maha, Punjab

Assam,MP,UP

Infant Mortality

44

MP, UP, Odisha

Manipur, Goa,Kerala

Birth Rate

22

MP,UP,Odisha

Kerala, TN, Punjab

Death Rate

MP,Odisha,Assam

West Bengal,Maharashtra, Haryana

Data based on Page 124 and 128, Ch.14, Economic Survey 2012-13
If youre facing any interview soon, do look at mugup the numbers for you state.
Definitions

What?

TFR

MMR

Definition

Total Fertility Rate

average number of children born to a woman during her entire

reproductive period.

Our target is to get 2.1, that is replacement level TFR.

Maternal mortality ratio

Data for India*

2.5

212

No. of maternal deaths per 1 lakh live births. Death must be due to
pregnancy or within 42 days of termination of pregnancy

188 S&T Mrunal

Infant mortality rate

No. of infants dying before the first birthday.

No of females per 1000 males

44

IMR

Sex
Ratio

914 (0-6) and 940 (overall)

(Census 2011)

*Data Based on Page 228, Ch.13 of Economic Survey 2012-13.

Millennium Development goals (MDG): Health

These eight goals are setup by United Nations.

Member countries adopted these goals during the U.N. Millennium Summit, 2000

These goals are to be achieved by 2015.

Goal No.

What

Poverty and hunger

primary education

Women empowerment

Reduce Child Mortality (27/1000 for India)

Maternal health (109/1 lakh live births for India)

HIV, TB, Malaria etc.

environmental sustainability

global partnership for development

Health Targets: Five Year plans

Health Targets

11th FYP

Right now

12th FYP

IMR /1000

28

44

25

MMR/1 lakh

100

212

100

189 S&T Mrunal

TFR

2.1

2.5

2.1

Reduce malnutrition in Children (0-3 age)

Yes

Not good

Yes

Reduce anaemia in females by 50%

Yes

Not good

same

Increase sex ratio (0-6 age)

935 by 2011 and 950 by 2016

914

950

12th Five year plan also talks about

1.

Universal Health Coverage (UHC)

2.

Prevent and reduce Communicable and Non-Communicable diseases (including mental illnesses)

3.

Reduction of poor households out-of-pocket expenditure. (meaning State should give out more free medical services to
them).

4.

A large expansion of medical schools, nursing colleges.

5.

And many other things, I suggest you read third PDF, Chapter 20 (Health) of 12 th FYP after prelim/CSAT is over.
Janani Suraksha Yojana

Under National rural health mission

Promote institutional (hospital) delivery among poor pregnant women

100% centrally sponsored

Janani Shishu Suraksha Yojana

Pregnant women get free hospital delivery, caesarean section, food, drugs, medical checkup and transport.
Mother and Child Tracking system

Under national E-governance plan (NeGP)

Government keeps maintains data of the mothers with their addresses, telephone numbers, etc.

This contact database is used for ante-natal (before birth) and post-natal (immediately after birth) check-up of
mothers and vaccination for their babies.

Another similar project is Health Management Information System (HMIS): software for online data capture at district
level, regarding reproductive and child health (RCH).
Navjat Shishu Suraksha Karyakram (NSSK)

To train heathcare personnel for taking care of infants: hypothermia, infection, premature birth, pneumonia,
diarrhea, measles, resuscitation etc.

Setup new-born care units at district level hospitals.

190 S&T Mrunal

Started in 2005 to to reduce Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) from to 30 by the year 2012.
Indira Gandhi Matritva Sahyog Yojana (IGMSY)

Launched by Women and Child Development Ministry (and NOT by Health Ministry)

To compensate mothers for wage-loss during childbirth and childcare.

Available to all women for first two children.

Not available to women who get paid maternity leave.

Conditional cash transfer.

Condition: she should get pre-natal checkups, get vaccination for infant, attend counseling session etc.

The scheme is now covered under the Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) programme
Challanges

Bogus Beneficiaries: A woman usually gives birth to a baby after nine months of pregnancy, but in Bihar almost
300 women claim to have delivered two to five children in a span of 60 days- as per the Government records!= bogus
beneficiaries, local official chowing down the Government money.

NRHM scam: worth thousands of crores rupees in Uttar Pradesh. Two chief medical officers died (or murdered) to
keep a lid on the scam.

Crib deaths: many infants died in the Government hospitals of West Bengal in 2012. Reason: they were already
under-weight and got infection due to unhygienic condition in the Government hospitals. + manpower shortage

Encephalitis: Hundreds of children died in Uttar Pradesh due to Japanese Encephalitis (JE) and Acute Encephalitis
Syndrome (AES). National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) concluded that Governments casual
approach was responsible for widespread deaths.
Rajiv Gandhi Crche

Scheme for the Children of Working/Ailing Mothers:

Basically NGOs given money to setup crche for working women

Condition: familys monthly income < 12k, and kid is within 0-6 age group
School health program

Medical checkup

Nutrition, iron supplements.

SABLA

Man, this SABLA is getting too clichd for MCQs.

Rajiv Gandhi Scheme for Empowerment of Adolescent Girls (RGSEAG)-Sabla:

all-round development of adolescent girls in the age group 11-18 years.

The scheme has two major components, 1) nutrition and 2) non-nutrition.

191 S&T Mrunal

#1: Nutrition

Girls are given take home rations or hot cooked meals to out-of school.

#2: NonNutrition

provided iron-folic acid supplementation, health check-up, health and skill education, vocational
training etc.

Weekly Iron Folic acid supplementation (WIFS)

To reduce Anemia in adolescents (age group 15 to 19)

In both rural and urban areas.

Pills for iron and folic acid given to boys (only school going)

Girls (both school going girls + not school going girls)

ARSH

Adolescent reproductive and sexual health

Adolescent are more vulnerable to sex-abuse, STD, HIV, pregnancy.

Government launched toll free helpline, tele-counciling for them

+life skill education programs.

Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana (PMSSY)

It has two objectives

#1: set up 8 new AIIMS-like institutions
1.

Bihar (Patna),

2.

Chattisgarh (Raipur),

3.

Rajasthan (Jodhpur)

4.

Madhya Pradesh (Bhopal),

5.

Orissa (Bhubaneswar),

6.

Uttaranchal (Rishikesh)

7.

West Bengal

8.

Uttar Pradesh

Some books/ magazines / sites/ coaching material would say : PMSSY = 6 new AIIMs like institutions.

But that information is outdated. Originally there were six, later Government added WB and UP.
#2: upgrade existing Medical colleges in several states.

Now steering committee on health for 12th Five Year Plan has recommended the Union government to create four new AIIMS
like institutions

192 S&T Mrunal

Misc. programs/ initiatives
1.

Truma centers on national highways

2.

National programs for fluorosis, deafness, elderly , tobacco, mental health etc.
Health Insurance for BPL

What?

Falls under this ministry

Health Insurance Scheme for BPL

Health

Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yohana

Labour

Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana (Rsby)

RSBY provides for cash-less, smart card based health insurance cover

Upto Rs.30000k per annum

For family upto 5 members.

The beneficiary family pays only 30 per annum as registration/renewal fee.

The scheme covers hospitalisation expenses (Out-patient expenses are not covered),

includes maternity benefit, and pre-existing diseases.

Even in private clinics.

Funding: centre state=75:25 and 90:10 for Jammu Kashmir and North-East.

RSBY was originally limited to Below Poverty Line (BPL) families but was later extended to building and other
construction workers, MGNREGA beneficiaries, street vendors, beedi workers, and domestic workers.

In Budget 2013, Chindu extended this scheme to rickshaw, auto-rickshaw and taxi drivers, sanitation workers, rag
pickers and mine workers.
Annual Health Survey

To prepare district health profile including IMR, TFR etc.

Done by Registrar General of India for Health Ministry.

AYUSH

A=Ayurveda

Y=Yoga and Naturopathy

U=Unani

S=Siddha

193 S&T Mrunal

H=Homeopathy
Sowa Rigpa

Latest addition in AYUSH system.

ancient Tibetan medicinal system

believed to have been taught by Buddha himself Sowa Rigpa

commonly known as Amchi system

popular in the Himalayan region of India. Also in Tibet, Magnolia, Bhutan, some parts of China, Nepal.

it is similar to Ayurveda, and also include few principles of Traditional Chinese Medicine.
AYUSH Regulation

Ayurveda, Unani, Siddha and Homeopathy drugs are regulated under Drug and cosmetics Act 1940.

Most of these drugs are manufactured from medicinal plant material, hence AYUSH department setup National
medicinal plants board to regulate it.
Safety n Surveillance

Food safety standard authority of India

FSSAI

Regulates food safety (both domestic and imported)

It is a statutory body

Central Drug standard control organization

CDSCO

Regulates quality of drugs and cosmetics (both domestic and imported)

Pharmacoviligance program

Monitors the adverse drug reactions

Whistleblower for spurious drugs

Govt. gives reward to any informer that solid info spurious (fake/bogus)
drugs to regulators.

They monitor travellers at ports, prevent spread of epidemic diseases from

one nation to another.

They function under DG Health services.

World bank launching this program

Airport/ Port Health organizations

Integrated disease surveillance

project (IDSP)

194 S&T Mrunal

To detect and respond to drug outbreaks quickly.

It collect data on epidemic diseases on weekly basis.

Funds

Rastriya Arogya Nidhi

RAN

Health Ministers Cancer patient fund

Setup under Health Ministry, 2007

Gives money to BPL patients suffering from life threatening disease.

Setup under RAN, 2009

Max Rs.50k
Health Ministers discretionary grant

For poor patient for life threatening diseases.

Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana (RSBY)

RSBY provides for cash-less, smart card based health insurance cover

Upto Rs.30000k per annum

For family upto 5 members.

The beneficiary family pays only 30 per annum as registration/renewal fee.

The scheme covers hospitalisation expenses (Out-patient expenses are not covered),

includes maternity benefit, and pre-existing diseases.

Funding: centre state=75:25 and 90:10 for Jammu Kashmir and North-East.

RSBY was originally limited to Below Poverty Line (BPL) families but was later extended to building and other
construction workers, MGNREGA beneficiaries, street vendors, beedi workers, and domestic workers.

In Budget 2013, Chindu extended this scheme to rickshaw, auto-rickshaw and taxi drivers, sanitation workers, rag
pickers and mine workers.
Swastha Bharat

Health program on doordarshan and all India radio.

Worlds Biggest Public Health Media Initiative

Shown 5 days a week in 19 Indian languages and 17 Dialects

195 S&T Mrunal

Supported by Union Ministry of Health & Family Welfare

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
+++++
TheHindu (March2May) (Part 1 of 3): Agriculture, Environment-Biodiversity, Silage, Salt Pump, Sagar Nidhi, El Nino Modoki &
more
Prologue

This three part article series contains the Sci-tech related topics appeared in The Hindu Thursday edition in March,
April, May of 2013. (earlier months already covered and available under Mrunal.org/snt)

Just because UPSC did not ask much current affairs in prelims 2013, you should not become complacent/lazy in your
preparation of current affairs.

Reason: even prelim 2012 did not have that much current affairs (compared to earlier years) but still GS mains 2012
was jam packed with questions based on current affairs. (Analysis of Mains 2012 given here click me)

so how and where does Hindu Science Tech help? consider the following topics on official syllabus of UPSC

Mains

GS
paper
1

Subtopic

Geograph
y

GS
paper
3
Agro

Sci-Tech

Syllabus topics (non exhaustive)

Example topics covered in the

three articles

1.

Distribution of key natural resources across the world

(including South Asia and the Indian sub-continent);

2.

Important Geophysical phenomena such as

earthquakes, Tsunami, Volcanic activity, cyclone etc.

1.

Mining of Polymetallic
nodules from oceans

3.

geographical features and their location- changes in

critical geographical features (including water-bodies
and ice-caps) and in flora and fauna and the effects of
such changes.

2.

El Nino Modoki

1.

ornamental fish
farming

2.

e-Velanmai project

3.

High Density Planting

Major crops cropping patterns in various parts of the country

e-technology in the aid of farmers

Science and Technology- developments and their applications

and effects in everyday life

glass fibre reinforced gypsum

panels etc.

Achievements of Indians in science & technology; indigenization

of technology and developing new technology.

3Nethra, cholangioscope

Awareness in the fields of IT, Space, Computers, robotics, nanotechnology, bio-technology and issues relating to intellectual
property rights.

BRCA genes patenting, GSLV

mk3 etc.

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Conservation, environmental pollution and degradation,

environmental impact assessment

Ammonia detectors, gold

extraction using nano-particles.

^this is just an example, syllabus contains lot of topics, where youll find utility of sci-tech and allied topics (and other news
items). Therefore, I suggest you read the syllabus topics itself for multiple times- so the name of each topic gets permanently
imprinted in your brain and later whenever you read a news-item you can see its application in a particular GS paper. Read the
UPSC notification, page 13 onwards for the official syllabus:Click Me
Notes:
1.

Just because Im providing compilation for March-April-May, doesnt mean the end of topics happened in that timeframe. You should do follow-up on your own, reading / researching the topics from other sources. Because nothing
prevents UPSC from asking anything that is not provided/explained here.

2.

Ive covered only Thursday edition. However newspaper covers Science tech and allied news topics even in the NonThursday editions. And again, nothing prevents UPSC from asking anything from there. So one should keep habit of
maintaining daily notes from the newspaper on his own.

3.

In short, Im just a supplement and catalyst for the preparation- not a substitute of TheHindu, Indianexpress, Yojana,
Kurukshetra and other standard reference sources. And same applies for any other website and coaching. UPSC
Success requires lot of self-study on your own.

Anyways, lets start the three part article series:

part 1 of 3= Agro and Enb

part 2 of 3 = healthcare related

part 3 of 3 = space-research, electronics and mock questions

Agriculture
Caffeine

How was Coffee and Tea introduced in India?

Coffee

Tea

as per the legend, in late 16th century Haji

Baba Budan smuggled coffee beans from
Yemen.

And planted them on the Chikamagalur hills in

Karnataka.

Then coffee plantations started and coffee

became popular in South India.

Was introduced later than coffee.

In early 19th Century, the colonial British who copied it

from the Chinese and planted it in Assam and
Darjeeling.

Thus Tea become popular in the northern India.

Both tea and coffee have caffeine.

but only tea contains both caffeine and tannin.

But why do these plants go to the trouble of making the molecule in the first place? two reasons

197 S&T Mrunal

#1: determine herbivores

Because of Caffeine, the raw coffee bean or tea-leaf is bitter to taste, hence animals wont eat it, plant can grow and
flourish.

#2: attract bees

While plant-derived drugs like caffeine (tea, coffee) and nicotine (tobacco) are lethal in high doses, they do generate
pleasant effects when taken in very low doses.

Caffeine is also found in the nectar of flowers of those plants.

The caffeine in nectar of flower= gets the bees addicted hence they keep coming back and help in pollination.
NAA, IAA Plant hormones

Naphthyl acetic acid (NAA) and Indole acetic acid (IAA) are synthetic hormones

NAA is cheaper as compared to IAA.

they are commonly used for improving rooting in mulberry cuttings.

Mulberry is commercially cultivated for its foliage to feed silkworms.

Potash fertilizer

Potash is one of the major nutrients required by all crops.

Indias entire requirement of potassic fertilizer is met by imports and distributed to farmers at subsidised price.

Problem= increases trade deficit, weakens rupee+ adds subsidy burden.

Indian soils are naturally rich in potassium and now scientists have identified a potash mobilizing bacterium to
mobilize this native potassium for plant absorption.

Field testing going on for paddy, groundnut and vegetable crops.

If Potash Mobilizing Bacterial (KMB) biofertilizer and biopesticides are used, farmers can save upto 50 per cent of their
potassium fertilizer requirement.
e-Velanmai

Velanmai is a Tamil word meaning agriculture.

it is an IT project for dissemination of agricultural information Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU) directly to
farmers on a pilot basis in selected areas of the State.

Prior to the introduction of e-Velanmai project, many farmers stated that they had to depend on the shop
keepers/dealers in their area for information.

But now they are able to access all information related to agriculture at their farm gate itself.
Citrus greening

disease of citrus which greatly affects the production of the fruits in several parts of India.

Infected fruits are small, lopsided with bitter taste.

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Such fruits may fall prematurely; while those that remain on the tree do not colour properly, remaining green on the
shaded side.
Membrane transporters

theyre a class of plant proteins.

The transporter genes in the plants seeds. These genes are usually expressed in the root so that the plant could take in
nutrients from the soil.

Now scientists are conducting research on these genes responsible for transport, so they could improve the efficiency
with which plants take up and use water and nutrients.
benefits?

1.

greenhouse-grown rice with three- to four-fold higher levels of iron in polished grain.

2.

In a similar fashion, zinc content of cereal grains could be increased

3.

The amount of phosphate and nitrate fertilisers used for cultivation could then be substantially reduced.

4.

drought tolerance in plants as well as their ability to grow in other adverse conditions, such as in saline or acidic soils.
Silage

Silage is fermented, high-moisture stored fodder.

It can be fed to cud chewing animals such as cattle, sheep and goats.

It is fermented and stored in a process called ensilage, ensiling or silaging

Usually made from grass, maize, sorghum or other cereals using the entire green plant (not the grain alone).
Silage Advantages?

During summer (or when monsoon fails) the green fodder becomes unavail.

Hence Prolonged preservation of fodder in the form of silage becomes the key to overcome the increasing constraints
in green fodder availability.
Traditional methods for Silage production

Dig a pit in the soil

Place the harvested matter inside and covering it with soil.

Problem in traditional method?

1.

Landless farmers cannot go for such pit methods.

2.

This method makes it difficult to transport the silage from the pit to the cattle shed

3.

Labor intensive and costly.

Farm Ponds

The farm ponds are constructed at the lower side of the fields and the runoff from the higher side of the fields are
channelized into the pond.

199 S&T Mrunal

provides Fodder and drinking water.

Some farmers have also started cultivating wheat and chickpea using the pond water successfully.
High density multi species cropping system

is one of the mixed cropping systems

Here, a number of compatible crops are grown in an area to meet the diverse needs of the farmers such as food, fuel,
timber, fodder and cash.
other benefits?

1.

control of weeds,

2.

soil and water conservation,

3.

regulated temperature and favourable microbial activity in the soil.

4.

generation of recyclable biomass for organic manure.

SRI Rice cultivation

SRI=systematic rice intensification method

It is the universally accepted as a proven method to increase rice yield.

principles of SRI cultivation

1.

transplant seedlings when theyre young

2.

plant seedlings in 2525 or wider spacing, to reduce competition for sunlight and nutrients.

3.

Reduce external inputs (water, fertilizer, pesticides)

4.

Prevent soil from becoming anoxic (without oxygen). For this, use mechanical weeder regularly.

5.

Add in-situ/ex-situ organic matter as much as possible, to increase the soil organic matter.

6.

Use green manure, bio fertilizer, compost.

High Density Planting (HDP)

It is an advance technique of fruit plantation.

Through HDP technique, 4,000 to 5,000 plants can be planted in a hectare and the yield improves radically.

This technique is more useful for perennial crops because it allows efficient use of land and resources,

In India, HDP technology has been successfully used in banana, pineapple, papaya and mango, guava and citrus where
the yield has increased two to three times.

also helps in farm mechanization, weed controls.

Ornamental fish farming

Ornamental fishes are kept in aquarium at home and in offices.

200 S&T Mrunal

Examples of ornamental fishes: guppies, mollies, sword tails, angelfishes, goldfishes.

The global business of Ornamental fish rearing, accessories (tanks, lights, water pipes etc.) and fish feed =is worth
~$14 Billion

In India we have hundreds of exotic and indigenous ornamental fish varieties but unfortunately, Indias share in
international trade of ornamental fish = <1 %.

The earning potential of this sector neither understood nor exploited in a technology driven manner. otherwise we can
give tough competition to the major exporters such as Singapore, Malaysia etc. (USA is the largest importer).
potential benefits of ornamental fishing

1.

substantial employment opportunities,

2.

side income for the farmer,

3.

earning foreign exchange.

Governments action:

1.

NABARD provides finance via Commercial banks, RRB etc.

2.

Marine Products Export Development Authority (MPEDA) under Ministry of Commerce and industry provides subsidy
Environment and Biodiversity (EnB)
Climate / Geography related
Salt Pump

salinity of the oceans that surround India play an important part in the complex interactions between atmosphere and
sea

and thus indirectly determines climate over the subcontinent.

Arabian Sea

Bay of Bengal

got little rain, except off the west coast of India

Given the evaporation that took place, its salt levels

would increase.

Result: it is more salty than Bay of Bengal.

rivers, like the Ganges bring plenty of fresh water,

+ the Bay of Bengal itself receives lot of rain

during monsoon.

This excess fresh water would reduce its salinity.

It is less salty than Arabian sea.

What is Salt pump?

so far we saw that Arabian sea is more salty than Bay of Bengal.

Summer Monsoon Current, flowing eastward, takes salty water from the Arabian Sea to the Bay. and thus helps them
to help maintain salinity levels.

201 S&T Mrunal

But this saltier water, however, slides under the lighter surface water of the Bay.

Hence Maintaining the salt balance of the Bay therefore demands upward mixing of this saltier, subsurface water.

Based on 2009 ocean cruise data, scientists found that this saltier water erupted upward intermittently from its subsurface abode to mix with the fresher surface water. they call it Salt pump.

mechanism driving this salt pump was not clear at present

El Nino Modoki

during pre-monsoon and post-monsoon seasons in the North Indian Ocean, more cyclones form in the Bay of Bengal
than in the Arabian Sea

Scientists have now discovered why in some years more cyclones form in the Arabian Sea than usual.

This is due to a newly discovered Phenomenon (2007) El Nino Modoki

El Nino

El Nino Modoki

suppresses cyclone formation in the Arabian Sea.

It creates more cyclones in the Arabian sea.

How does El Nino Modoki work?

It Causes warm moist conditions in the Central Pacific and dry cold conditions in Eastern and western pacific.

202 S&T Mrunal

Divergence

Divergence (opposite of convergence) means surface winds move away from each other and result in low relative
vorticity (rotational flow of winds)

These conditions are not conducive for cyclones.

El Nino Modoki creates stronger divergence over the western Pacific and Bay of Bengal compared to El Nino.

This explains why Bay of Bengal region (close to western Pacific) has fewer cyclones during an El Nino Modoki.

On the other hand, there is large convergence over the Arabian Sea during an El Nino Modoki explaining the large
number of cyclones in that region
Walker cells

El Nino Modoki brings only fewer number of cyclones in the Bay of Bengal is because one of the two descending limbs
of the Walker Cell is over the western Pacific and Bay of Bengal.

Asending limb

Descending limb

brings rain.

causes dry conditions not conducive for cyclone formation

Only post-monsoon and pre-monsoon periods were chosen for the study.

Because Cyclones usually do not form during monsoon season.

Why dont cyclones form during monsoon?

1.

Since the Atmospheric parameters low-level relative vorticity, mid-tropospheric relative humidity, vertical wind
shear are not at values conducive for cyclone formation during monsoon.

2.

Second, during monsoon there is strong zonal (latitudinal) wind in the form of a jet at lower levels and this is not
conducive for cyclone formation as the vertical shear between lower and upper troposphere will not be minimum.

3.

Finally, the sea surface temperatures are too low for cyclogenesis.
Monsoon: Tibetan Plateu and ENSO

The heating of the Tibetan plateau correlated well with rainfall over India from May 20 to June 15 when the monsoon
was setting in.

vast Tibetan plateau gets warmed during the summer months, and it heats the air above.

The air rises and creates and an area of low pressure.

That belt of low pressure sucks in moisture from the oceans, thus initiating the monsoon.

Temperature of the tropical Pacific Oceans surface waters near the international dateline, known as the El NinoSouthern Oscillation (ENSO), also strongly influenced rainfall over central India and its west coast during the early and
late phases of the monsoon.
Ocean Related

203 S&T Mrunal

Sagar Nidhi

Oceanographic Research Vessel,

belongs to National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT), Chennai.

Sagar Nidhi helps NIOT in technology demonstration work on deep-sea mining and tsunami studies.

It is an ice class vessel= can cut through thin ice of 40 cm depth.

It is the first Indian vessel to have gone to Antarctic waters.

The ship is the first of its kind in the country and has been used several times for launching and retrieval of remotely
operable vehicle (ROV) and the nodule mining system.
Dynamic positioning system (DPS)

is a computer-controlled system which automatically maintains the position of the ship at mid-sea

sea-state 5 when the wave height is 45 metres

DPS, even at sea-state 5 when the wave height is 45 metres the ships position can be fixed to within a variation
of less than 50 metre

Ships that do not have a DPS can be manoeuvred only manually so that the position of the ship is fixed up to deviations
of 200-300 metres.

This feature comes in useful when deploying remotely operable vehicles, Tsunami alert systems etc, which require the
ship to maintain a fixed position for a very long time.
Polymetallic nodules

also called manganese nodules,

Theyre rock concretions, lie on the sea-bottom sediment.

Why important for India? because they contain cobalt (medical treatment) and nickel (making batteries) and India
doesnt have any terrestrial source of these metals.

Nodules have been found in all the oceans and even in lakes. However, not all nodule fields are worth mining from
commercial point of view.

204 S&T Mrunal

They can occur at any depth, but the highest concentrations have been found between 4,000 and 6,000m.

Three areas have been selected by industrial explorers: the centre of the north central Pacific Ocean, the Peru Basin in
the south-east Pacific Ocean and the centre of the north Indian Ocean.
challenges

Nodules on the Indian Ocean bed are found at a depth of about 6,000 metres and the closest point of the nodule fields
is at a distance of about 2,500 km off the Kanyakumari coast.

National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT) has so far tested their machines only up to a depth of 5,000 metres.

These machines would harvest and crush the nodules before bringing them to the surface.

The challenges of developing the technology do appear formidable the high pressure of 600 bar that exists at that
depth (6,000 m) is one of them.
International seabed authority

Autonomous international organization established under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.

HQ: Kingston, Jamaica

It grants the exploration rights in Sea.

U.K. firm, Lockheed Martin, will soon be taking up mining operations in a 58,000 sq. km area in the Pacific Ocean.

India will also be able to harvest the nodules from the seabed in about two years, when the technology is fully
developed. India has been a pioneering investor in this research.
Pollution related
Gold Extraction without pollution

In traditional method, poisonous cyanide is used for dissolving and extracting the gold locked up in mineral ore

But the method is polluting and controversial.

Several spills have been recorded over the years from mining sites that use cyanide leaching putting human lives and
the environment at risk.

While Europe allows the use of cyanide in mining, some countries like Germany, Czech Republic and Hungary have
outlawed it and in 2010, the European Parliament called for these national bans to extend to the continent as a whole.

But despite being banned in several countries, it is still used to extract more than 80 per cent of gold around the world.

Now an international team of scientists have found a new method: to extract gold using a mixed a sugar (alphacyclodextrin) derived from cornstarch

It is inexpensive and pollution free.

The method could also be used to remove gold from consumer electronic waste.
Nanotech pollution detectors

Ammonia is an important component of explosives, fertilisers, and industrial coolants.

205 S&T Mrunal

Hence ammonia detectors are used to check for pollution in the vicinity of urban settlements, such as in rivers, lakes,
buildings, etc.

Existing Ammonia detectors very expensive, difficult to manufacture.

Now scientists have devised a simpler, more portable method to detect ammonia:

using ferrimagnetic nanofluids as sensors, They reflect bluer light when exposed to ammonia.
Atom Bicycle generator (USB)

Atom is brandname of a lightweight bicycle generator,

It can power your mobile, lights or any electronic device via USB.

It comes with a detachable rechargeable battery pack, meaning the stored energy can be used whenever and wherever
you need it.

The price point of the Atom [$105] is set for domestic [U.S.] and European markets.

9 out of 20 households in India still use bicycles (Census 2011). This offers a great potential to tap vast amount of
energy from these cycles.
Citizen science projects
common bird monitoring of India programme

The aim of the programme is to collect data on common Indian birds

headquartered in Nashik, collects data on population and distribution of common birds with the help of common
men / volunteers.
Peoples biodiversity register

important person: Madhav Gadgil

to usher traditional knowledge systems into mainstream science.

The study involved catching and releasing back to the river about 1,500 fish through 146 fishing events.

Along with the scientific names, the local names of the fish were also recorded.

Also recorded were the names given to pools and river stretches.

This really brought the communitys extensive knowledge of the ecosystem to the fore.
Flora and Fauna
Insects circulatory system

Do ants, earthworms, cockroaches have blood circulation system like vertebrates with hearts and blood vessels?

In insects, the blood is called haemolymph= contains hemocyanin instead of hemoglobin found in human blood.

Unlike human blood, insect blood does not transport oxygen and hence most insects receive oxygen through the
tracheal system.

206 S&T Mrunal

Insect blood flows through the body cavity and makes direct contact with organs and tissues.

The body cavity is divided into three compartments by two thin sheets of muscle to facilitate blood circulation in
insects.

In front of the heart, it is a simple tube without valves that extends up to the head, and ends near the brain.
Why baby leaves are red?

colour of new leaves of some plants is not green but while growing after few days they become green. Why?

the tropical countries, during the rainy season or in the growing season we can notice the appearance of red-coloured
young leaves as we see in mango trees.

As the leaves age, the red colour disappears and the leaves become green.

Red colouration of these young leaves is due to the development of anthocyanin pigments.

development of anthocyanin pigments in young leaves is a kind of adaptation and helps in following ways:

1.

Anthocyanins act as a sunscreen by protecting cells from UV or blue-green light and thereby protect the young leaves
from too much light.

2.

The red colour due to the presence of these pigments may hide leaves from red-colour-blind herbivores (the aphid
insects), which would be especially important in young leaves

3.

Red colour may signal unpalatability to herbivores, since phenols are often produced along with the anthocyanins.

4.

The anthocyanins may also deter or kill fungus and thereby can protect the young leaves from fungal attack.
Toe control

Unlike fingers, why are we unable to individually control our toes?

Especially the thumb and the little finger, each has 4 separate muscles in the hand called the thenar and hypothenar
muscles respectively for finer movements.

In contrast, the muscles of the toes except the great toe have a common bulk for their action. Hence when we try to
move one toe, they move together.

The primary function of the hand is to perform various skills and activities which are supported by the fine movements
in the various joints and individual movements of the fingers.

But the primary function of the foot is transmission of the body weight and for balancing during various activities. This
function doesnt require individual movements of toes.
Why do ants like sugar?

In an ant colony, food is gathered by the foragers who constitute about 10 per cent of the colony members.

The foragers might collect the protein-rich food for the queen, when she is actively laying the eggs. Similarly, proteinrich foods are preferred when the colony has a high larval population.

When the colony has no larvae, the foragers preferably gather the sugar-rich foods, because adult colonies consuming
protein-rich food have extremely high mortality due to protein toxicity.

Even if they find a food which is rich in protein but poor in sugars, they extract the sugars and eject the protein as a
waste.

207 S&T Mrunal

Hence, it is quite normal to see the foragers attracted towards sugary products (carbohydrates), unless there is a
demand for protein by the egg-laying queen or the larvae.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
+++++
TheHindu (March2May) (Part 2 of 3): Healthcare, Medical Research: Gene Patenting, Angelina Jolie, Double Mastectomy,
H7N9, 3Nethra, Eye-PAC & more
Viruses
H7N9

avian flu virus.

currently in some regions in China.

H7N9, H1N1 and H5N1= All three viruses are influenza A viruses

but they are distinct from each other.

H7N9 and H5N1 are considered animal influenza viruses that sometimes infect people.

while H1N1 viruses can be divided into those that normally infect people and those that normally infect animals.

Influenza viruses are not transmitted through consuming well-cooked food. Because influenza viruses are inactivated
by normal temperatures used for cooking.

It is safe to eat properly prepared and cooked meat, including from poultry and game birds.

But Diseased animals and animals that have died of diseases should not be eaten.

No vaccine for H7N9 available at the moment.

An animal influenza virus that develops the ability to infect people could theoretically carry a risk of causing a
pandemic.

However, whether H7N9 virus could actually cause a pandemic= still unknown.
H3N2

The H7N9 bird flu virus has been sporadically infecting people in China, Some experts fear it could gain the ability to
spread easily among humans, thus setting off another influenza pandemic like H1N1 pandemic of 2009.

But American researchers have found a possible threat from a different direction H3N2

H3N2 viruses are currently found in birds and pigs.

A H3N2 virus caused a pandemic during 1967-68, but now scientist fear that human immune system might have lost
the ability to recognize that virus and thus H3N2 could easily jump back to humans now that immunity to it has
dropped
SARS like Coronavirus

2002: SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) appeared in China and next year exploded across the world. SARS
was caused by a coronavirus.

208 S&T Mrunal

2012: Another coronavirus (hCoV-EMC), emerged in Middle East, causing severe respiratory problems, kidney failure
and even death.

As with the SARS virus, the new hCoV-EMC coronavirus appears to have originated in bats. However, unlike the
former, the latter is still able to infect bat cells.
Drug research
Influenza Vaccine

Presently, the scientists are ill-equipped to immediately develop an effective vaccine when an influenza virus strikes.
for e.g. when the H1N1 pandemic struck in 2009.

Current strategy for vaccine Development = start from scratch based on the strain causing the epidemic or pandemic =
takes lot of time.

Now American researchers are using a new strategy for vaccine Development.

They selected F16 (an antibody to influenza A), and introduced it into an adeno-associated virus (AAV) vector to
deliver the antibody into the body.

To achieve the best results, the researchers introduced the antibody at the site of infection, in this case, the nasal route.

This will be equally effective against influenza strains H5N1 and H1N1.
Monoclonal antibody: curing blood cancer

Leukaemia is largely incurable in adults. Why?

Because the cancer-associated proteins are safely secured inside cells, and are beyond the reach of currently available
drugs.

now scientists are developing a new monoclonal antibody (ESK1) that can target those cancer-associated proteins.

more on monoclonal antibodies covered here click me

Gold nanoparticles for drug delivery

gold nanoparticles can be used as carriers for delivering anti-cancer drugs and also for diagnosing the disease,
particularly lung and breast cancer

In Ayurveda. More than 1,000 years ago, gold was used as a nanoparticle (swarnabhasma).

At that time, there were no sophisticated instruments and that is why people did not know that it was a gold
nanoparticle.

gold nanoparticle was bio-compatible, easy to synthesize and multiple cancer drugs could be loaded. It could reduce
the toxicity of the anti-cancer drug,

Scientists are now using an eco-friendly green chemistry approach- via leaf extracts of Bhringaraj (a herbal plant) to
create the biocompatible nanoparticles.

Bhringaraj-extracted bio-compatible gold nanoparticle was used to deliver an anti-cancer drug Doxorubicin into lung
and breast cancer cell lines.

If you add fluorescent molecule in these gold nanoparticles, it could be used to detect the position of the tumor.

209 S&T Mrunal

ELQ-300 new Antimalarial drug

nearly 200 million people in the world suffer from malaria every year, and the mortality is as high as 1.2 million. To
make matters worse, resistance to currently available drugs is emerging.

ELQ-300 is a new anti-malarial drug, undergoing trials.

capable of treating and preventing malaria infection, target both the liver and blood stages.

works against both drug-resistant species (Plasmodium falciparum and Plasmodium vivax).

Schizont is a matured malaria parasite that contains many merozoites, which is the parasite stage that infects red blood
cells. ELQ-300 was effective against this Schizont.
Induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC)

Stem cell controversy?

Stem cells can be used in treating variety of diseases.

But they were sourced from human embryos in the beginning.

Religious organizations consider this as murdering a child and hence oppose stem cell research.

Nobel 2012: solution for stem cell harvesting?

2012: Nobel prize for medicine given to John B. Gurdon and Shina Yamanaka

for their discovery that discovery that differentiation of cells is a reversible process.

In other words, normal cells can be reconverted into stem cells. and then those stem cells could be
used for treatment of various diseases.

thus, Gurdon and Yamanakas research could settle the stem cell controversy (because we dont need human embryos
for harvesting stem cells anymore. We can do it by converting normal cells into stem cells.)

Induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC)?

iPSCs are body (somatic) cells which have been reprogrammed to function like embryonic stem cells

This is done by introducing four regulatory factors (pieces of DNA) into the cells.

However, the efficiency of iPSC production is traditionally quite low. Only about 0.01 per cent of the cells successfully
become iPSC.

Chinese researchers are now working to improve this performance.

Zebrafish zygote

Zygote is the initial cell formed when two gamete cells (from male and female) are joined

zygote is special because this single cell is capable of developing into an embryo and ultimately an entire organism,
unlike an already-differentiated cell like a skin cell which can only develop into skin tissue. This property of the zygote
is called totipotency.

embryo cell=undifferentiated cell the embryo cell

egg cell and the sperm cell= differentiated cells

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Diseases like cancer cause cells that get arrested at an early stage of differentiation, or cells that go backwards and
become undifferentiated like embryo cells.

Scientists carried out research on Zebrafish eggs to understand this mechanism of totipotency.
Equipment/ devices
3Nethra: eye testing device

The World Health Organization estimates that 39 million people in the world are blind. Of those, over 15 million are in
India.

Most of that blindness can actually be prevented.

But people do not realise they have an eye disease and that they are losing their vision because their better eye
compensates for the loss in one eye.

solution = conduct regular eye tests.

Problem= only 15,000 eyedoctors in India and only ~30 per cent of them practice in the rural areas.

+ conducting mass eye tests in remote locations is difficult because the traditional equipment for eye tests are bulky
and expensive.

here 3Nethra comes to help

What is 3Nethra?

a portable and less expensive pre-screening device for eyes

211 S&T Mrunal

3nethra can fit into a suitcase and weighs about 15 kg= lighter than traditional equipment.

costs ~ five lakh rupees = cheaper than traditional equipment.

it takes a picture of the eye and can detect the five major ailments that lead to 90% of blindness.
1.

diabetic retinopathy,

2.

cataract,

3.

glaucoma,

4.

cornea problems

5.

refractive errors.

The machine is also non-mydriatic (does not need dilation of the pupil) and can take images in a matter of minutes.

doesnt require highly trained ophthalmologist, even a semi-skilled person with a working knowledge of the anatomy of
the eye can operate this machine.
Eye-PAC computing technology

by IIT Madras

It is based on the principle of capturing the image of the eye, digitising it before transferring the information to a
computing system.

The technology teases out specific information from the images and provides a computer-assisted screening decision

technology can process the image obtained without dilating the eye, thus saving time both for the operator and patient.

When used as a diagnostic solution, the computer-assisted decision saves the ophthalmologists time

This technology has been used in the 3Nethra device we saw earlier.
Cholangioscope

pancreatic cancer is the third most prevalent gastro-intestinal cancer in India while liver cancer is the most common.

All these years, most patients used to consult a physician when the disease was in an advanced stage.

cholangioscope is an equipment with a video camera for detection of cancers of bile duct, liver and pancreas.

jointly developed by by Indian and Japanese healthcare researchers.

another latest device, called spycam, was now enabling doctors to look into the liver, which was not possible earlier.

the two technologies would help in diagnosis and treatment of gall bladder stones, jaundice, pancreatitis and
pancreatic pain. Very huge stones could be identified and crushed using laser.
E-cigarette

Cigarette lighting up and burning leads to smoke. And the smoke is a health hazard. It produces carbon monoxide
(CO), a blood poison, nitrogen oxides (which can destroy molecules in the body), and the tar produced during
incomplete burning (it is the tar which is the major cancer-culprit).

Smoke is not only bad for the user, but also for the bystander- through what is called secondary smoking

212 S&T Mrunal

In an electronic cigarette, you do not light up and produce smoke.

You do not even use tobacco. You take nicotine (the addictive), dissolve it in glycols (which are acceptable to the
human body) and using an electronic method, produce an aerosol mist and inhale the vapour.

There is no smoke, no Carbon Monoxide, no nitrous mix, no tar, no yellow teeth.

They are better than the nicotine patch or gum; and they can help smokers quit. (atleast that what the companies
claim)
LEDs effect on sleep

Modern light-emitting diodes (LEDs) used in energy-efficient lighting as well as television and computer screens,
laptops, tablets and various handheld devices.

electric light has had a powerful impact on the bodys clock, known as the circadian rhythm.

light affects our circadian rhythms more powerfully than any drug.

eyes retina also contains light-sensitive cells help synchronise the bodys circadian rhythm to the natural day and night
cycle.

When artificial light strikes those cells, the body gets misled and responds by promoting wakefulness and inhibiting
sleep.

many people are still checking e-mail, doing homework or watching TV at midnight, with hardly a clue that it is the
middle of the solar night, driving us to go to bed later.

Children become hyperactive rather than sleepy when they dont get enough sleep, and have difficulty focusing
attention, so sleep deficiency may be mistaken for attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), an increasingly
common condition now diagnosed in American teenagers.
Gene patenting, BRCA, Angelina Jolie
Gene Patenting case

BRCA1 and BRCA2 human genes used for diagnosing breast and ovarian cancers. (BRCA= BReast CAncer). If a
woman has mutation (fault) in BRCA 1 or 2= higher risk of breast/ovarian cancer.

U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has been awarding patents on genes for about 30 years.

In the mid-90s, Myriad Genetics ltd. got patents for the BRCA genes.

Thanks to this patent, Myriad genetics company got monopoly for selling BRCA gene testing. Each test costs >3000$.

2009-10: The American Civil Liberties Union (an NGO) challenged this patent in court. Their point= Nobody can
patent human genes because genes are products of nature.

2013: Matter going in US Supreme Court.

Angelina Jolie double mastectomy

Angelina Jolie had a faulty gene, BRCA1=> had higher risk of getting breast cancer.

Doctors advised her to undergo a surgery known as preventive double mastectomy, to remove her breasts and hence
reduce the risk of getting Brest cancer in future.

she got that surgery in 2013, and also wrote an article about her experience in New York Times (click me)

213 S&T Mrunal

Conspiracy/criticism

A gene patent holder has the right to prevent anyone from studying, testing or even looking at a gene. As a result,
scientific research and genetic testing has been delayed, limited or even shut down due to concerns about gene patents.

Only Myriad can sell BRCA gene test, which gives them a monopoly on a highly profitable business.

Angelina Jolies move was a mere PR/marketing campaign for Myriad genetics, with inflated statistics.

Now Many women will now take that expensive BRCA testing (for >3000$) undergo the surgery just out of fear and
panic, because Jolie opted for it. And thus Myriad Company will make truckload of cash for holding patents to BRCA
genes.

Presidents Obamas Affordable Care Act mandates taxpayers to pay for BRCA1 genetic testing- thus increasing
Myriads profit even further.

BRCA is not the only gene patented, some other companies and universities also have patented genes for Tay-Sachs
disease, Cystic fibrosis, Colorectal cancer, Hearing loss etc. at this rate, future medical treatments will become
prohibitively expensive. Therefore, the whole idea of Gene Patenting is against the interest of patients.
Oily Skin

Why is skin oiliness restricted only to the face?

skin of the face is oily because of the presence of sebum

Sebum is an oily secretion produced by the sebaceous gland.

These glands are present throughout the body except the palms of hand and soles of feet.

Sebaceous glands are more commonly found in hair-covered areas, where they are connected to hair follicles.

Hence the maximum concentration of this sebaceous gland is in the face and scalp.

Acne and black heads are conditions associated with these sebaceous glands and they are common in face.
factors

secretion of the gland is influenced by the sex hormones, temperature, stress and genetic factors.

Sebum production increased during adolescence, pregnancy and menopause due to hormonal changes.
Function of Sebum?

provides anti- bacterial lipids, anti- oxidants,

hydrates the superficial layers of skin, supply of vitamin E

also has temperature regulation properties.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
+++++
TheHindu (March2May) (Part 3 of 3): Space research, Electronics, Saturn Opposition, Herschel, Cartosat, GSLV MK3 & more
Space Related

214 S&T Mrunal

Saturn opposition

Two celestial bodies (in this case the sun and Saturn) are said to be in opposition when they are on opposite sides of
the sky when viewed from Earth.

On April 28 2013, Earth was exactly in between the sun and Saturn.

This day is when Saturn is the closest to Earth in the whole year.

Saturn was only about ~130 crore km away from Earth. The farthest distance between Saturn and Earth =165 crore
km.

Saturn can be seen with the naked eye as a bright non-twinkling star.

But if we use a simple telescope we can observe its rings and perhaps even some of its satellites.
Extra-galactic Background Light (EBL)

EBL is all the electromagnetic energy ever in the universe.

These include energy in the visible, radio, ultraviolet, etc. wavelengths.

EBL are mostly produced by stars and galaxies.

If we can know the distribution of Extra-Galactic background light, it would give us important clues about how mass is
distributed and how galaxies have formed and evolved + the shape of the early universe.

Problem: Since Earth is inside a bright Solar System and a bright galaxy, it is extremely difficult to distinguish and
detect the faint EBL.

Furthermore, it is impossible to send an instrument so far way in the space, to separately detect the EBL.

Now researchers are working on a different solution =Instead of directly measuring the EBL, they have measured how
much light from other sources is blocked by the EBL.
Microgravity and human survival

gravity is necessary for all life forms, they undergo various physiological changes when exposed to microgravity.

Since man wants to colonise moon and other planets in future, scientists have been trying to understand the effect of
microgravity or zero gravity from organism to molecular levels

This can help developing strategies to survive in hostile environments.

microgravity is bad for survival of organisms: because it causes osteoporosis, atrophy of muscles, immune dysfunction,
sleep disturbances, cardiovascular de-conditioning, decreases rate of photosynthesis etc.

CSIR are studying effects of simulated microgravity on E. coli.

Herschel retired

Europes Herschel space observatory the largest infrared telescope ever launched

served for ~4 years.

It has stopped working after exhausting its supply of liquid helium coolant

215 S&T Mrunal

GSLV MK3

Evolution of Launch Vehicles

Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle.

heaviest satellite launch vehicle of IRSO

will be launched in 2014

Can carry satellites weighing between four and five tonnes.

Can put a four tonne satellite in orbit

will help Antrix Corporation, ISROs commercial arm, to offer cheapest space launches in the niche market.

This will also be a first time that ISRO scientists would undertake an experimental flight of a launch vehicle which
would fall into the sea after reaching a height of 120 km
Cartosat-3

remote sensing satellite,

capable of taking images of the earth with a resolution of 0.25 metres.

Currently, GeoEye-1 produces the highest resolution earth images taken by a commercial satellite.
Antares Rocket

Sputnik: worlds first artificial satellite, and sent Yuri Gagarin on a journey that made him the first human to venture
into space.

February 1969, five months before Apollo 11

U.S. President John F. Kennedy responded by vowing to land men on the Moon by the end of the 1960s.

1969: Apollo 11 was launched, using Saturn V rockets.

To continue in this space race, USSR needed a powerful rocket like Americas Saturn V (used in Apollo mission). So
they developed N1 rocket.

Now after 4 decades, American too are using an improved version of Russian N1 Rocket. (=

216 S&T Mrunal

Orbital Sciences Corporations Antares rocket)

The Antares is intended to take cargo to the International Space Station on commercial terms. (recall a similar topic:
Dragon capsule)

by the way, lot of topics related to Space-tech already covered in an earlier article. Click me
Electronics related
Graphene and Harddisk

Graphene= one-atom thick lattice of graphite

It is a synthetic material with diverse applications ranging from solar cells to diagnostics.

Researchers have demonstrated how graphene could facilitate the formation of a magnetic field under certain
conditions.

application: graphenes could be used in computers, because hard drives store information using magnetic fields.
A Boy and His Atom

It is the tiniest stop-motion movie ever.

made by IBM.

It is a one-minute video of individual carbon monoxide molecules repeatedly rearranged to show a boy dancing,
throwing a ball and bouncing on a trampoline.
Quantum computer

Classical computers use electronic devices called transistors to perform mathematical operations with input electric
signals.

Because of transistors technical limitations, classical computers take exponential amounts of time to solve more
complex problems.

quantum computer uses the exotic properties of extremely tiny particles like electrons to perform operations much
faster than a classical computer would.

femtosecond is a millionth of a billionth of a second)

Hydrogen sensor for breedor reactors

In a breeder reactor, coolant is required for extracting heat from the extremely hot core (where nuclear fission takes
place).

Fast breeder nuclear reactors use of liquid sodium (and not water) as a coolant.

because liquid sodium has excellent heat transfer properties compared with water.

However, there is a possibility of tube failure.

Steam, which is at a higher pressure than sodium, tends to leak into the coolant when the tube develops a leak.

On reaction with sodium, hydrogen and sodium hydroxide are formed. Sodium hydroxide, which is a caustic material,
further aggravates the problem.

217 S&T Mrunal

But now Indian scientists have developed an electrochemical hydrogen meter (being tested in Kalpakkam, near
Chennai.)
Increasing microprocessor speed

Microprocessor is a small programmable device comprised of smaller devices called transistors

Transistors are circuits that switch electric signals from on to off and vice versa. They are based on CMOS
technology (complementary metal-oxide semiconductor).

Now researchers are putting a special layer of germanium over silicon in those microprocessors to increase the
computing speed.
Li-ion battery

Lithium ion batteries

Rechargeable.

Li-ion battery contains several cells. Each cell consists of a cathode, an anode and a separator between the two,
electrolyte and current collectors.

The cell generates power due to the motion of Li-ions.

Li-ion batteries are reliable and their failure rate is 1 in 10 million cells.

theyre used in airplanes to start jet engines for two reasons:

have high energy density

Occupies less space than Ni-CD batteries to provide same amount of energy.

Li-ion battery is in the news because of two incidents in the Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft, involving smoke and fire.
Misc
Glass fibre reinforced gypsum (GFRG) panels

During an earthquake or strong wind, buildings tend to sway and the walls are subjected to enormous loads exerted
laterally.

GFRG panels reinforced with concrete are capable of resisting lateral loads caused by earthquakes.

IIT Madras Researchers have developed a technology to make GFRG panels to be also used as floor/roof, thus
eliminating the use of RCC slabs + Since the panels have a smooth finish, the need to plaster them (as in the case of
brick walls) does not arise. = less cement used= cost reduced.

This also makes rapid construction of houses possible, because panels are prefabricated and cut to desired sizes based
on room sizes with openings for doors and windows.

218 S&T Mrunal

Blight

Fungal infestation in potato

Female black widow spider consumes a potential mate.

But that also happens in some types of male spider. for example Male spiders of the Micaria
sociabilis species are more likely to eat the females than be eaten.

are exotic space phenomena whose gravitation pulls are so strong that not even light can
escape.

They are formed when heavy stars exhaust all their hydrogen and collapse under their own
weight.

closely related to the penguin, scientists confirmed that a wing that is good for flying cannot
also be good for diving and swimming. Penguins underwater prowess may have cost it its
flying ability.

Fruit

Any fruit crop is perennial in nature and takes a minimum of three years after planting to
bear the first fruits.

Salamander

amphibian animal salamander is able to completely repair its eye parts by itself. Is such a
mechanism lying dormant in the human eye? American research want to find out.

announced that it had spotted a Higgs boson-like particle on July 4, 2012, their flagship Large
Hadron Collider (LHC),

has continued running experiments to gather more data on the elusive particle.

possess anti-hyperglycemic properties (anti diabetes)

and also have qualities to reduce insulin resistance.

suns magnetic field, dubbed its heartbeat, evolves in a cycle,

Most prominent activity takes place every eleven years, which coincides with the sunspot
appearances.

Black widow
spider

Black holes

Seabirds

CERN

unprocessed raw
horse gram

Suns heartbeat

Mock Questions
MCQs for CSAT Preliminary Exam
1.

Correct Statement about Polymetalic nodules

219 S&T Mrunal

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

a.

Can occur only below 6000 meters.

b.

Indian Ocean doesnt contain polymetalic Nodues in its sea bed.

c.

Both

d.

None

Correct Statements
a.

H7N9 is a swine flu virus.

b.

Influenza viruses are inactivated by normal temperatures used for cooking.

c.

Both

d.

None

correct statements
a.

Egg cell is an undifferentiated cell

b.

Sperm cell is a differentiated cell

c.

Both

d.

None

3Nethra is a
a.

UAV designed by DRDO

b.

Device to carry out LASIK surgery

c.

Device to carry out cataract surgery using Laser.

d.

None of above

E-cigarette
a.

Contains tobacco in a very fine power form.

b.

Delivers nicotine via aerosol mist.

c.

Both correct

d.

None correct

Correct Statement about Sebum

a.

Sebum glands are present on all areas of body

b.

Sebum production decreases during adolescence, pregnancy and menopause.

c.

One of the functions of Sebum is to dehydrate the skin.

d.

None of above

Correct Statements about Caffeine

220 S&T Mrunal

8.

9.

a.

Tea contains Tannin but Not Caffeine

b.

Caffeine protects the plant from herbivores

c.

Both

d.

None

Correct Statements
a.

India is self-reliant in the production of Potash fertilizers

b.

Citrus greening is a method of improving yield in commercial plantations of oranges.

c.

Both

d.

None

Silage is a
a.

biofertilizer

b.

biopesticide

c.

Animal fodder

d.

Weed

10. Correct Statements about Silage

a.

It contains Low Moisture content.

b.

It can be fed to sheep and goats but not to cattle.

c.

It is made up from grass, maize, sorghum or other cereals using the entire green plant.

d.

None of Above

11. systematic rice intensification method involves

a.

Planting seedlings in narrow spacing, to improve per hectre yield.

b.

Intensive use of fertilizer and pesticides

c.

Taking measures to make the soil anoxic.

d.

None of Above

12. High Density planting is a technique primarily meant for

a.

cotton

b.

wheat

c.

rice

d.

fruit plantations

13. Correct Statements

221 S&T Mrunal

a.

Arabian sea is less salty than Bay of Bengal.

b.

El Nino Modoki is considered to be responsible for supressing cyclone formation in Arabian sea

c.

Both

d.

None

14. Correct Statements

a.

The Descending limb of walker cell promotes cyclone formation

b.

The Heating of Tibetan plateu promotes monsoon

c.

Both

d.

None

15. Incorrect Statement about Insect blood

a.

doesnt makes direct contact with organs and tissues.

b.

doesnt transport oxygen

c.

Both

d.

None

16. Why are the young leaves in Mango trees are red colored?
a.

To protect the leaves from herbivores

b.

To protect the leaves from UV radiation

c.

Both

d.

None

17. Incorrect Statements

a.

Extra Galactic background light oncludes visible, radio, ultraviolet wavelengths

b.

Black Holes are formed when heavy stars exhaust all their hydrogen and collapse under their own weight.

c.

During the Saturn Opposition phenomenon, the distance between earth and Saturn is maximum.

d.

None of above

18. Why do Fast breeder reactors use liquid sodium?

a.

As Catalyst for the nuclear reaction

b.

As Neutron moderator for the nuclear reaction

c.

As a coolant to extract hear from the core.

d.

None of Above

19. What is CMOS?

222 S&T Mrunal

a.

complementary micro processing operating system

b.

Complementary metal-oxide semiconductor

c.

Conductor Microprocessor Onboard System

d.

None of Above

20. Which of the following can completely repair its eye parts by itself?
a.

Male spiders of the Micaria sociabilis species

b.

Salamander

c.

Black widow spider

d.

None of Above
General Studies (Mains) Paper 1

Write a note on following (10 marks)

1.

El Nino Modoki

2.

El Nino-Southern Oscillation

3.

Walker cells

4.

Polymetalic nodules
General Studies (Mains) Paper 3
Agro

1.

Write the benefits of following (5 marks each)

I.
II.

KMB biofertilizer
Farm Ponds

III.

Silage

IV.

E-Velanmai

V.

High Density Planting

2.

Explain the Systematic rice intensification method. (10m)

3.

Write a note on Ornamental fish farming in India. (10m)

Healthcare

1.

Write the benefits of following (5 marks each)

1.

Induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC)

2.

Bhringaraj-extracted bio-compatible gold nanoparticles

3.

3Nethra

223 S&T Mrunal

2.

3.

4.

Eye-PAC computing technology

5.

cholangioscope

6.

Double mastectomy

12 marks each
1.

Write a note on mechanism and applications of Monoclonal antibodies.

2.

What are the applications of Nanotechnology in medical treatment?

3.

Make a list of preventive measures necessary for an influenza pandemic.

15 marks each
1.

What do you understand by Gene Patenting? Should India permit or prohibit Gene Patenting? List the points
to justify your stand.

2.

Write a note on the Role of private sector to improve healthcare in rural India. (btw, this question belongs to
Paper II>social sector>health)
Science-tech

1.

2.

5 marks each
1.

Sagar Nidhi

2.

GSLV MK3

3.

Antares Rocket

4.

Cartosat-3

5.

Herschel space observatory

6.

Graphene

7.

Quantam Computer

8.

CMOS

Milestone achievements of ISRO during 2012 and 2013. (10 marks)

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
+++++++
TheHindu June-July-Aug: (Part 1 of 3) Medical research, Healthcare, Disease, OPV-IPV, Cloning, Three-Person IVF,
Monocrotophos, Mid Day meal deaths, PioglitazonePrologue
Until now, Ive compiled Hindu Sci-Tech upto May 2013. You can access the entire archive on Mrunal.org/snt now moving to
next three months: June, July, and August 2013. This compilation runs in total three parts:
1.

Medical / Healthcare related (given in present article)

2.

Agriculture,Environment & Biodiversity (EnB), Natural disasters, clean energy related

3.

Space, IT, Electronics, Nano-tech, allied topics of physics/chemistry.

224 S&T Mrunal

Although CSAT-2013 prelims paper didnt contain much current affairs, but Hindu Science tech continues to remain important
because it provides Science Theory/principles that can be asked in MCQs (in four statement true/false type questions) for
example :
Q. Consider following statements
1.

Honey has Acidic PH, and infants body cannot tolerate food with Acidic PH.

2.

Infants body doesnt have well developed immune system to fight the bacterial spores that are found in Honey.

3.

Honey has a low glycemic index, therefore infant body cannot digest it properly.

For which of the above reason(s), do the doctors advice against feeding honey to infants?
Answer choices
1.

only 1 and 2

2.

only 2 and 3

3.

only 2

4.

All three.

Answer= (read this article, youll get it.)

Besides for CAPF and CDS, UPSC hasnt stopped asking Sci-Tech current affairs MCQ, yet.
For the New syllabus of Mains:

Topics under New Mains Syllabus

(GS-II) Issues relating to development

and management of Social
Sector/Services relating to Health

(GS3) Awareness in the fields of biotechnology

Topics covered from Hindu Sci-Tech under this article

1.

Government didnt ban a dangerous pesticide despite warning from FAO

and WHO. Ultimately led to the Mid-day Meal deaths in Chapra, Bihar.

2.

The mismanagement over drug-regulation. An anti-diabetic drug was

banned in haste and then ban was revoked. Many drugs are banned just
now, while theyve been banned in developed countries for years.

3.

Government banning open sale of TB drugs to prevent drug-resistance.

4.

Government is not switching toward IPV vaccine for Polio, thus leading
to case of vaccine derived polio virus.

5.

National Programme for Prevention and Control of Fluorosis (NPPCF)

1.

Mitochontrial transfer, cloning

2.

Lab grown meat, liver and brain

3.

Resilin

Disclaimer
1.

Just because Im providing compilation for June, July, August, doesnt mean the end of topics happened in that timeframe. You should follow-up on your own, reading / researching the topics from other sources. Because nothing
prevents UPSC from asking anything that is not covered/explained here.

225 S&T Mrunal

2.

Ive covered only Thursday edition. However newspapers also have Science tech and allied news topics even in the
Non-Thursday editions. And again, nothing prevents UPSC from asking anything from there. So one should keep habit
of maintaining daily notes from the newspaper on his own.

3.

In short, Mrunal.org is just a supplement and catalyst for the preparation- not a substitute of TheHindu,
Indianexpress, Yojana, Kurukshetra and other standard reference sources. And same applies for any other website and
coaching. UPSC Success requires lot of self-study on your own.
Diseases Related
#1: Vaccine Derived Polio + Need for IPV

How does Oral Polio Vaccine work?

Oral polio vaccine contains a live, attenuated (weakened) vaccine-virus.

When a child is vaccinated, the weakened vaccine-virus replicates in the intestine and enters into the bloodstream,

This triggers an immune response in the child, thus Child becomes immune to (wild) polio in future.

What is Vaccine-derived polio?

In rare cases, the live-weakened virus from Oral polio vaccine itself becomes mutated. Then child gets polio from the virus
inside vaccine itself. This is known as Vaccine Derived Polio.
Why in News?

In July 2013, an infant from Beed District Maharashtra was infected with ^this Vaccine-derived poliovirus
(VDPVs) type 2 and got paralyzed.

Our Heath ministrys approach was thik-hai this is just an isolated case. But WHO is worried and rushed a team to
the Maharashtra.

What do Experts say?

That baby was not given sufficient number of polio doses (undervaccinated) so it seems baby infected by a vaccinederived poliovirus from another person.

Not every child who gets infected with VDPV will become paralysed but this baby was already undernourished, hence
paralyzed.

Will this remove Indias polio free status?

As per the WHO definition, only wild polio considered for deciding the polio-free status of a country.

Therefore, this Maharashtra case will not alter Indias polio status. Because it was from Vaccine derived poliovirus and
not from wild variety of polio virus.

Although such technical juggling of definition will not bring that babys legs back, nor it will reduce the danger of polio
among other India kids.

Then what should be done?

The root cause of the problem is the use of live, weakened polio virus in the oral polio vaccine (OPV)

But this virus are still alive and quite often undergoes genetic changes=> causes polio.

Thus, the very vaccine that is supposed to protect children against polio causes the disease.

226 S&T Mrunal

Endgame / ultimate solution= introduce IPV (injectable polio-vaccine) instead of using oral polio vaccine. In just two
injections of IPV, child becomes 100% immune to polio.

Challenges in introducing IPV?

1.

we dont have enough trained doctors/nurses to give injections to all kids in rural areas. + the recent case in Uttar
Pradesh, where a rickshaw puller gave injection to baby and the baby died.

2.

IPV is more expensive to produce than OPV.

#2: Malaria
Mosquito Bites

Mosquitoes are ___

meaning ___

crepuscular

Theyre most active during dawn and dusk. However, they are all not active at night.

they seek warmth

but are quite vulnerable to hot, dry conditions, hence hate direct sunlight.

ectothermic

Male vs Female Mosquitos

Male mosquito

Usually feed on nectar, juice and decaying matter, which serve as the energy source

female mosquito

need to ingest the blood meal that serves as the protein source for developing the eggs.

We experience more mosquito bites at night. Why?

1.

Mosquitoes are known to be attracted UV light. They use UV light to find damp water sources.

2.

But during daytime, Infra red light is more intense during day time is known to curtail mosquito activity.

3.

During evening and night, Mosquitoes thermal and odour receptors become more efficient at detecting blood source.

4.

A Mosquito can detect victim more quickly if the person is big or, pregnant, exhaling more CO and has sweetish smell
or had a pint of beer.
Malaria Vaccine: Haem Synthesis

Haemoglobin inside human blood=helps in oxygen transport.

When Malaria parasite consumes this Hemoglobin=> generates haem.

Malaria Parasite needs Haem for its own energy production.

So, if we can destroy parasites genes responsible for haem synthesis=> then we can make a genetically attenuated
parasite that might serve as a vaccine candidate for malaria.

IISc, Bangalore working on this logic.

227 S&T Mrunal

#3: Fluorosis

Cause: drinking water with excess fluoride content.

water with moderate level=> dental enamel becomes defective.

water with high level floride=>bones in skeletal system get affected. stiffness and pain in the joints.

Fluorosis is a crippling disorder. Its effects are permanent and irreversible in nature. Meaning there is no cure /
treatment

permissible fluoride limit, as per BIS is 1 ppm in drinking water. But At least 19 States have been identified with
fluoride in water level above the safe limit.

Concerned at increasing cases of fluorosis, the Union government has asked the States to provide alternative source of
drinking water to the people in areas with high concentration of fluorosis in groundwater.

National Programme for Prevention and Control of Fluorosis (NPPCF)

WHO?

Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (AND NOT Ministry of Drinking water)

WHEN?

11th FYP

WHERE

100 districts in 17 affected states

WHAT?

support provided for: 1 district lab with staff, carry out water and urine samples, + awareness.
#5: Iodised Salt

Iodised salt=essential to prevent mental retardation and goiter.

National Policy of Universal Salt Iodisation (1986)= recommends Iodine should be mixed in salt for 15 parts per
million.

but In Chhattisgarh alone 70 per cent public doesnt get access to iodised salt.

Success in Madhya Pradesh

Anjha Chulha (community kitchen), a state-wide joint feeding programme

It converges two existing national programmes, 1) Supplementary Nutrition Programme of the Integrated Child
Development Services and 2) Midday Meal Scheme

Meals served at anganwadi centres and schools are prepared in a common kitchen, by trained staff, and iodised salt is
used.
#4: Migraine

Two Types Of Headaches

Primary headache

secondary headache

228 S&T Mrunal

more common among patients

less

They occur for no obvious reason. Example

migraine, tension-type headache.

occur because of serious underlying conditions e.g. brain tumor,

inflammatory diseases, abnormalities of the spinal fluid.

There are no tests for these headaches, only

tests to rule out other causes.

can be detected through tests.

Migraine
1.

Migraine is the commonest cause of all primary headaches

2.

Migraine is a chronic disease, meaning youve to deal with for years.

3.

Migraines are genetically inherited.

4.

Migraine attacks are often linked to a trigger (unavoidable external conditions such as heat, sunlight or sweat)
#5: Aspergillosis

Aspergillus= one type of Fungus

Aspergillosis=disease caused by above Fungus

Australian researchers found it to be deadly in cats, dogs and men. + Common antifungal drugs failed to kill this
fungus, hence more dangerous.
Research Related
HeLa Cell-line

In 1951, Henrietta Lacks died at an American hospital due to cervical cancer.

In that era, USA didnt have any regulations for genetic research. So, the doctors used her biopsy sample to create
HeLa celline, without her knowledge or consent.

Since then, these cells have been extensively used for a wide variety of biomedical research.

They even played a part in several Nobel-Prize-winning scientific discoveries.

Her family didnt learn of the cells until 20 years after Lackss death, when scientists began using her children in
research without their knowledge. Later even their medical records were released to the press and published without
consent.

But now researchers have made an agreement with her family for controlled access to the HeLa genome sequence.
Flu Related
#1: H7N9 Bird flu: potential bioweapon?

This year, H7N9 bird flu virus killed many people in China.

Chinese authorities order the closure of poultry markets => outbreak under control.

229 S&T Mrunal

But Scientists fear infections may rise again in the winter. There is always a chance that virus will undergo mutation
and become more dangerous.

Hence they want to carry lab-experiment on H7N9 virus, increase its virulence in lab, and study its ability to spread
between people.

Pro arguments
1.

The proposed experiments should give scientists early warning of the kinds of virus-mutations that could spark a
pandemic.

2.

The work will be done in high-security laboratories to minimise the risk of the modified viruses escaping and causing
any damage.

3.

This will help in advance research into drugs and vaccines before pandemic breakout of H7N9.

anti-argument
1.

This could help terrorists create lethal viruses as bioweapons.

2.

If virus escapes the lab because of some natural disaster (e.g. earthquake, tornado, tsunami) =massive damage to
population.
#2: MERC Coronavirus

200
2

SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome), appeared in China and next year exploded worldwide.

2012

Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) is viral respiratory illness first reported in Saudi Arabia in 2012. It is
caused by a coronavirus called MERS-CoV

Merc-COV:
1.

It is a corona virus just like SARS.

2.

Like SARS, it causes severe respiratory disease.

3.

Like the SARS virus, it appears to have originated in bats.

4.

MERS virus has crossed from bats into an animal that humans frequently come into contact with. But which animal
exactly ? was it bird/pig/goatthat is yet to be found.

5.

MERS-CoV can spread through close contact with a sick person, and such transmission has occurred in families as well
as in hospitals.

6.

The SARS virus mutated over time and gained the ability to pass more easily from one human to another. The big
worry is that the MER-CoV might do something similar.
Lab grown organs
#1: Lab-Grown: Meat

Scientists have succeeded in growing meat in vitro (=outside body, in a lab/petri-dish)

using stem cells

But Cost of such meat burger- 2,50,000 euros.

230 S&T Mrunal

Then why bother with artificially grown lab meat? why not just eat normal meat from animals?
1.

it help save more than 42 million cattle from being butchered every year in the U.S. alone

As per FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization) report, when cattle is raised for meat alone, it leads to

18%

share in greenhouse gas emissions

30%

land use for just grazing and growing animal food/feed.

Such cattle is injected with variety of antibiotics => led to rise in drug-resistant bacteria=> they jump from animals to
humans and cause variety of diseases.
#2: Lab-Grown: Tiny Brain

Austrian scientists have grown tiny brain (called Cerebral organoid) in their lab

using stem cells.

This tiny brain has many key features of the brain in a nine-week-old human embryo.

Limitations?

does not yet display all the brain regions organised in the fashion that would be found in a developing embryo.

Since there are no blood vessels to bring oxygen and nutrients to cells deep inside=> tiny brain will not develop beyond
about four millimetres in size.

Benefits?
1.

Microcephaly= is a genetic disorder, leads to greatly reduced brain size and associated mental disabilities.

2.

Earlier scientists tried to experiment on mice-brain to understand this disease but did not succeed.

3.

but now with tiny brain, they can do more research on Microcephaly disorder.

4.

Ultimately theyll be able to research on more common disorders like schizophrenia or autism
#3: Lab-Grown: Liver

Japanese scientists has used induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS cells) cells to produce a rudimentary human liver that
could function in mice.

iPS cells=created from normal cells, you dont need stem cells. (recall earlier article about Yamanakas stem cell
research).

OPPORTUNITIES

Will help patients with life-threatening liver

damage.

CHALLENGES

These lab-grown liver buds are too small in size, must

be produced in vast numbers

231 S&T Mrunal

same principle can be used to make pancreas,

kidneys and lungs in the lab.

Itll take yet another 10 years before such a method is

ready for clinical trials in humans.

Cloning John Lenon

Some Canadian dentist has a tooth of late British Pop legend John Lennon- he wants to clone it.
What is Clone?

A clone is a cell or an organism that is produced asexually from an ancestor. (=without sperm meeting egg)

A Clone cell genetically identical to its ancestor.

Thus the clone of Lennon, produced today, will be genetically the same John Lennon of the 70s.
Dolly Sheep cloning

Scientists chose three sheep: Molly, Polly and Polly

Polly (Black
face)

they removed genetic material from her egg-cell.Thus her egg remained only an empty reaction vessel.

Molly (White
face)

they took cells from her udder, extracted genetic material out of it, and planted in Dollys empty egg
cell. Thus an embrayo created.

Holly

they planted above embryo in Hollys womb. Thus holly served as a surrogate mother.

Result: Dolly sheep was born. White faced, inherited the genes from Molly only. The only male DNA of Dolly came from
Mollys fathers DNA contained in her somatic cells.

232 S&T Mrunal

Whether Cloning of Humans

should be allowed or not? => Its a Group Discussion/Interview topic.

But whether Cloned John Lennon will be equally good singer-musician like original John Lennon=> Answer is No.

Because a Man does not live by body alone. What goes into the brain is interaction with the external world. Culture is
not coded in our DNA. Experience, education, environment all these matter.
Three-person IVF / Mitochondria Transfer

Why Mitochondria important?

Mitochondria crucial to the energy supply of cells.

Defective Mitochondria= disrupted energy supply to muscles, heart, liver and brain.

Mitochondrial diseases are incurable.

In Britain alone, around one in 6,500 children is born annually with a severe mitochondrial disease like muscular
dystrophy.

Current methods can only reduce but not eliminate the risk; no treatment is available either.

233 S&T Mrunal

Solution: mitochondrial transfer/ 3-Parent IVF

mom

gives egg but her DNA material has defective genes for Mitochondria. So that part related to
Mitochondria is removed.

dad

sperm

donor
(female)

gives DNA that has right codes for healthy Mitochondria.

Thus, with help of genetic material from ^three people, an IVF baby is created. Embryo transferd to mother and baby is born
without any disease related to mitochondria.
Why news/controversy/Anti-arguments:
1.

UK government is planning to allow doctors to use ^this technique. But some MPs are against this method citing this is
also stem-cell research, You are playing God and interfering with his creation and hence against the (Christianity)
religion.

2.

This research will lead to Designer babies for example, pick DNA of Sachin for Stamina, DNA of Bacchan for Height,
Hrithik Roshan for white skin and thus assemble an embryo like assembling a mobile phone or computer.

3.

Designer babies are bad because then society will be divided into two parts: those with superior looks-body thanks to
genetically engineering vs. those normally born. Hitler was also trying similar thing: remove all the Jews, handicapped
and gypsies and create the strong Aryan race with pure genes.

Pro Arguments for Mitochondria-Transfer:

1.

Mitochondria from a healthy woman donor doesnt affect the appearance of the baby. It merely prevents baby from
getting defective mitochondria related diseases. Thus the donor-lady is not third parent.

2.

Mitochondria are the power producers of a cell and do not in any way contribute to the traits that make us humans.
Hence, any fear that the latest development is a slippery slope that would lead to producing designer babies is
unfounded.

3.

The inheritance of donated mitochondria, will stop with the succeeding generation if the baby is male.
Cancer Immune Naked Mole Rats

Naked mole rats live underground

they can live for more than 30 years, almost seven times longer than normal rats.

They are also the only mammals that do not regulate their body temperature.

234 S&T Mrunal

Unlike normal house rats, theyre immune to cancer.

Why in News?

Scientists use rats to do cancer study and test various anti-cancer drugs.

To induce cancer in a rat, the scientists exporse them to gamma radiation, transplanting tumours or injecting cancercausing agents.

But when scientists tried these cancer-tools on naked mole rat=#epicfail, nothing happened. It didnt develop cancer.

Reason?

Hyaluronan= a chemical found in all animals, helps to hold cells together, and controls when cells grow in number.

Cancer= unregulated growth of cells. So hyaluronan was thought to be involved in the progression of malignant
tumours.

In Naked Mole rat, scientists found an unusually thick layer of ^this chemical.

Thick hyaluronan might have helped increase the elasticity of the rats skin, allowing it to live in small tunnels
underground. This trait might be helping in preventing cancer cell growth as well.

Why beneficial? This mechanism may help us find cure for cancer.
Silver Antibiotic

Scientists are now interested in silver because Bacteria cant develop resistance against silver.

silver unlike most antibiotics works in more than one way to kill bacteria.

Now, silver is combined with conventional antibiotics to make a killer combo. First silver will weaken the bacterial cell
membrane, then conventional antibiotics will attack the bacteria.

Bacteria are broadly classified into two groups called Gram-negative and Gram-positive.

Gram-negatives have an extra cell membrane that protects the bacteria; this means that it is much more
difficult for some antibiotics, such as gentamicin and vancomycin, to penetrate the cell.

But with added silver, even weak antibiotics can fight with such strong gram negative bacteria.
Neuro-science
#1: Human neurons and Carbon Dating

It is generally believed that brain cells stop growing in adults=>As your age increases, your memory capacity
decreases.

But Sweden researchers measured the rate at which new neurons are added in the adult human brain, using Carbon
dating method.

How does Carbon Dating work?

Carbon dating makes use of an isotope, carbon-14.

Carbon-14 is generated in the upper atmosphere when cosmic rays strike nitrogen atoms. It then finds its way into
different substances.

235 S&T Mrunal

When scientists measure the amount of the isotope in them, they can calculate how much of it there was originally
based on how quickly it is radioactively decaying.

This number can reveal the age of the substance, too.

#2: Neuroplasticity

Neuroplasticity = ability of the nervous system (brain) to modify its organisation in response to conditions imposed on
it.

Experiment on animals showed that increase physical exercise=increases grey matter in the brain, promotes the
formation of new nerve cells, blood vessels and connections (synapses) between neurons

Thus exercise helps improve your brain, apart from keeping obesity, type 2 diabetes, stroke and hypertension away
from your body.
Banning Drugs and Chemicals
Mid Day Meal Deaths And Monocrotophos

In Chapra (Bihar) >20 kids died after eating Mid day meal, contaminated with pesticide known as Monocrotophos.

Monocrotophos is an organophosphorus pesticide.

Considered highly hazardous by FAO and World Health Organisation (WHO).

Already banned in Australia, China, the European Union and the United States, and in many countries in Africa, Asia
and Latin America.

2004: WHO says this pesticide must be banned. But our (bogus) government refused saying Monocrotophos pesticide
= cheaper than its competitors and more effective in controlling pests.

FAO+WHO+World Bank agree that Monocrotohpos and similar highly hazardous products should not sold in
Developing countries because:
1.

Marketing-Distribution channels are not properly developed=> anyone can buy such chemicals from
anywhere and create havoc (same problem leading to Acid-throwing on girls.)

2.

Small scale farmers lack knowledge, proper sprayers, and protective gear and storage facilities. They do not
dispose the empty pesticide containers safely=>environmental problems.
International Code of Conduct on Pesticide Management

Adopted by FAO member- countries,

It establishes voluntary standards of conduct for all public and private entities involved in pesticide management.

Code states that a hazardous pesticide should be banned if risk-assessment says that given pesticide cannot be handled
without unacceptable risk to humans and the environment.

For monocrotophos, many governments have concluded that prohibition is the only effective option to prevent harm to
people and environment.

But India hasnt done it so far.

Open Sale of TB Drugs

Total more than 8 million TB patients in the world, among them more than 2 million just living in India alone.

236 S&T Mrunal

TB treatment

through Government funded DOTs program

65% patients covered

Through private clinics

remaining 35%

What is the problem?

Patients receiving treatment through private clinics= they take drugs irregularly. As a result, disease resurfaces and TB bacteria
becomes more resistant to the drugs.
What is the solution?

Govt mulling ban on sale of TB drugs in open market

Under the new initiative, patients going to private practitioners for treatment will get medicines free of cost from
chemists but only after the doctor informs them through a dedicated call centre to be set up by the government.

Allied topic: DOTS therapy and MDR-TB. click me

Pioglitazone: Banned & unbanned

Oral Antibiotic drug. Works as insulin sensitizer.

major players, such as Ranbaxy, Cipla and Sun Pharma, manufacture the drug. Market >700 crores.

used by over 35 lakh diabetes patients across the country

France bans this drug because it is believed to cause bladder cancer, anemia and even heart failure.

but drug continues to be used in the US, the UK and other countries, albeit with a warning label.

2011

2013

June
2013

July
2013

A doctor files petition to drug controller general of India (DGCI) to ban Pioglitazone after 8 cases related urinary
bladder cancer were reported in the Chennai.

Ministry bans the drugs, on advice of the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO).

But Ministry didnt consult Drug Technical Advisory Board (DTAB).

Indian doctors protest against the ban. Government refers the matter to Drugs Technical Advisory
Board (DTAB).

DTAB recommends lifting the ban with some conditions

Finally, ban is lifted, with following conditions

1.

Drug will now be sold with a box warning (that the drug carries a significant risk of serious or even life-threatening
adverse effects)

237 S&T Mrunal

2.

Doctors will also be told that pioglitazone should not be prescribed as the first line of treatment.
Analgin: Banned

Painkiller drug.

Sold under the brand name Novalgin

Adverse effect: decreases WBC (white blood cell count)=>fatal.

Analgin is banned in many countries including US, France, Nepal but the medicine continued to be sold in India as an
over-the-counter drug for years.

Anyways finally government woke up and banned It (along with diabetic drug Pioglitazon)
Dextropropoxyphene: Banned

Use?= mild pain killer and local anaesthetic effects

Who banned?

directorate of food and drugs administration

How banned?

under Drugs and Cosmetic Act, 1940.

because already banned in USA, the UK, the European Union, Australia, Canada, and Japan.

This drug has potentially life-threatening effects convulsions, hypotension etc.

Why banned?

Food related
#1: Honey
Is it safe to give Honey for babies?

Honey contains spores from a certain bacteria, which find their way into honey comb from dust and soil.

These bacterial spores have no effect on adults.

but for children, honey can cause death/paralysis, since the immune system of infants has not matured.

Therefore, Paediatricians around the world strictly advise against feeding honey to infants.

But if your child is above one year, honey is perfectly safe and can even offer lasting relief from chronic cough.

Diabetes?

What?

Glycemic index?

Honey

55

238 S&T Mrunal

sugar

68

Food with Higher glycemic index= bad because

Foods with a higher glycemic index lead to a higher rise in blood sugar levels= problem for diabetic patients.

Even in normal person, such food causes the body to keep releasing insulin from the pancreas to process all that sugar.
High insulin levels in the blood=> lead to obesity.

Honey and Healing property?

before the discovery of antibiotics, honey was widely used in healing

Honey has Acidic PH=>prevents the growth of many bacteria

Honey has hydrogen peroxide=>gives antiseptic value

Honey has phytonutrients=> prevent colon and other cancers.

Honey and Weightloss?

It is a myth that honey does not add fat to your body.

Honey has just as much carbohydrates as sugar so it is best to restrict its use, especially if youre trying to lose weight
or are diabetic.

Raw vs Processed Honey?

Raw honey (that which has been directly collected from the honey comb and has not been processed and packaged) =>
more effective anti-bacterial agent than the processed honey.

when raw honey is subjected to excessive heat and preservatives during food-processing, many nutrients/compounds
are lost.

Honey Energy?

honey is a mixture of glucose and fructose, both forms of simple sugar. And much like ordinary sugar, it is absorbed
fairly quickly into your blood stream and has almost the same effect on your body.
Food additives are Poisonous

Not much relevent from exam point of view, but before you eat junk food, wafers next time, do check the labels to protect your
own health:
Coloring Agents
Children like bright colored food. Therefore most baked goods (cupcakes, frosting) and fast foods (like pastas, cereals and some
ready-to-mix sauces) come in eye-catching colours. Problem:

food coloring agent

causes

blue#1

cancer

239 S&T Mrunal

Red#40

ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) in children (which affects their ability to
concentrate and focus).

Red#3

used as artificial colour to cherries. Causes thyroid tumors

Carmine/Conchineal
extract

Derived from insect. Gives pinking blush to candies, fruit juices etc.While these are generally
safe to consume, it can cause adverse reactions in some people.
Sweetners

aspartame

Acesulfame-K

used as a sugar substitute in diet soda, ice-creams etc. but it is

neurotoxin (affects the brain)

carcinogen (has the potential to cause cancer).

used in gums and gelatin (used in jellies) .causes cancer

Preservative

Monosodium glutamate
(MSG)

Ingredient in many a restaurant-style Chinese meal.also found in most packaged foods,

from potato chips to soups and canned meatsIncreases obesity , causes liver inflammation.

Sodium Nitrate/Sodium
Nitrite (E 250)

used in canned pickles. causes cancer.

Breads

Potassium Bromide Used in banking breads. It gives a creamy white colour, and elasticity to bread. But potassium
bromate is a known carcinogen, but in the US and in India, it is still legal.

therefore, it is better to use brown bread and ensure that you purchase a loaf that is freshly baked.
Animal related
#1: Resilin, the rubber like protein

Resilin is a rubber-like protein

It helps dragonflies, grasshoppers and other insects to flap their wings, jump and chirp

Resilin can stretch to three times its original length, then spring back to its initial shape without losing its elasticity.

Scientists looking for its application in nanosprings, biorubbers, biosensors etc.

Scientists have modified resilin with gold nanoparticles for possible use in medical diagnostics.

240 S&T Mrunal

#2: Animals do self-medication

Sparrows

pick up used cigarette butts and place them in their nests to reduce the parasite infection affecting the eggs
and baby birds in the nests!

Mongooes

feeds on chota-chand plant, before fighting cobras. Thus Nepalis found out that Chota Chand is an
antidote for snake bite.

Goat

From observing the goats eating the coffee plant, Men found that coffee was a stimulant.

Caterpillar
s

chew on some medicinal plants to survive longer and produce healthier eggs.

Fruit Flies

lay their eggs on food with high ethanol, to ward off infection by parasites

Chimanzee
s

swallow whole leaves of some plants and defecate them in order to flush out intestinal parasites

It would thus appear that the practice of natural medicine, including Ayurveda, has its origin from the plant and animal
kingdom.
Misc.
Active Travel

Active travel means walking, cycling or use of public transport

World Health Organisation (WHO) recommends active travel address the growing burden of non-communicable
diseases.
Apoptosis

It is the biological process clearing dead cells.

apoptotic cells= Cells that are aging, damaged or infected and about to die,

immune cells (phagocytes) engulf and destroy the apoptotic cells.

If a dying cell is not cleared it will go into a post-apoptotic stage called necrosis=> leads to inflammatory diseases like
lupus in humans.
Pain Management Techniques

Steroid
Injections

effective for patients suffering from arthritissteroid injections greatly reduce inflammation (especially
at the site of a nerve compression) and can offer great relief from tortuous knee paibut have side effects

Nerve Heating

The heat is transmitted to the tip of a needle => applied directly to the paint transmitting
nerves=>relieves pain and doesnt hamper with any other body processes

Prolotherapy

Procedure involves injecting an combo of anaesthetic + irritant, into the site of pain.

241 S&T Mrunal

Antidepressent

it also stimulates natural healing processes.

when your pain is an obvious outcome of psychological issues, anti-depressants are prescribed

These pills will restore the chemical seratonin in your brain, a lack of which can lead to
chronic pain.

But they should be taken as a long-term course in order to be effective.

Elastic Energy and Human Shoulder

Humans do not have any of the characteristics so essential for hunting speed, strength, agility, claws or sharp
canines to hunt down and kill a prey.

Hence the ability to throw a spear or stone at high speed and great precision to kill/injure an animal =part of evolution.

We can throw balls/stones/spears accurately because of the anatomical features that allow the storage of elastic energy
at the shoulder.

The human shoulder acts much like a slingshot during a throw. It stores and releases large amounts of elastic energy is
stored in the stretched ligaments and tendons.

Chimpanzees, on the other hand, do not have much mobility at the waist hence cannot throw objects at great speed.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
+++
TheHindu June-July-Aug: (Part 2 of 3) Agriculture, Environment Biodiversity (EnB), Economics of Animal rearing,
Uttarakhand Tragedy, Runaway Greenhouse, Bio Refinary
Prologue
In the part 1 of Hindu Sci-tech compilation, we saw the Medical / Healthcare research related coverage from June-July-August
2013. Click me
In this Part two, we see topics related to Agriculture + Environment and Biodiversity (EnB)

UPSC Syllabus

CSAT Prelims

topics in this article

giant clams

[EnB] theoretic stuff related to fruit runaway

greenhouse effect, ocean acidification

Fruit ripening etc.

242 S&T Mrunal

(GS1) changes in water-bodies and the effects of such

changes.

Ocean Acidification, Dimethylsulphide

Kalamasi fowls breeding and Tribal development.

Goat rearing by small farmers using scientific

methods.

(GS3) economics of animal-rearing.

(GS3) Achievements of Indians in science & technology

Solar Backpack Lumos designed by an Indian Couple.

(GS3) Conservation

House-sparrow, Tiger corridors.

(GS3) Science and Technology- developments and their

applications and effects in everyday life

flow batteries.

(GS3) indigenization of technology and developing new

Technology.

bio refinery in Hyderabad

(GS3) environmental pollution and degradation

runaway greenhouse effect, ocean acidification

(GS3) Disaster and disaster management.

Uttarakhand Tragedy

Dopplar Radar

Crisis Mapping

Google person finder

Note: topics related to IT, Space and Nano-tech will be covered the part 3 of 3,
[Agro]: Economics of Animal Rearing
#1: Fowl Breeding & Tribal Development (MP)

Indian farmers doing backyard poultry for many years.

The birds grow by scavenging on kitchen and other waste. They help in
o

egg sale=side income

Cheap source of protein for farmers family.

Then what is the problem?

Poultry sector is focusing more on commercial poultry rearing like broilers for meat and eggs.

As a result, many indigenous species about to become extinct.

One such breed is the Kalamasi or Kadaknath fowl breed: found in Bhil and Bhila tribal regions of Madhya Pradesh.

243 S&T Mrunal

Kalamasi/Kadaknath Fowls

black in color. Meat is softer than that of other desi birds, contains less fat and more protein,

Because of these qualities, Kalamasi fowls commend good prices. 1 year old bird sells for >Rs.600 (while other desi
varieties fetch barely Rs.100-150)

But this breed is slowly becoming extinct.

Economics:
1.

These fowls can be reared quite easily. Dont need any special attention or round the clock caretaking.

2.

Theyre good scavengers= feed cost gets considerably reduced. (in each bird sells for more than Rs.600 after one year)

3.

They can be housed in large bamboo baskets or inside store rooms. Dont need elaborate shelter like in professional
broilers.

4.

Their hens grow fast, start laying eggs from sixth month of age onwards. In a year a single hen lays 80-120 eggs.

Benefits to Tribal of Madhya Pradesh

1.

Government provides vaccination, training for feed-marketing.

2.

The tribal beneficiaries rearing this breed are today able to get an income of Rs.80,000-90,000 a year.

3.

Less rural-urban migration. Encourages people to stay in villages, continue farming operations along with fowl rearing.
#2: Goats rearing, Small Marginal Farmers (Kerala)

From time immemorial Indian peasants have always been rearing animals for extra income. But there are challenges:
1.

Pasture lands shrinking=> Less green fodder

2.

Rich farmers with pumpsets and borewells so grow green fodder but it is not possible for small and marginal farmers.

3.

Lack of veterinary services in remote areas.

Case study: Goat rearing in Kozhikode District of Kerala

Government support: Krishi Vigyan Kendra of the Indian Institute of Spices Research (IISR)
Aim: help small farmers and landless laborers to do goat rearing with minimum cost.
How?
1.

Farmers given Breeding charts: to fully exploit the reproductive efficiency of female goats.

2.

In a large herd, synchronization of estrus cycle by administering PGF2 alpha injection.

Careful rearing of baby goats for 120 days after birth. Theyre given concentrated feed prepared specifically by the
institutes experts. Farmers can also make them by mixing rice, wheat, maize, horsegram etc.

+ Baby goats are given liver tonics mixed with fish oil => increase appetite and aid good healthy growth, goad quickly
fattens for slaughtering.

Economics/benefits

244 S&T Mrunal

DESI METHOD OF REARING

NOW WITH SCIENTIFIC REARING

Animal will weigh 10 kg in 6 months

within 4 months the goat will weigh 25+ kg =provides big returns in quick time.

Farmers with only few cents of land can also grow goats.

They dont need not spent much time grazing them out in the open.

expense of feeding one baby goat

Rs.1200 per month x 4 months = 3600

Income from selling that goat after 4 months.

close to Rs.7000

profit

You calculate for the aptitude practice.

[Agro] Research: New Varieties

Indias first throneless rose plant variety.
Himalayan
Wonder

Yamuna Safed-5

Onion Bulbets

by a research institute in Palampur, Himachal Pradesh

Regions around Pune-Banglore= known for commercial rose cultivation. Theyre interested in this new
throneless variety of rose.

New garlic variety

by National Horticultural Research and Development Foundation (NHRDF) in Nasik,

suitable for growing in Northen states such as Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Bihar, Punjab,
Rajasthan.

These Garlic Bulbs are white and big in size, matures quickly and and shelf life is also good.

By National Horticultural Research and Development Foundation, Nashik

Theyve devised new technique for successful Kharif onion nursery production, during
heavy rains.

Jan-Feb: Onion bulbets raised in nursey beds

July-Aug- theyre transplanted to the farm

This method increases the yield of onion.

[Agro]:Fertilizer/Manure related

245 S&T Mrunal

#1: Liquid Manure

Present day farming require external inputs such as fertiliser and pesticides.

but theyre expensive + harmful to soil and environment.

Now a new technology developed to produce liquid manure from cow dung and cow urine, by a farmer in TN.

How?

The basic principles= Fermentation + Sedimentation.

Cow dung + cow urine +10 parts of water=>mix in barrel, let it ferment for a day.

Next day add one kg of jiggery, along with decomposed fruits, vegetables or practically any vegetative matter available
in the farm.

Only indigenous cow dung and urine must be used because the microbial activity in local cow waste is more
than in other cross bred animals.

After a week farmers can use this liquid solution as manure via drip irrigation. Hence it is called Liquid Manure.

Benefits?
1.

increases the water holding capacity of the soil

2.

Improves the beneficial micro organisms present in the soil.

3.

Only Rs.800 investment to buy a plastic barrel.Rest of the inputs can be easily sourced from the farm itself. Hence
even small and marginal farmers can do it.

4.

farmer can save Rs.4,000-20,000 per hectare in fertilizer

#2: Vermicompost

Chemical fertilizers=decrease soil fertility after prolonged use.

Vermicompost is an organic manure (bio-fertilizer) by earth worm

Earthworm can be grown on animal dung, poultry droppings, vegetable and other kinds of biodegradable wastes. They
feed on such items, produce a compost.

Benefits of Vermicompost?
1.

odorless, clean, organic material

2.

contains adequate quantities of N, P, K (Nitrogen, Phosphorus, Potassium) and several micronutrients that are
essential for plant growth.

3.

Contains organic matter= makes the soil productive.

4.

Eco-friendly, non-toxic, consumes low energy input for composting.

#3:Organic cultivation

Case study: Enabavi, a small village in Warangal district, Andhra

The farmers grow paddy, pulses, millets, cotton, chilli, tobacco and vegetables.

246 S&T Mrunal

BEFORE

AFTER

In the 1970s, like many other Indian villages, they also

went through the same process of using more and
more chemicals to increase the productivity.
By 1995 problems started showing up. Even though
they increased Investments on seeds-fertilizerspesticides, the returns were not good.

average spending on chemical fertilizers and pesticides:

~Rs.3,500 per crop per acre

Seeds: ~ Rs. 500 per acre for seeds

The village started shifting to non-chemical

farming about a decade ago.

By 2006, entire area was converted to organic

farming.

There is strong social regulation within the

community towards organic cultivation.

They started using tank silt, poultry manure,

vermicompost and farm yard manure.

They set up their own compost manufacturing

units in their fields and started following various
ecological practices

depend on their own seed for many crops,

except for cotton

The traders would dictate the price for the produce in addition
to charging interest for the inputs supplied

The farmers do not spend a single rupee anymore for

buying all the inputs.

Sale of agro-produce through Middlemen @APMC

They process their paddy and sell directly to consumers

and also through a marketing channel called Sahaja
Aharam in Hyderabad.

Lessons from this village:

1.

Sustainable farming can be profitable.

2.

social regulation, learning from each other.

3.

the benefits of conviction born out of experience and most importantly, the way out of agricultural distress by taking
control over ones own farming,
[Agro]: Misc.
#1: Fungus as Bio-control Agent

Trichoderma viride (Tv), a soil fungus =bio control agent

controls diseases in trees such as root rot, leaf blight etc.

Good alternative for chemical based fungicides

Farmers can make it by themselves using agricultural wastes to reduce cost

247 S&T Mrunal

#2: Fruit Ripening
Fruits are classified into two groups

CLIMACTERIC

NON- CLIMACTERIC

ripen even after harvest

do not ripen after harvest

Banana, apple, avocado, banana, g, mango, papaya, passionfruit, pear

and tomato

Grapes, blueberry, cherry, citrus, cucumber,

pineapple and strawberry.

ethylene gas is used in godowns to hasten the ripening (e.g. for Banana).
Similarly Calcium carbide is used to ripen Mangoes.

not needed / wont work.

Q. It is impossible to peel the skin of a plantain fruit when it is raw but the same can be done very easily when
fully ripe. Why?

Raw banana fruit is firm and not peelable since the cell cementing material is made of non-soluble calcium pectin.

But On ripening the non-soluble pectin will become soluble and hence the softness.

Enough of Agro related, now moving on to Environment and Biodiversity [EnB]

[EnB] Flora-Fauna
#1: Giant Clams
Clam = one type of mollusk. (Octopus, Squid-fish are other examples of mollusk)

Giant Clam= an endangered species of clam (although IUCN red list puts it in Vulnerable category but Thehindu says
its an endangered species). Then who is right? That well know once CSAT-2013 official answer key comes out and we
find whether Swamp Deer was endangered or not! If UPSC answerkey says Swamp deer was endangered thatd mean
UPSC had setup question from IUCN list.

Anyways back to topic: Giant Clams are found in the tropical coral reefs, including Andaman Nicobar.

All the species of Giant Clam are protected under Schedule 1 of the Wildlife Protection Act.

But Why in News?

248 S&T Mrunal

UK based charity organization gave money to Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS).

Money will be used create database of Giant clams in Andaman-Nicobar.

#2: House-Sparrow: official bird of Delhi

STATE

OFFICIAL STATE BIRD

Jammu and Kashmir

Black Necked Crane

Haryana

Black Francolin

Gujarat

Greater Flamingo

Maharashtra

Yellow Footed Green Pigeon.

Delhi

House-sparrow (declared State Bird in 2013)

March 20 = World House Sparrow Day

Why House-sparrow population declining?
1.

Less tress=not place to setup nests +increase in air pollution

2.

Buildings use glass facades= they show reflection of trees. Birds crash into the glass panel mistaking it for a tress. They
get injured, even die.

3.

House sparrows and their chicks need protein, which means they need a lot of insects. But urban junta uses chemical
pesticides in their gardens=> No worms, insects or pests left for the birds to feed. Thus, use of pesticides invariably
affects house sparrow population.

4.

Cities have less number of open vegetable markets= lack of waste food for the birds.

5.

Earlier Sparrows fed on open bags of rice and cereals in the markets. The traders too didnt try to avoid them as they
consumed only a little and also preyed on small pests in rice bags. But these bags have now been replaced with sealed
plastic bags at many places=no grain leakage=no food for birds.

6.

Even in places where grain-bags are kept open, the birds avoid them owing to the use of pesticides. A house sparrow
weighs just a few milligrams and feeding on cereals with pesticides, even in micro levels, could kill them.

7.

Even in Rural areas, reduced grain spillage and improved storage facilities + use of pesticides & herbicides=sparrow
population declined.
#3: Forest Corridors for Tiger breeding

2010 data: 1,700 tigers in 39 tiger reserves.

Nowadays, Tiger reserves are surrounded by farms, villages and towns.

Such small and enclosed tiger reserves=> Habitat fragmentation=>inbreeding among tigers.

Inbreeding=> new generations will have genetic disorders. Theyll be more vulnerable to environmental changes.

249 S&T Mrunal

If tiger reserves are connected through forest corridors, then tiger from one region can move to different area=>
decreases inbreeding and promotes gene flow between isolated tiger populations.

Thus forest corridors= imp. for genetic variation among tigers.

Challenge: Tiger corridors in central India face threats from road widening, railway lines construction and coal mining.
#4: Antarctic Conservation

commission for conservation of Antarctic marine living resources (CCAMLR)

Members: 24 countries and the European Union.

Recent proposals

by

1.

designate Ross Sea as marine protected area (MPA) in the Antarctic

designate seven marine protected areas in East Antarctica covering more than 1 million
square kilometres

US+NZ

Australia+France+E
U

But Russia voted against both proposals during meeting, hence no result.
[EnB] Clean Energy Related
#1: Bio-refinery: Bioplastics, BioHydrogen

input

output

Bio-electric Chemical Treatment System=designed by a research organization in Hyderabad, theyve also filed for
Patent.

affluent/toxic water discharged from chemical factories and households.

1.

futuristic green fuels

a.

bio-hydrogen: This system uses anaerobic reactors to produce the environmentally sustainable bio-hydrogen instead
of methane.

b.

bio-electricity: from anaerobic bacterial metabolism, by putting external electrodes in the reactor

bio-plastics: During above anaerobic processing, volatile fatty acids generated. These fatty acids are used for making
bio-plastics. These bio-plastics could replace to some extent synthetic plastics in future.

Project funded by the Ministry of Non-Renewable Energy.

#2: Biofuel: Anti-Arguments
1.

The amount of energy produced by biofuels is only a little more than the amount of energy invested in growing and
manufacturing them.

250 S&T Mrunal

2.

Biofuels are nothing but a byproduct of sunlight. A combination of solar cells, batteries and electric cars, is 600 times
more effective at harnessing suns energy than biofuels.

3.

Their energy-efficiency is not so good. Even if all agricultural land in Germany was directed to biofuels, we will get only
enough to replace up to 20% of all fuel consumption in Germany.

4.

At present Germany uses only 20% of agricultural land for crops used for biomass production. The money farmers earn
for this is probably double compared to growing wheat. As a result of that Germany, which was a big exporter of wheat,
now imports it. Because farmers decreased wheat cultivation.

5.

Several studies had shown that global crop production needed to double by 2050, to meet demands from
o

Increasing human population

Demand from meat-industry (recall geography location factor article: how corn is used to fatten the cattle in
USA. Similarly poultry rearing also need corn, soybean as feed.)

demand from dairy-industry

Therefore it is a bad idea to devote agricultural land for biofuels.

#3: Nuke Energy post Fukushima

2011

Fukushima nuclear plant accident in Japan

2022

Germany plans to shut down all of its Nuclear plants.

IAEA Chief (Yukiya Amano) said following:

After Chernobyl disaster in 1986, there was a period of stagnation in nuclear industry

But, after the Fukushima accident construction of new nuclear plants continued in many countries,

In the next few years five countries Bangladesh, Jordan, Nigeria, Turkey and Vietnam will join the nuclear energy
club

Nuke Energy is safe, reliable, low greenhouse gas emission, gives steady supply of electricity @stable prices.
#4: Lumos: Solar Backpack

251 S&T Mrunal

Lumos=Solar backpack designed by an Indian couple

It is water-, impact- and shock-proof

allows you to charge your gadgets through solar energy.

These backpacks have a sleek, flexible solar panel, unlike conventional panels (large, rigid plates used for rooftop
installation).
#5: Flow Batteries

Renewable energy

problem

wind

depends on speed of the wind, not continuous

solar

doesnt work on cloudy day

Therefore, such renewable sources cannot be connected directly to the electric grid (Because they dont work on
24/7).

Instead, youve to store this solar/wind electricity in a battery and use this charged battery to run electric appliances.

Problem: conventional batteries

solution: flow batteries

by MIT, USA.

Theyve membrane-less
hydrogen-bromine fuel cell.

Conventional batteries include a porous membrane between the anode

and the cathode to prevent short-circuits while facilitating chargecarrying ions to move between them.

Using liquid bromine and

hydrogen gas.

But this membrane increase batterys weight, reduce its efficiency,

bring structural defects and life-cycle limitations.

It is rechargeable. doesnt have

membrane like conventional
batteries.

Has more power density than

conventional batteries.

#6: Electricity from cattle waste

Project in an Agro-university in Ludhiana.

cattle waste=> bio gas=>generator=>electricity.

The electricity is being used for chaffing green fodder, machine milking, operating the fans, coolers and foggers
installed inside the animal sheds.

waste slurry obtained from the bio gas plant is used as manure for crops.

Their next plan is to separate methane and carbon dioxide from biogas, then bottle the carbon dioxide for industrial
use

252 S&T Mrunal

Ministry of renewable energy is giving them subsidy.

[EnB] Climate Change related
#1: Runaway Greenhouse effect

In a life sustaining planet e.g. Earth, the Solar absorption and radiation levels are balanced=> life can exist.

But if the solar radiation absorbed by the planet exceeds the thermal radiation given out by the planet then result=>

1.

uncontrollable heating of planets surface

2.

rapid water evaporation from oceans and rivers.

This is known as runaway greenhouse effect. Ultimate result: planet becomes inhospitable, life cannot exist. It is believed that
once Venus planet had ocean but all the water evaporated thanks to runaway greenhouse effect.
#2: Ocean Acidification

Oceans absorb more 25% carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

this carbon dioxide dissolves in the water =>forms carbonic acid.

This way, the oceans act as a carbon dioxide sink

But when CO2 increase in atmosphere=>Carbonic acid also increases in sea-water= Ocean acidification (OA).

Problem? By 2100, the corals and starfishes might become extinct due to this Ocean Acidification.

Corals spend their entire life in one place. They secrete calcium carbonate =>form coral reefs.

These coral reefs provide support to variety of fishes and marine organisms.

But Higher Ocean acidification and warmer climates = less new coral reefs formed + even the existing coral reefs get
damaged.

When Coral reefs are reduced=>indirectly many species will be affected.

Thus Ocean acidification poses grave danger to all marine species.

#3: Dimethylsulphide

It is a volatile organic compound.

Released by certain species of phytoplankton and algae.

When dimethylsulphide mixes with air, it reduces the amount of solar energy reaching Earths surface

Thus, dimethylsulphide cools the atmosphere.

But Ocean Acidification harms the population of phytoplankton + algae=> less dimethylsulphie emitted =more global
warming.
#4: Climate Change and Apple Taste

Factor

determines Apples ____

253 S&T Mrunal

Acid concentration

sourness

soluble solids

sweetness

As per the Japanese study, when temperature rose during the fruit maturation period, there was a change in the taste
and texture of the fruit.

Meaning, due to climate change in last decades, the taste-texture of apple must have changed. Apples would have
tasted differently 100 years ago.
[EnB] Disaster Management Related

Since the main-subject of this article is Sci-tech compilation, Im only doing basic coverage of Uttarakhand cloudburst,
without going into all details. Otherwise article will become extremely lengthy.
Himalayan Tsunami
What is cloudburst?

Extreme amount of precipitation

in a short span of time.

creates flash-flood conditions.

Often accompanied by thunder and lightning.

Why cloudburst?

A cloudburst can occur anytime and at any place which is affected by convective weather systems.

India surrounded by oceans from three sides. Hence favorable location for convective weather systems.

Convective weather system in:

result

Bay of Bengal

rainfall over the Indian subcontinent

Western Pacific Ocean

Diverts rain-bearing winds away from the Indian subcontinent.

During Cloudburst, massive coagulated clouds with heavy water content hover, over a very small location.

The dead weight of the cloud is so massive and unbearable that it simply collapses under its own weight=>extreme
precipitation within a short span of time=>flash flood.

Additional factors

MONTH

WHAT HAPPENED?

254 S&T Mrunal

March April May

2013

heavy snow in Himalayas

Non-stop Intense rainfall. It helped the snow to melt fast from Chorabari Glarier. but How can water help ice melt?

Water has a higher heat capacity than air.

The molecules in liquid water are more tightly packed than the molecules in air

Therefore, when water molecules touch snow=> greater rate of heat transfer. (Compared to when air touch
snow)

This accelerates the process of snow melting. e.g heavy snow melting fromChorabari glacier=> water lev
increased in the river Mandakini and Chorabari Lake.

14-16 June 2013

Cloudburst over Chorabari Lake.

16 June 2013
Lake exploded from water. => flash floods.

These flash floods washed the mud, stones and slush (Partially melted snow) from mountains into rivers.

Bhagirathi, Alaknanda and Mandakini rivers were already flowing with lot of water (due to snow-melting).

Now imagine two situations:

1.

Police uses water cannon on the mob.

2.

Police mixes stones, ball bearings and ice cubes into their water tank and then uses water cannon on the mob. This
time, you know the water will hurt a lot more.

Same way, the rivers filled with mud, snow, ice- rushes through the hills and cliffs- they will cause more erosion, sweep away
whatever comes in their way. Thus, all those shops, hotels, apartments were constructed very close to the river banks got
washed away.
Additionally landslides destroyed the road network in the mountains hence relief couldnot reach on time.
Why is it called Man-Made Disaster?
Cloudbursts have happened in past also, but the amount of death and damage in Uttarakhand is unprecedented. Why?
#1: Roads causing landslides
Himalayan Mountains will remain steady if not tampered with much. But
1.

the huge expansion of roads and transport.

2.

heavy machines plying the earth everyday.

3.

Even dynamites are used to cut the mountains and make roads.

255 S&T Mrunal

^All these activities had already rendered the mountains unstable. Then rainfall=>landslides. roads blocked=rescue force cant
go in, victims cant go out.
#2: Too much construction
1.

In 2012, Ministry of Environment and Forests gives a notification under Environment Protection Act. This notification
declares the region Gaumukh and Uttarakashi, along the Bhagirathi river, as an eco-sensitive zone. Meaning following
activities had to be banned:
a.

Hydro project in Bhagirathi = too many hydropower projects, changing river courses, poor structural safety

b.

Mining= use of dynamites, weakened the mountains

c.

Construction activities, especially hotels and resorts, guest houses and travel lodges on the river bed.
Everyone trying to make mint money from pilgrims/tourists yet none of them were build with sound
engineering or structural safety.

#3: Fragile Polity of the State

Uttarakhand has seen 6 different Chief Ministers within last 13 years. Meaning average tenure of a CM is ~2 years.

This has resulted in lack of continuity and failure in getting a firm grip on the issues plaguing the state- including
disaster management.

Successive CAG reports have made scathing remarks on the lack of disaster management preparations in the
Uttarakhand state. Yet no action was taken.

political fragility has resulted in ad-hoc and unplanned development.

Successive governments have failed in creating any sort of medium term or long-term plan or vision for the state.

To put this in other words, when governments change too quick- the main goal of MLAs and Ministers is how to extract
maximum cash from builders, mining mafias and corrupt bureaucrats who want transfer-posting in plump position.
Hence, Disaster management doesnt even come in their top-100 priority list of such politicians.

#4: Careless organizations

1.

IMD was unable to alert State-authorities in time. It didnt have Doppler radars in the
Himalayan region to predict onset of cloudbursts.

Only after this disaster happened, Dept. of sci.tech now talks about setting up Doppler
radars in the region.

National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) was formed after Tsunami in 2003.

but has grossly failed both in planning and implementation.

It didnt even have sufficient life-jackets in Rudraprayag.

IMD

NDRF

Overall, there was no accountability and no coordination.

Can we Predict Cloudbursts?

Nephology=study of clouds

256 S&T Mrunal

But unlike cyclones, forecasting a cloudburst= mission almost impossible.

Cloudburst can occur even outside the monsoon seasons (e.g. March to May, if the weather conditions are right).

A cloudburst can occur @anytime @anyplace in a short span of time. (but it usually favors mountainous regions)

The specific location and time of cloud burst can be predicted in NOWCAST mode only, i.e. a few hours in advance.

To detect these sudden developments, you need a Doppler Weather Radar (DWR).
Doppler Weather Radar (DWR)

By and large, Meteorologists use there are three different types of weather radars:

RADAR

UTILITY

1.

conventional

Doppler

polarisation radar (or multi-parameter radar)

gives information only about the rainfall estimation

Measuring rainfall, winds and clouds.

measure , winds, rainfall (including shape and number of

raindrops)

One Doppler Weather Radar costs ~10 crore, can cover an area ~400 km.

IMD wants to modernize its Radar system. BHEL is manufacturing S-Band Doppler Radars for IMD. Theyll be setup a
12 locations across India, including Mumbai.

And since the Uttarakhand Tragedy, now Department of Sci-Tech is setting up Doppler Weather radars in Himalayas

Benefits of Doppler Weather Radar?

1.

Radar uses the Doppler Effect in microwaves. When Microwaves are reflected from objects at different times, this
Radar detects their relative position. Thus Doppler Radar can detect even tiny water particles in clouds and in which
direction theyre moving.

2.

Doppler radar has a detection range of ~400 kms. It can transmit information about a cloud, its distance from land, its
composition, which direction it is moving and even minute details like the number and size of water droplets found in a
cloud.

3.

We can predict the amount of rainfall to an area, 2-3 hours in advance. Thus, if a flood-like situation is likely to happen
in Mumbai, BMC could be alerted to avert a 2005-like disaster.

4.

can predict thunderstorms as well.

Crisis Mapping

Crisis mapping is the real-time data gathering and analysis during natural disaster or riots, elections etc.

During Uttarakhand tragedy, International Network of Crisis Mappers came to help.

These crisis mappers monitor different channels of information on Uttarakhand. Example

257 S&T Mrunal

official sources,

blogs, social media, facebook twitter

NGOs

news media

Using such data, the Crisis Mappers generate situation reports

They also update with vital information an online crisis map set up by the Google: (http://google.org/crisismap/2013uttrakhand-floods? gl=in)

^That google crisis map has information on rescued people, cleared areas, people stranded, relief camps, medical
centres, road networks and so on.

Thus, crisis mapping helps bridge the gap between

1.

information-seekers vs providers

2.

government vs public

3.

situation on the ground vs action that needs to be taken

Ushahidi = open-source platform for crisis mapping during 2010 Haiti Earthquake. They even had an international
SMS number was created for people to input information relating to the quake.
Google Person Finder

Google Person Finder is a web application available in Hindi and English. (link: http://google.org/personfinder/)

Allows individuals to post and search for the status of relatives or friends affected by a disaster.

All data entered into Google Person Finder is available to the public and searchable by anyone.

258 S&T Mrunal

Also lets Press agencies, non-governmental agencies etc. contribute to the database and receive updates.
[EnB] Misc.

man-made forest in Kerala. On the banks of the Mangalapuzha river.

Harithavanam

The man-made forest renders almost all the functions of a natural forest except that there are no
wild animals.

Scientists had been studying fossil primate skeleton from China, since 2003

miniscule
monkeys

Conclusion: Early ancestors of human beings might be miniscule monkeys smaller than rats

Fire in Sumatras jungle=> haze=> air pollution in three nations: Singapore, Indonesia and
Malaysia.

Sumatra Haze

Dinosaurs
hardly relevant for UPSC but for the sake of timepass
#1: Nasutoceratops: New Vegetarian Dinosaur

Translates to big-nosed horned face.

New horned dinosaur species discovered in Utah desert of USA.

Belongs to the group of plant-eating, rhinoceros-like dinos.

Nasuceratops used their horns to deter rivals for sexual selection and Deflect predators similar to modern-day elk or
deer.
#2: T-rex was indeed the Villain Dinosaur

Paleontologis
t

Scientist that studies fossil organisms.

Predator

Hunts his prey by himself. E.g. Lion, Tiger

Scavenger

Any organism that feeds on dead animals hunted by others + and other decaying organic matter.
Example: Vultures, Hyenas, Raccoons, certain bacteria and insects.

T.Rex

That Non-Vegetarian Villain-Dinosaur, youve seen in Hollywood movies.

What is the issue?

Some paleontologists believe that T. rex was a scavenger, not a predator. Meaning all Hollywood movies where T-Rex
is villain= scientifically bogus. Because T.Rex didnt kill anyone during his time! He was merely a humble dinosaur who
ate dead carcasses left by Predator dinosaurs.

259 S&T Mrunal

But now Paleontologists found tooth marks of a T.Rex on a vegetarian (herbivore) dinosaurs tail. From scientific
analysis, they found vegetarian dinosaur was alive when it got bitten by T.Rex

Meaning T.Rex was a predator who would hunt in live animals, and NOT a scavenger. It means Hollywood
scriptwriters are indeed correct: T-Rex was indeed the villain dinosaur.
Mock Questions
MCQs

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

Correct Statements about Giant Clams

a.

Theyre a variety of earthworms.

b.

Found in the black, lava soil of Deccan plateu.

c.

Considered Vulnerable as per IUCN database.

d.

None of Above

Incorrect Match
a.

Jammu and Kashmir: Black Francolin

b.

Gujarat: Greater Flamingo

c.

Delhi : House-sparrow

d.

None of Above

Correct Statements
a.

The use of chemical pesticides in garden has led to decline in Sparrow population, this is an example of
Biomagnification.

b.

Habitat fragmentation is undesirable because it leads to inbreeding among a species.

c.

Both

d.

None

Incorrect Match
a.

Yukiya Amano: IAEA

b.

Thomas Bach: International Olympic Committee

c.

Deepak Sandhu: National Green Tribunal

d.

None of Above

Runaway Greenhouse effect occurs when

a.

When the Thermal radiation given out by the planet, exceeds the solar radiation absorbed by the Planet.

b.

When the solar radiation absorbed by the planet exceeds the thermal radiation given out by the planet.

c.

When the solar radiation absorbed by the planet equals the thermal radiation given out by the planet.

260 S&T Mrunal

d.
6.

7.

When the Thermal radiation given out by the planet, equals the solar radiation absorbed by the Planet.

Find correct statement about Dimethylsulphide

a.

It is responsible for the Ocean Acidification.

b.

It is responsible for Algae bloom.

c.

It is responsible for the runaway greenhouse effect.

d.

None of Above

Correct Statement about fruits

a.

Non- climacteric fruits are those who ripen even after harvest.

b.

Climacteric fruits are those who do not ripe under ethylene treatment.

c.

Mango is an example of Non-Climacteric fruit

d.

None of above.
Descriptive

2 Marks (20 words)

1.

Bioplastics

Google Person Finder

2.

BioHydrogen

Chorabari glacier

3.

Lumos

Himalayan Wonder

4.

Flow Batteries

Yamuna Safed

5 Marks (50 words)

1.

Eco sensitive Zones

2.

Tiger Corridor

3.

Environment (Protection) Act (EPA)

12 marks (120 words)

1.

Suggest the measures to improve population of House sparrows in Urban India.

2.

Examine the opportunities and challenges in the use of Biofuels in India.

3.

What is Organic farming? How does it help in sustainable rural development?

25 marks (250 words)

1.

Eco-development, not zero development, is required for the protection of environment. Evaluate this stand in
context of Uttarakhand Tragedy.

261 S&T Mrunal

2.

With suitable examples, explain how Livestock farming backed by Agricultural Extension services can help
weaker sections of society.

3.

What do you understand by Crisis Mapping? Discuss its role in Disaster Management.

4.

Uttarakhand tragedy was a man-made disaster. Comment.

200 Marks (essay)

1.

Thoughtless conservation and reckless development are destructive to nature as well as livelihoods.

2.

Sometimes it takes a natural disaster to reveal a social disaster.

3.

An economy disembodied from society is a disaster waiting to happen.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
+++++
TheHindu June-July-Aug: (Part 3 of 3) IT, Nano, Space: National Cyber Security Policy, Wi-vi, IRNSS, ILC, Arihant Reactor
Prologue
First, regarding Write Articles, Win Books competition: so far 28 entries received. And last date to submit is 25 th Sept
2013. Click me for more details.
Now coming to the matter at hand: In the previous two parts, we saw the june-july-august 2013 compilation of Hindu sci tech.
(Click on links if you missed)
1.

(Part 1 of 3) Medical research, Healthcare, Disease, OPV-IPV, Cloning, Three-Person IVF, Monocrotophos, Mid Day
meal deaths, Pioglitazone

2.

(Part 2 of 3) Agriculture, Environment Biodiversity (EnB), Economics of Animal rearing, Uttarakhand Tragedy,
Runaway Greenhouse, Bio Refinery

Now moving to part 3 of 3: IT, gadgets, Nano-Tech, space + some physics-chemistry related topics.
IT Related
#1: Internet.Org

In mobile phones, the Data- transfer (internet plan) is still quite expensive in the third world.

Hence Mark Zuckerberg (facebook) + Nokia, Samsung, Erriccson etc. mobile handset companies formed a consortium
internet.org

Theyll research on data-compression technologies, so that same mobile apps, can run on less data.

Theyll gangup with app developers, mobile operators and device manufacturers to to introduce business models to get
more people internet access.

Benefit: low-cost, low-data versions of basic Internet services available to everyone. Will help reducing digital divide.
#2: FOIA Machine

India has R.T.I, similarly USA has Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)

The FOIA Machine (foiamachine.org) is an online open-source platform.

262 S&T Mrunal

It automates the process of filing the RTI in USA and tracks its progress.

Recently Indian government also launched online portal to http://rtionline.gov.in to help citizens file RTIs online.

Similar public records projects

UK

whatdotheyknow.com

Netherlands

Nulpunt

Germany

fragdenstaat
#3: PRISM program/NSA

Americas National Security Agency (NSA), has been monitoring communications between the US and foreign
nationals over the internet for a number of years, under a project called Prism.

Some of the biggest internet companies, including Apple, Google, Yahoo, Skype are involved. Although these
companies deny knowledge of PRISM project.

How does it work? Many conspiracy theories. For example:

1.

Lots of data bound for those companies passes over content delivery networks (CDNs), internet. NSA could be
monitoring those CDNs.

2.

CISCO provide routers, network hardware to those companies. These hardware may have backdoors access to NSA.

3.

The companies themselves let the NSA spy over the personal information.

Why in News/ Why problem?

Obvious issue of invading privacy of individuals.

These US Companies might be prosecuted in EU courts for handling over private database of EU citizens to NSA.

Curious part = NSA claims their budget for PRISM project is only $20 million dollars. So experts wonder, how can
NSA run such large complicated spying operation with such a small budget?
#4: Amazon E-selling

Currently, Indias e-commerce market=~$1 billion and is expected to reach >$75 billion by 2020.

Amazon=an American e-commerce company similar to our flipkart.

Indias FDI regulations do not allow online multibrand retailers to sell their own products.

Therefore, Amazon has entered in India through a marketplace model.

Under this model, Amazon will not stock and sell its own products but help third-party sellers to exhibit their products
on its web platform (amazon.in).

For more on single-brand/multibrand FDI related, read the earlier food processing article click me

263 S&T Mrunal

#5: Cyber defense
Indias cyber-threats include:

by countries (mostly China)

by individuals (Paki and Chinese hacker, + local crooks)

1.

cyber espionage

cyber crime

2.

cyber war

cyber terrorism

Military grade cyber-weapons such as Stuxnet and flame, pose grave danger to nations, companies and individuals around the
world.

Computer virus developed by Americans, to disrupt Natanz nuclear site in Iran.

Stuxne
t

Flame

But other organizations across the world, including in India, operating with the Siemens system suffered from
collateral damage from the attack.

A virus written solely for data gathering, or espionage.

It can gather data from harddisk, computer microphones and web cameras even nearby Bluetooth
devices and report data back to its command and control network located around the world.

Iran has claims this virus wiped the hard drives of its oil refineries.

Kaspersky (famous antivirus company) says flame is twenty times more complicated than Stuxnet.

Flames creator is also unknown. But since flames function is not confined to stealing credit-card/bank
passwords only- It means flame was created by some government agency (rather than individual
hacker).

Some more points:

STRONG CHINA

Since 2003, the Peoples Liberation Army has trained

more than 30,000 cyber warriors and another 150,000
in the private sector.
According to several reports, Chinese goal is to build
the worlds best informationised armed forces.

WEAK INDIA

Since 2000-01, Pakistani cyber criminals

defacing Indian websites and writing derogatory
messages against India.

Recently even Chinese hacked into computers of

Indian government organizations.

Indias strategy for cyber defense = thik hai /

chalta hai / firefighting

264 S&T Mrunal

#6: National Cyber Security Policy-2013
by Department of Electronics and Information Technology. This Policy aims:
1.

To protect cyberspace from cyber-threats.

2.

To protect private data of citizens and minimize damage from cyber-attacks.

3.

With help of government organizations + pvt.players.

|:| Two Government organizations

National Critical Information Infrastructure Protection Centre

(NCIIPC)

under National Technical Research Organisation (NTRO)

NTRO is a technical intelligence agency set up after the Kargil conflict.

Nodal agency for critical information infrastructure protection in the

country.

will protect Nations critical IT infrastructure in energy (natural

gas, coal, oil and power), finance and banking, transportation
(civil aviation and railways), space, law enforcement, security,
telecom, defense, etc.

will work on 24/7 basis.

will design/acquire new processes for IT protection.

Indian Computer emergency response

team (ICERT)

Already exists under Department of Electronics

and IT.

Nodal agency to coordinate all matters related

to cyber security (except matters under
NCIIPC.)

provide early warning and response to

security threats

ICERT will function as an umbrella

organization. Under this, sectoral will
be created to work on 24/7 basis.

provide Emergency measures for

handling cyber security incidents

|:| To businessmen/companies
1.

Provide tax reliefs/Fiscal benefits to businessman if they adopt cyber-security practices.

2.

Encourage all public/private organizations, to have a Chief Information Security Officer (CISO), responsible for cyber
security.

3.

Encourage and mandate them to use certified IT products.

4.

certification for compliance to cyber security

5.

Classify IT infrastructure based on risk perception so that adequate security protection measures can be under taken.

|:| To law enforcement agencies

1.

Legislative reforms to help law-enforcement agencies in investigation and prosecution of cybercrime.

2.

International cooperation / collaboration with agencies of other countries.

|:| To E-governance

265 S&T Mrunal

1.

Ensure that all organizations keep a specific budget cyber security and emergency.

2.

Cyber crisis management plan for all e-Governance initiatives in the country, to reduce the risk of disruption.

3.

To engage Private IT experts/org. to assist e-Governance initiatives.

|:| Fancy things common to all policies

R&D

HRD

PPP

encourage cost-effective, tailor made desi solutions for IT security

Try to commercialize and export such desi software/technology

Setup center of excellence.

In next five year, get 5 lakh workers in cybersecurity field.

formal-informal training centers for cybersecurity via PPP

training/capacity building for law-enforcement agencies

Public-private consortium to enhance the availability IT products based on open standards.

PPP for setting up training institution for IT security.

1.

Bilateral and multi-lateral coop. with other countries for cyber security.

2.

Increase desi-videsi coop. among security agencies, CERTs, Defence agencies and the
judiciary.

3.

To create a think tank for cyber security policy inputs, discussion and deliberations.

4.

Cooperation-collaboration with stakeholders.

1.

Hold workshops / seminars, create awareness about IT security among web users.

2.

Regular cyber security drills & exercises at various levels.

COOP

WINE AND
DINE

On a lighter note:
1.

The sacred-unwritten rule of government policies=> they must mention sustainable development. Im surprised that
clichd word is not used anywhere in this police. Secondly, policy doesnt contain any fancy term/catchy name/scheme
named after you know who. It means the bureaucrat who wrote this policy, is indeed an intelligent person who didnt
wish to harass UPSC aspirants.

2.

This cyber security policy specifically mentions: safeguard citizens private data. Does it mean foreigners personal
data will not be safeguarded!? Recall that in UIDAI/Adhar, BJPs criticism is: official policy every resident will get
UIDAI number meaning even Illegal Bangladeshis whore residents of India but not citizens, will benefit.

266 S&T Mrunal

#7: Google Person Finder
Already discussed under Part 2 of 3 => Uttarakhand Tragedy click me
#8: Misc Topics/Terms of IT
Not much relevant from UPSC point of view, but might help in IBPS and other PSU exams where computer related current
affairs is asked.

Waze

Doug
Engelbart

Windows
8.1

Google acquired this company for nearly 1 billion dollar.

Waze is a social navigation site. Now when a Waze user report accidents, traffic jams, construction
delays and more on Waze, the updates will also appear on the Google Maps app.

The inventor of the computer mouse.

Also helped develop ARPANet, the government research network that led to the Internet.

its next update of the Windows operating system,

Windows 8.1 Preview apps include Facebook, Flipboard and NFL among other apps.

Steve Ballmer= Microsoft CEO.

Gadgets/Equipment/Electronics
#1: -200 C refrigerator by IIT Madras

Using a compressor that is routinely used in domestic refrigerators and air-conditioners.

The system was operated non-stop at about -200 degree C for three months.

How?

Three refrigerators are arranged in a series and together help in bringing down the temperature in steps

A conventional refrigeration system uses a single liquid coolant that absorbs heat and becomes vapour at a constant
temperature. But they used a mixture of coolants where the conversion of liquid to vapour occurs over a range of
temperatures 100 degree C or more

Use/Benefits?
1.

food preservation, preservation of biological tissues,

2.

long-term preservation of blood,

3.

in semiconductor industry to improve the vacuum levels

4.

Cooling of electronics including telescopes and infrared sensors.

5.

This principle has been extended to develop a novel low cost nitrogen liquefier for

267 S&T Mrunal

o

Veterinary hospitals for storing bull semen,

Many scientific establishments and small industries that use liquid nitrogen to improve tool life.
#2: E-Ink, Electrophoretic display and Earl

Electrophoretic Display= One type of thin display, consumes very low power. Example, Amazons e-book reader Kindle.
What is Electrophoresis?
1.

They use tiny particles of titanium dioxide and a special blank ink called E-ink.

2.

Titanium Dioxide + E-Ink=> sandwiched between two parallel conductive plates.

3.

These particles move according to the electric charge and thus you can see the display on the screen.
What is E-Ink?

E-ink is similar to print ink and does not emit light.

Hence in direct sunlight, you can easily read a display using E-ink. (unlike LCD screens in
smartphones/tablets/laptops, which are hard to in sunlight)
What is Earl?

is a tablet that runs Android system

Specially designed to consume minimum power, so you can use it for outdoor camping, where recharging facilities are
not available.

It has electrophoretic display, the screen is static and requires zero power to hold an image, which means that maps
will stay on the screen forever

+ built-in GPS chipsets, weather sensors and radio communication technology.

268 S&T Mrunal

Earl can provide 20 hours of battery life and recharge itself in 5 hours of direct sunlight.

Earl project is crowd-funded

#3: 3-D printer

a printer that builds objects layer by layer

with extreme precision

using CAD drawings as reference

Benefits:
1.

3-D printing has limitless possibilities, as it can create almost anything with just raw material and a computer
generated model

2.

Medical: specialized items for rare transplants can be created rather than wasting precious time. E.g. American doctors
created a windpipe splint for a six week old baby boy whose airways were collapsing.

3.

Space: NASA has created an injector plate for its rocket, using 3D printer. This inject plate helps deliver fuel and
oxygen to the rocket propulsion system.

4.

3D printed parts: low cost (for such sophisticated purpose).

5.

Can even make toys! recall the Makerbot replicator click me

#4: Wi-vi

Wi-Vi= use of wifi to see through the wall.

Concept similar to radar and sonar imaging.

It transmits a low-power wi-fi signal and uses its reflections to track moving humans. Even if a person is in closed
rooms or hiding behind a wall, hell be detected.

Use?: anti-theft alarms + Can be used by police/army during counter-terrorism operations

NanoTech related
#1: Nano Batteries from Rice Husk

Nano silicon=> can be used as Anode in high-performance batteries for future electric vehicles and portable devices.

Theyre superior to graphic anodes.

Theyre more resilient to Heat, easy to store and dispose.

Have higher charging capacity than lead batteries + longer operational life.

Problem=Nano-Silicon very expensive at the moment. Researchers working on method to produce Nano-silicon
particles from rice husk.

In rice husk, silica existed naturally in the form of nanoparticles and accounted for as much as 20 per cent of its dry
weight.

269 S&T Mrunal

#2: Nano Painting: Mini Lisa

American researchers have painted the Mona Lisa on a substrate surface approximately 30 micrometers in widthor
one-third the width of a human hair.

This painting is called Mini Lisa,

This Nano-painting technique will be useful in Nano manufacturing of devices+ nanoelectronics, optoelectronics and
bioengineering.
#3: Carbon Nanotubes and Ampacity

Ampacity = the maximum amount of current a conductor can carry before losing its electrical properties.

Lately researchers focused more on boosting conductivity than ampacity.

But Japanese researchers embedded carbon nanotubes in copper, the resulting new materials ampacity gets boosted
to a massive 10,000 per cent than coppers.

This new material is called CNT-Cu (for carbon nanotubescopper),

Benefits?

It reduces the amount of copper required to assemble a conductor.

+ 100 times higher performance.

Principle?

As electrons move inside the conductor, they are often scattered by atoms in their path.

As the current density increases, scattering also increases until, at a threshold called the conductors rating, the
material can no longer conduct the electrons, resulting in electro migration.

CNT-Cu achieves higher ampacity by suppressing electro migration.

#4: Metatronics

In metatronics, nano rods and the spaces between mimic the behaviour of resistors, capacitors and inductors.

These patterns respond to light the way capacitors, resistors and inductors do to electricity

will help make smaller and more complicated electrical circuits

Space/ISRO/NASA Related
#1: IRNSS, the Desi GPS

How does American Global Positioning System (GPS) work?

Theyve a constellation of 24 orbiting satellites, supported by a global network of ground stations. Thus GPS covers every part of
the world.
What is IRNSS?

Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS) to run Indian global positioning system.

270 S&T Mrunal

Government approved project in 2006, with budget of ~Rs.1500 crores.

Given this small budget, it is beyond the aukaat of ISRO to maintain 24 satellites, cover entire globe, Hence our Desi
GPS will use just seven satellites, and try to cover India + 1,500 km beyond its borders.

hub of the whole system is the ISRO Navigation Centre at Byalalu, near Bangalore.
7 Satellites

Click to Enlarge this chart

IRNSS will run using 7 satellites:

3 satellites

+4
satellites

These three of the satellites will be placed over the equator, in the geostationary orbit.

they match the Earths rotation and therefore appear from the ground to remain at a fixed position
in the sky.

will be in pairs in two inclined geosynchronous orbits.

From the ground, these satellites will appear to travel in figures of 8 during the course of a day.

All seven IRNSS satellites will be at a height of about 36,000 km, taking a whole day to circle the Earth.

If necessary, the coverage area around India could be enhanced by adding four satellites
1st IRNSS satellite launch

WHEN?

1st July 2013

WHERE?

Satish Dawan Space Centre in Sriharikota.

271 S&T Mrunal

HOW?

using Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV C22)

Scientific principle

Microwaves

IRNSS satellites transmit signals in two microwave frequency bands known as L5 and S.

Since these microwave signals travel at the speed of light, the delay between a signals transmission and its reception
allows a receiving device to compute its distance from the satellite involved.

With data from those satellites, the receiver (the GPS-like gadget) can then work out its own position.

Atomic Clocks

Navigation satellites periodically transmit their precise position in orbit along with the exact time when each
transmission takes place.

Navigation satellites therefore need to carry extremely accurate clocks.

Each IRNSS satellite is equipped with rubidium atomic clocks, to keep precise time.

IRNSS will offer two services:

Two
services

1.

Standard Positioning Service: that will be accessible to anyone

2.

Restricted Service: Will be available only to the military and other government-authorized
users.

American GPS: 15 meters

Accuracy
Our IRNSS: 20 meters.

Equipment

The standard GPS receiver (in your smartphones and tablets) will not work with IRNSS.

Youll need a special receiver equipment to use navigation data from IRNSS.

GSLV (D5)

GSLV was already covered under space-tech compilation article click me

was in news because ISRO planned to launch it in Aug13 but #epicfail thanks to fuel leak.
#2: GAMMA Ray Telescope

Official name= Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA). Has 27 countries including India.

272 S&T Mrunal

No telescope based at one point on Earth can see the whole sky. Therefore, CTA project aims to set up two
observatories.

Observatory In ____

Will Focus On

Northern hemisphere

extract galactic sources

Southern hemisphere

center of the galaxy

One proposed northern hemisphere location is in Hanle, Ladakh, Jammu and Kashmir.
Advantages of Ladakh site?

very clear and dark skies throughout the year

a large number of photometric and spectroscopic nights at par with other similar places in the world, like La Palma in
Canary Islands and Arizona desert, U.S.

Advantages of Gama Ray Telescope?

While existing telescopes, like MAGIC (Canary Islands) and VERITAS (Arizona) are efficient up to the 100-GeV energy
mark, the CTA will be able to reach up to 100,000 GeV with the same efficiency.

Gamma rays originate from sources like dark matter annihilation, dying stars and supermassive black holes and then
travel through space. Therefore, by studying Gama Rays, we can study those bodies.

When gamma-rays hit atoms in Earths upper atmosphere, these Gamma Ray Telescopes will observe and track them
back better to their original sources.
#3: Suns Magnetic flip

outer layers of the Sun consist of variety of charged particles

these particles are in constant motion, and they influence the alignment of the Suns magnetic field.

Thus, every 22 years, the Magnetic field of Sun changes by 180 degree, this is called Magnetic flip.

This period is called a solar cycle.

NASA has been monitoring this, and predicted that next flip will happen in late-2013.

Why bad?
1.

It could influence cloudiness and the climate on Earth, even cause storms..

2.

can even disrupt satellites.

#4: ChangE-3: Chinas moon mission

Chinese Space Mission for Moon.

ChangeE = Chinese Godess living on Moon.

273 S&T Mrunal

ChangE-1

created a complete photographic mosaic of the moon

took higher-resolution images of the whole Moon.

created a very high-definition map of Sinus Iridium (a region in the Moon)

ChangE-2

ChangE-3

will land a rover to the Moon by the end of 2013.

#5: Man on Mars by 2021

(hardly MCQ worthy but interesting concept)

NASA

we can send astronauts to Mars at the earliest by 2033

Imperial College London

it is possible to land astronauts on Mars by 2021! Here is how..

The main challenge is how to construct a spaceship that is big enough to hold enough fuel for both to and fro journey. So,
instead of sending one rocket, send two rockets.
First rocket

Will have robots + empty fuel tanks.

Robots will dig up ice on Mars. Once the ice is melted, we can use solar electricity to produce hydrogen and oxygen to
fill the fuel tanks.

Second rocket

Will send three men and reach Mars in 9 Months. Theyll use above fuel tanks for their return journey.
Space related Places in news
#1: Suns Twin

Brazilian Astronomers found a twin-star of Sun, known as HIP 102152.

250 light years away.

The constellation of Capricornus (The Sea Goat) nearly four billion years older than Sun.

Benefit of studying Suns Twin?

1.

will help increase our understanding of Sun.

2.

will allows scientists to predict what may happen to our own Sun when it reaches that age.

3.

During Big Bang, Lithium was created along with hydrogen and helium.

Astronomers observed that when star gets old, its lithium content decreases. Suns lithium content appears to be normal for its
age at the moment.

274 S&T Mrunal

#2: Europa

Europe= Jupiters moon.

Earlier, NASAs Voyager2 and Galileo spacecrafts took some photos.

They found ice-covered world + signs of a liquid water ocean under Europas surface. Hence NASA Believes Europa
could hold life forms.

Astronomers found an ocean anywhere from 5 to 30 miles deep, trapped beneath a frozen
surface of Dione.

And if water is found in any planet/moon=chance that there will be Alien lifeform.

Nasas Opportunity rover=> on Mars.

During Mars-winter, it will just camp at a slope called Solander Point=> to survive in harsh
winter and get Sunlight for power.

Opportunity rover has survived five Martian winters since it landed on Mars in 2004.

Mount Sharp= in the middle of Gale Crater on Mars.

From this area, Scientists hope to find evidence about how the ancient Martian environment
changed and evolved.

Hence in July 2013, NASAs curiosity rover was directed to move in this area, to collect
samples.

#3: Dione: Saturns

Moon

#4: Solander Point

#5: Mount Sharp

#6: Pareidolia and Martian Rat

Humans have long known to display a tendency for identifying shapes or hearing sounds from random sources and
attaching significance to them. e.g. in clouds youll see shapes of bear, car etc.

Scientists call this psychological phenomenon of deciphering shapes from random patterns = Pareidolia.

You can see sample photos here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pareidolia

Why in news?

In Sept 2012, the Curiosity rover took photos from Mars, before collecting sand samples.

When these photos posted on internet, several bloggers claimed they saw a rat in the picture.
#7: Laguna Negra / Lake Lender

Titan=largest moon of Saturn.

NASA plans to parachute a robot into a sea on Titan.

For this, NASA doing experiments in Lake Lander in Laguna Negra region of Chile. (in the Andes mountains)

275 S&T Mrunal

Because Lake Lander has a few characteristics an alien sea. Its surrounded by a barren environment with a thin
atmosphere and is vulnerable to storms, avalanches, and possibly volcanoes.
#8: Tunguska Devastation

in the early 1900s, a gigantic fireball devastated hundreds of square kilometres of uninhabited Siberian forest around
the Tunguska river

The first scientists thought it was a meteorite but no traces of meteorite were found on the crash site.

So, they deducted, it must be Comet. Because Comets are essentially muddy ice balls, they could cause such a
devastation and then ice would have evaporated=hence no evidence.

But now, scientists have found evidence that the Tunguska devastation was indeed caused by a meteorite and not by a
comet.
Physics/Chemistry related
#1: International Linear Collider (ILC)

ILC= next-generation particle collider. itll be setup in Japan (most likely candidate)

ILC will complement the Large Hadron Collider, of the European Center for Nuclear Research (CERN) located in
Geneva, Switzerland

Together ILC + LHC =will help better understanding of Higgs Boson, Dark matter and unlock the secrets of the
universe.
#2: Arihant Reactor

INS Arihant is the first Indian nuclear-powered submarine.

Arihant reactor= compact pressurised water reactor (PWR) aboard INS Arihant

developed by Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC)

Uses enriched uranium and ordinary water as both the moderator and coolant

Its enriched uranium is supplied by Rare Materials Plant (RMP) of the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) at
Ratnahalli, Karnataka.
#2: New Element in Periodic Table

New super-heavy element has 115 Atomic Number.

It is yet to be named officially but temporary name is Ununpentium.

Was discovered by a Russian scientist way back in 2004.

At present, International committee of scientists looking into its research data, may be included in the official periodic
table.
#3: Gold origin

Gold is rare on Earth in part because its also rare in the universe.

Gold cannot be created within a star (unlike elements like carbon or iron)

276 S&T Mrunal

Now scientists believe, gold would been created because of short gamma ray bursts in the galaxy.

NASAs Hubble telescope observed following:

Two dead neutron stars collided.

Short gamma-ray burst (GRB) produced.

Then kilonova was produced (= explosion is so powerful that it can be 1,000 times brighter than a typical star
explosion, called a nova.)

After this blast, a unique glow that persisted for days at that location.

Scientists believe this glow signifies presence of heavy elementsincluding gold.

#4: Fire vs Sun

Q. Fire does not exist in the absence of air but how is it possible for the sun to have immense heat and chemical reactions in the
absence of air?

fire

sun
this is a nuclear reaction

Fire is a chemical reaction that

needs a fuel and oxygen present in
air to exist.

Fire needs fuel, oxygen and a little

initial heat to start a reaction;
remove any of them and fire ceases
to exist.

Sun mainly consists of two gaseous elements: hydrogen and helium.

In the nuclear reaction occurring in the sun, called a fusion reaction,
four hydrogen nuclei combine to form one helium nucleus and also
release a large amount of energy.

The sun doesnt need any oxygen and can continue to produce heat
by the continuous conversion of hydrogen to helium.

Mock Questions
1.

2.

Correct Statement
a.

An Electrophoratic screen consumes more electricity than an LCD screen.

b.

Titanium dioxide is used in Electroporetic screens.

c.

Both

d.

None

What is Ampacity?
a.

The maximum amount of voltage, a galvanometer can carry before losing its electrical properties.

b.

The maximum amount of current, a conductor can carry before losing its electrical properties.

c.

It is a measure of the degree to which an electrical component opposes the passage of current

277 S&T Mrunal

d.
3.

4.

5.

None of above

Incorrect pair?
a.

Europa: Jupiter

b.

Diaone: Saturn

c.

Titan: Saturn

d.

Solander Point: Mercury

The main purpose of Internet.org consortium is:

a.

Implementation of IPv6 protocol across the world.

b.

Protection of web users personal privacy against government backed invasion such as Project PRISM.

c.

Protection of freedom of speech on the internet.

d.

None of Above

Incorrect Statement
a.

Gamma rays cannot travel beyond Earths upper atmosphere.

b.

A comet is a small, icy celestial body that orbits around the sun.

c.

Both

d.

None of above.
Descriptive

5 marks
1.

Wi-vi

2.

Internet.org

3.

International Linear Collider (ILC)

4.

Gamma Ray telescope

5.

ICERT

6.

Kindle

7.

National Critical Information Infrastructure Protection Centre

8.

Earl Tablet

9.

applications of 3-D printer.

12 marks
1.

Define Nano-Technology. Discuss its applications in Medicine and electronics.

2.

Define digital divide and list the measures taken by government to bring down digital divide in India.

278 S&T Mrunal

3.

National Cyber Security Policy-2013 will improve Indias preparedness for countering cyber threats.
Comment.

4.

Examine the need for an international policy on cyber security.

5.

Write a note on ISROs IRNSS project.

Essay (200m)
1.

The balance between freedom and security is a delicate one.

2.

Humanity is acquiring all the right technology for all the wrong reasons.

3.

Freedom is an internal achievement rather than an external adjustment.

4.

Men have become the tools of their tools.

Interview
1.

Indian Government should also fund a project to build our own version of flame/stuxnet virus. Agree/Disagree. Why?

2.

India shouldnt waste money on building IRNSS, there is already a fully functional GPS system. Tax payers money is
better served in food security and poverty removal. Agree/Disagree. Why?

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
+++++
Dept.s Annual Report summary (Part 4 of 4): Mapping, International Collaboration, Awareness & Awards
Prologue
Im running the Summary of Department of Science and Technology (DST)s Annual Report 2012-13. This report contains some
good material UPSC General Studies Mains Paper 3 Topics:
1.

Science and Technology- developments and their applications and effects in everyday life

2.

Achievements of Indians in science & technology; indigenization of technology and developing new technology.

Total four part article series:

1.

Agro, EnB, Solar and Water

2.

Medical/Healthcare, Building-construction, textile, metal, plasma, Nano etc.

3.

Projects for benefit of SC, ST, Women, States and Human resource development

4.

Mapping, International relation (IR), awareness campaigns and awards: Youre here
12th Five Year Plan (FYP) vs DST

DST given budget of >20,000 crore. With focus on:

1.

High Performance Computing

2.

National Geospatial Information System

3.

Revamping women scientists related schemes with DISHA program.

279 S&T Mrunal

4.

Grants for scientists of Indian origin returning to India for research careers.

+usual programs for fellowship, women empowerment, SC/ST/elderly, climate change, safe drinking water etc. that weve seen
in previous three parts.
National Data Sharing and Accessibility Policy 2012
1.

Department of Science & Technology (DST) would be the Nodal Department

2.

to promote data sharing and enable access to Government of India owned data for national planning and development.

3.

make non-strategic data available under RTI

4.

Increase the accessibility and easier sharing of non-sensitive data amongst the registered users for scientific, economic
and social developmental purposes.

5.

Union=>gives ca$h to state government/universities. whatever data is generated because of this ca$h= will fall under
this data sharing policy.
Mapping Related
Survey of India

under DST.

Survey of India gave technical advisory for various Hydro-Electric Projects. E.g.

DAMS

1.

Loktak Downstream Project (Tripura, Manipur & Mizoram)

2.

Kadwan Project (Uttar Pradesh)

3.

Khauli and Nichli (HP)

4.

Thana (MH)

Andhra Pradesh Election Commission Project

Survey of India collected data of polling booths for various Assembly and Parliamentary
Constituencies in Andra Pradesh.

National Standardised Control Framework

Survey of India is in process to develop a GPS Control network throughout the country.

This help government agencies engaged in generating geo-spatial information to carry out
their job more efficiently.

ELECTION

GPS

IISM

Indian Institute of Surveying & Mapping (IISM), under Survey of India. Runs courses on M.Sc,
M.Tech etc.

MUSEUM

aims to setup National Museum on Surveying and Mapping

280 S&T Mrunal

National Urban Information System (NUIS) Scheme.to develop spatial database to help urban
planning and management.

NUIS

Surveykshan
portal

www.surveykshan.gov.inprovides web-based access to seamless 1:50,000 topographic data of Survey

of India. with help of NSDI.
even gives GIS data assets from Survey of India (SOI) and Forest Survey of India (FSI).

WORLD BANK

gave ca$H to Survey of India for preparing coastal zone maps of India . Will help predicting
hazards/disasters.
National Atlas of India (NATMO)

a subordinate office under Department of Science & Technology,

Sole authority for creating thematic maps and atlases- both in paper and digital format.

To educate juntaa about physiographic, hydrologic, climatic, administrative, political, social, agricultural, industrial,
cultural and economic changes in the country.

NATMO is also the pioneer of Urban Mapping in India through Satellite data + GPS verification.

Special maps for tourists to show detailed information on national parks, wild life sanctuaries, cultural heritage etc.

by NATMO.Provides route maps between two points in the country.

Golden map Service
(GMS)

Provides location maps of any site of the country on web either by place-names or by geographical
co-ordinates.
uses data from Indian Remote Sensing Satellites (IRS) series, cartosat.

NATIONAL ATLAS
OF INDIA

National Atlas is the flagship publication of NATMO.Depicts the indias geology, geography,
geomorphology, demography, culture, administration, etc. in thematic map form.
DISTRICT PLANNING MAP SERIES (DPMS)gives ready reckoner district maps to planners,
researchers, students.

DPMS

both paper + electronic format.

Gender Atlas

A web-based atlas using the Open Source Tools and Open Standardson gender vulnerabilities
across class, caste and social locations.

Mapping related: misc.

NRDM
S

NATURAL RESOURCES DATA MANAGEMENT SYSTEM (NRDMS)promoting Geospatial Governance (ggovernance) +R&D +HRD.

NSDI

National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI)to support implementation of the National Geo-spatial Information
System (NGIS) during the 11th Five Year Plan.

281 S&T Mrunal

Geo-Information Science & Engineering (GISE)by DST. Project given to IIT Bombay.
GISE

will help in agro-advisory solutions, drinking water supply etc. using geo-spatial analysis.

International cooperation in S&T

DST looks after:

BILATERAL

BODIES

HRD

PR/AWARENESS

Joint workshops, research projects, seminars, conference, R&D centers.

Utilization of large scale research facilities abroad

Contributions to international non-governmental scientific bodies

personnel exchange programs, training programs

fellowships program

Participation in international mega- science projects

Technology summit, industrial fairs, S&T exhibition

These activates help in following way

1.

they promote use Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) as a tool of diplomacy and foreign relations

2.

Increase Indias ranks for scientific excellence worldwide.

3.

Leverage foreign alliances and partnerships to accelerate R&D, reduce our cost and effort.

Lets check some countries:

(Most of this data from 2012, so not latest. use it as and where applicable or just ignore.)
With USA
youll find a better list here: http://mrunal.org/2013/06/diplomacy-india-us-4th-strategic-dialogue-part-2-of-3-science-techspace-health-care-cooperation.html
1.

Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Education

2.

Women in Science

3.

hurricane weather research and forecasting (HWRF) system;

4.

Triple trouble: malnutrition, tuberculosis and HIV in India;

282 S&T Mrunal

5.

Virtual Centre on Mathematics and Computer Sciences

6.

US Joint Clean Energy R&D Centre

7.

Nutrition guidelines for type-2 diabetes mellitus

8.

brain disorders, cancer

9.

Industry-academia interaction for drug discovery

10. Internet, cloud computing, data applications, etc.

With UK
Next-Gen Networks

joint collaboration between India and UK

Phase 2 started from 2012 mainly concentrating on three broad areas i.e.

Heterogenous Wireless Access Networks (HELNET)

Application and Services

Core Networks Systems

Other projects with UK collaboration

1.

polymer fuel cell: improving their performance and and commercialization

2.

JETCELL : Inkjet Printing on Porous Metal Substrate

3.

Advancing Biogas Utilization

4.

Bridging the rural/urban divide for providing technological solutions to improve the quality of life of rural inhabitants
in both countries

5.

solar Energy Research: aimed towards development of solar photo-voltaic systems.

6.

stem cell research,

7.

new energy sources including hydrogen.

With EU

India-EU signed Joint Declaration on Research and Innovation Cooperation

2012: Brussels Communiqu was adopted to Jointly develop a Strategic Research & Innovation Agenda(SRIA) for
medium to long term India-EU/Member States Partnership.

topics: affordable healthcare, sustainable environment and water, bio-economy, agriculture, energy

Established a Group of Senior Officials (GSO): a three tier structure for streamlining governance of Indo-European
S&T cooperation

Dye Sensitized Solar Celltechnology for efficient Solar cells

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with various bodies

UNESCO

India may support UNESCO declaring 2014 as International Year of Crystallography. It would allow India
to showcase its competencies by hosting regional & international events.

FAIR

Facility for Anti Proton Research (FAIR). @GermanyIndia gave money and got 3% partnership.

India funding projects for

telescope
s

1.

Thirty Metre Telescope (TMT) at Mauna Kea in Hawaii,

2.

Square Kilometre Array (SKA)

3.

Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory (LIGO) etc.

weve given man-material support 4following projects @CERN Geneva

CERN

1.

Large Hadron Collider (LHC),

2.

CMS (Compact Muon Solenoid)

3.

ALICE (A Large Ion Collider Experiment)

Were also trying to get Associate Membership of CERN. This will help our desi scientific community in
future.

In 2012, India completed regional and multilateral S&T cooperation related agreements with following:
overall

EU,ASEAN, IBSA, BRICS, BIMSTEC, SAARC, ACD

NAM, UNESCO,UNCSTD, OECD, IOR- ARC

With other countries

Brazil

Earth science

France

Indo-French Centre for Promotion of Advanced Research completed 25 years in 2012.

Germany, Finland

Green chemistry

Israel

Solar Energy, robotics

Japan

space, manufacturing, biomedical science

Mexico, Taiwan

Seismology

Netherlands

Smart Materials and Smart Grid (energy)

284 S&T Mrunal

Norway

Glaciology Program

Portugal

smart textiles, microelectronics, mechanical engineering

Russia

Delhi unit of Indo-Russian S&T Centre (IRSTC) was inaugurated in 2012.

S.Africa

HIV/AIDS and TB.

S.Korea

Energy and Environment.

Slovenia

metallurgy

Spain

Pharma, Agri, Food processing,

Sweden

embedded systems

Switzerland, Tunisia, Ukrain

Medical health, Infectious diseases.

Awareness/PR campaigns
VIGYAN PRASAR

Vigyan Prasar is a National Institute for science communication + popularization of science

via magazines, radio-television programs.

for example during National Mathematical Year 2012 they ran Television serials, Radio serials, handbook, special
outreach through EduSAT to promote maths.

Dream
2047

bi-lingual science magazine from Vigyan prasar.you can read free PDF from their official
site: http://www.vigyanprasar.gov.in/dream/index1.asp

lets check some more awareness campaigns/Public relation (PR) exercises:

BUILDING EDUCATORS FOR SCIENCE TEACHING.program launched in 2012

BEST

Childrens science
congress

To upgrade skills of science teachers and make science education more enjoyable,
purposeful & meaningful.

children of 10 to 17 years from all over the country

held annually in December

285 S&T Mrunal

NATIONAL SCIENCE
DAY

theme 2013: Energy: Explore, Harness & Conserve

National Day is celebrated every year on February, 28 to commemorate the

discovery of the Raman Effect.

Theme 2012: Clean Energy Options and Nuclear Safety.

theme 2013: Genetically Modified Crops and Food Security.

NATIONAL YEAR OF
MATHEMATICS

2012 was declared as the National Year of Mathematicsfor Ramanujan Chandrashekhars

125th Birthday.

SCIENCE BEHIND
MIRACLES

Awareness campaigns to explain magical tricks used by (Bogus) Godmen, baba-log to fool
idiot devotes.

SCIENCE EXPRESS

2012: Conference of the Parties (CoP-11) to Convention on Biological Diversity

held @HYD.

with respect to that, Science Express- Biodiversity Special (SEBS) was launched on
World Environment Day (5 June 2012) from Delhi Safdarjung.

Of the 16 coaches of Science Express- Biodiversity Special, 8 are solely dedicated to

showcasing the myriad biodiversity spread across the bio-geographical zones,

VIGYAN JATHA

in Northeastern Region and Bundelkhand Region mobilizing science awareness campaigns.

Vijoshi Camp

to give chance of personal contact between the students and the leaders of Science. 2012
camp held in Banglore.

Awards
Boring, you may ignore if running out of time for mains 2013.
National Awards on Technology

given to industries for developing indigenous technology

By DST, on Technology Day = 11th May

ca$h comes from DST=>Technology Development Board (TDB)=>award winner.

2013 winners

Indian Veterinary Research Institute

(IVRI) + a private co. from Karnataka

successful commercial production of Bluetongue pentavalent vaccine

and Johnes disease vaccine for the first time in India

private co. from Banglore

a digital Strain Measurement System.

286 S&T Mrunal

Coordinate Measuring Machine in 3D device for Measuring the Physical

Geometrical Characteristics of an Object.

private co. from Pune

2012: winners

IGis

Integrated GIS and Image Processing Softwareplayers: Scnpoint Geomatic (company in Abad) with help of ISRO,
Abad.

Zen
DTS

Zen Driving Training simulator (Zen DTS) for Overseas market

Energy Saving MAG Coupled Induction lights with Wire-free Lighting ManagementAuto-dimming facilities based
on real time clock
DIAON
product saves energy compared to conventional lighting system.

Tech. Business incubator awards 2013

by DST
Blood Chemistry Analyser & Compact Portable Mobile Lab.

by Amit Bhanagar/IIT with funding from DST.

This Analyser supports the analysis of 23 parameters including Haemoglobin count, Blood Glucose, Urea, Uric Acid,
Creatinine, Bilirubin, Cholesterol, etc

testing cost: Rs. 120 per person.

can test 4000 samples per day

Costs ~80000 rupees.

Modular Tablet PC

by two young IITians- Sh. Rohan Pandey and Sh. Rohit Rathi.

Their Tablet PC is differentiated from other similar product in the market as it integrates ZigBee along with WiFi,
Bluetooth and 3G.

designed like a book: and it has 2 displays, one in front like a Magazine and another on the spine to show secondary
information.

cost Rs.~12000

some Banglore
company

Handheld integrated battery operated microPCR(Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) Device

with real-time detection.

287 S&T Mrunal

Biotech Awards 2013
Given by Department of Biotech

1.

some WB univ.

using biomaterials in treatment of orthopaedic surgical

challenges.

some Karnataka Univ.

Monoclonal antibody based Diagnostics Kits for white spot virus

of shrimp.

National Bureau of Animal Genetic Resources,

Karnal

parentage verification kits of Buffalo, cattle, sheep, goat, camel,

Yak and Mithun.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
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Dept.s Annual Report summary(Part3 of 4): SC/ST welfare, Women, HRD, States Cooperation, PPP collaborations
Prologue
Im running the Summary of Department of Science and Technology (DST)s Annual Report 2012-13. This report contains some
good material UPSC General Studies Mains Paper 3 Topics:
1.

Science and Technology- developments and their applications and effects in everyday life

2.

Achievements of Indians in science & technology; indigenization of technology and developing new technology.

Total four part article series:

1.

Agro, EnB, Solar and Water

2.

Medical/Healthcare, Building-construction, textile, metal, plasma, Nano etc.

3.

Projects for benefit of SC, ST, Women, States and Human resource development: Youre here

4.

Mapping, International relation (IR), awareness campaigns and awards.

Sci-tech for Socio-Economic Development

DST supports following programs:

SEE
D

SCIENCE FOR EQUITY, EMPOWERMENT & DEVELOPMENT (SEED)

SSP

Science and Society Programme (SSP).promoting S&T for addressing needs of society

TAR
A

Technological Advancement for Rural areas (TARA)Spreading S&T via grassroots arrangements to benefit the
society at large.

STED

Science & Technology Entrepreneurship Development (STED) project,to motivate youth for establishing micro

288 S&T Mrunal

enterprise =>socio-economic development.

Tribal Development
ca$H comes from Tribal Sub Plan of the Department of Science & Technology. funding given for S&T applications in fruit
crops, kitchen gardening, backyard poultry, goat rearing etc. lets check some specific projects:
Tuna processing & Tribal development

Lakshadweep islands with its large lagoon offers very high potential for tuna.

but only less than 10% of the fishing potential is actually being tapped from this area.

dried tuna (Masmin) widely consumed in Sri Lanka, U.A.E, Malaysia, Philippines.

DST helping project for production of dried tuna (Masmin) and value added products in Minicoy islands.

fish waste = used for making pet feed.

Will help generating large scale employment in transporting, manufacturing, packing, marketing activities in a
cooperative mode.
leaf moulding

Biomass Based Stove for Leaf Moulding Machine (=leaf dishes used in marriage feasts)

machine does not require electricity for moulding operation with the improved heat transfer and combustion efficiency

developed by IIT, Kharagpur, tested in Mayurbhanj, Odisha.

Protected Areas (PA)

Eleventh Conference of Parties (CoP-11) of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) was held @Hyd. in 2012.
for more click me

289 S&T Mrunal

Here India agreed to implement CoP-11 Programme on People & Protected Areas (PAs).

This program brings together community, grass root NGO and other stakeholders for local conservation and livelihood
issues

Soliga Tribe

In Western Ghats, Soliga tribe given training for cultivation of important medicinal and aromatic plants.

Schedule caste development

ca$H comes from DSTs Sub-Plan for the Development of Scheduled Caste Population (SCSP).

Nalia
Grass

DST promoting cultivation of Nalia grass in Coastal Odisha to increase livelihood of SC communities +
ecological benefits.

other projects run via All India Coordinated programme (AICP):=

1.

non-farm technologies for better income

2.

new tools and simple machineries for artisans

Biomass utilization to generate energy, compost etc.

Breed improvement in local animals like goats, poultry, and rabbits.

Backyard poultry and kitchen garden for better nutrition etc.

Value addition of local fruits and vegetables

water treatment plants

ground water recharging technologies

rain water harvesting technologies

Non-Farm

Agro/Meat

Water

290 S&T Mrunal

sanitary latrines

Women and Science

DISHA Program

Under Science for Equity, Empowerment and Development (SEED) Division of DST.

to promote gender equality and empower women through application of S&T

Socio-economic development of the women, especially in rural areas.

Improve livelihood prospects, drudgery reduction, health issues specific to women etc.

with help of NGOs, universities etc

WOMEN FELLOWSHIP SCHEMES

For women who have taken break from their science career.

scheme gives them opportunity to come back in main stream of science /engg.

workshops to guide women on how to shape up their ideas in the form of a project.

IPR related training-certification exams for women scientists.

Consolidation of University Research for Innovation and Excellence (CURIE)

To improve the R & D infrastructure @Women Universities

so far 6 univ. supported. Latest being Banasthali University, Banasthali.

itll help gender parity in the long run.

CURIE

Empowering Desi Manpower

INSPIRE

Innovation in Science Pursuit for Inspired Research (INSPIRE)

Who? Ministry of Science & Technology

Why? To attract/inspire talented students to study Science and pursue career in research.

When? 11th FYP and continued for 12th FYP as well.

INSPIRE includes following:

3 schemes

5 components

291 S&T Mrunal

1.

Scheme for Early Attraction of Talents for

Science (SEATS),

2.

Scholarship For Higher Education (SHE)

3.

Assured Opportunity for Research Careers

(AORC)

1.

INSPIRE Award (Rs.5000 for science project)

2.

INSPIRE Internship (students also get chance to interact

with Nobel winners)

3.

INSPIRE Scholarship

4.

INSPIRE Fellowship

5.

INSPIRE Faculty Award

FELLOWSHIPs

JC Bose

Ramanujan

for Indian scientists living in India, with are having regular positions in
various institutions.

for (NRI) Scientists+Engineers who want to

return to India .

max age limit: 68

60

duration: 5 years

Benefit: 25,000 per month

75000 per month + Annual grant of 5 lack rupee.

Misc.

UTILIZATION OF SCIENTIFIC EXPERTISE OF RETIRED SCIENTISTS

(USERS)

to get the help of retired scientists to write in books/monographs and state

of art-reports.

for young scientists who are creating awareness generation among various
target groups in remote areas.

duration: 1 year.

USER

Rajat Jayanti Vigyan

Sancharak Fellowship

Cooperation with desi States

STATE SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY PROGRAMME (SSTP) by DST.

this is the is the only scheme of the Union Government to promote S&T@State level since VI

292 S&T Mrunal

Provides help to State S&T Councils.

Some examples:

Andhra

Arunancha
l

Bihar

Karnataka

mitigating Water Crisis by Roof top rain waterHarvesting structures for SC/ST households in Southern
Andhra.

Micro hydel project on Sakthang Rong river.

Prevalence of familial cancers because of DDT, Endosulfan, agro-chemicals.

DST running risk assessment.

Glomus mosseae=>bio-fertilizer

Trichoderma Virideis=>bio-pesticide.

Kerala

Problem? Aquaculture =>mangrove habitat loss=>more damage during cyclones, tsunami

etc.Solution? Scientific and mangrove friendly type of aquaculture (silvofishery). Projects going in Kerala.

Punjab

endo-mycorrhiza=>bio-pesticides

Punjab

SC/ST

TN

UP

DNA and Chromosomal damage in workers of stone crushing/quarrying units

DST running risk assessment.

series of projects related to upliftment of SC/ST population

in Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, West Bengal and Tamilnadu.

example: livestock rearing ,agriculture, and vocational training for artisans.

eco friendly rodent control methods for farmers

Soil Testing Kit Ferticheck

in many villages of Jaunpur district- females have muscular dystrophies.

project to use biomarkers and find genetically susceptible people and give them advance treatment.

PPP/funding/collaboration with private Players

293 S&T Mrunal

Fund for Infrastructure Strengthening of Science and Technology (FIST)

improves the facilities/machines at the university

Provided better exposure to the students for preparing their base in research.

given to both basic + applied science areas including engineering, medicine, agriculture etc

Global Innovation & Technology Alliance (GITA)

to stimulate private sectors investment in R&D

Technology Cooperation agreements with many countries (more than 70 countries) launched
industrial R&D programmes with Canada and Israel

by Ministry of overseas affairs + Tata Consultancy Services (TCS)

electronic platform for using Indian Diasporas skill for the benefit of the country.

to connect knowledge experts with knowledge seekers.

India Innovation Initiative i3 i

PPP by DST+CCI+Agilent Tech.

helps upcoming innovators for incubation, funding, marketing etc.

Initiative for Research and Innovation in Science IRIS

PPP by DST+CCI+Intel.

for kids in class 5-12

Millennium Alliance (MA)= an India U.S. innovation Partnership for Global Development

to bring together social innovators, philanthropy organizations, social venture capitalists, angel
investors, donors, corporate foundations etc.

will provide innovators funding, grants, incubation, marketing, technical assistance etc.

MEGA FACILITIES FOR BASIC RESEARCH

to create Mega Science facilities and launch Mega Science programmes in and out of the

FIST

GITA

Global INK
platform

i3i

IRIS

MA

MFBR

294 S&T Mrunal

country

New indigo

NSTEDB

PURSE

SAIF

India -EU Networking Pilot Programme (New Indigo)

Green Chemistry, Water Purification, transport, clean energy etc.

Research Agencies of Belgium, Finland, France, Netherlands, Germany and Spain had initiated
joint proposals.

NATIONAL SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY ENTREPRENEURSHIP DEVELOPMENT BOARD

(NSTEDB)

under DST

promotes innovation and entrepreneurship to convert job-seekers into job-generators

Promotion of University Research and Scientific Excellence.

Grants given to univ. depending on their scientific/research publications.

In the 11th plan period

To boost research at the University Sector

funding for manpower, equipments, magazines/journals, travel, workshops/conference etc.

Greater flexibilities: univ. free to choose their equipments etc.

doesnt give ca$h for building and civil construction

doesnt give ca$h for permanent faculties (only for contractual manpower)

SOPHISTICATED ANALYTICAL INSTRUMENT FACILITIES (SAIF)

to provide sophisticated instruments to the research workers all over India.

So they can purse R&D activities and keep pace with developments taking place globally.

SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING RESEARCH BOARD (SERB)

under Dept of S&T.

provides funding for R&D

fellowships including JC Bose, Ramanujan; Seminar/ Symposia and S&T Professional Bodies;

SERB

295 S&T Mrunal

International Travel Support

TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT BOARD(TDB)

statutory body in 1996

gives financial assistance for

o

development and commercial application of indigenous technology and

adapting imported technology for domestic uses

Via loan (debt) or equity.

Notable projects: IVDD, EndoXS, Easymesh, Eko:branchless banking, Paclitaxel, PacliALL. (these terms covered in
first and second part of article series)

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+++++
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+++++
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
+++++
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
+++++
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
+++++
Dept.s Annual Report summary(Part2 of 4): Healthcare, Construction, Textile, Electronics, Plasma, Nano
Prologue
Im running the Summary of Department of Science and Technology (DST)s Annual Report 2012-13. This report contains some
good material UPSC General Studies Mains Paper 3 Topics:
1.

Science and Technology- developments and their applications and effects in everyday life

2.

Achievements of Indians in science & technology; indigenization of technology and developing new technology.

Total four part article series:

1.

Agro, EnB, Solar and Water

2.

Medical/Healthcare, Building-construction, textile, metal, plasma, Nano etc. youre here.

3.

Projects for benefit of SC, ST, Women, States and Human resource development

4.

Mapping, International relation (IR), awareness campaigns and awards.

Healthcare/Drug/Medical related

296 S&T Mrunal

Good Lab practices (GLP)

Good Laboratory Practice (GLP) is a quality system by member nations of countries of Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)

Concerned with monitoring of chemical/tests done in labs for industrial chemicals, pharmaceuticals, veterinary drugs,
pesticides, cosmetic products, food additives, feed additives, etc.

Because these drug/chemicals/tests may pose dangers to human/animal/environment.

To comply with with this OECDs GLP (Good lab practices), our government setup National Good Laboratory Practice
(GLP) Compliance Monitoring Authority in 2002

this body falls under administrative control of DST (Department of Science and Technology)

If you run a lab and get GLP certificate from this body=> your labs test data will be accepted in OCED countries.
DPRP

The Drug and Pharmaceutical Research Programme (DPRP)

DST launched this in the mid 90s.

for Public Private Partnership (PPP) initiatives in drug research.

for promoting promoting Industry-Institutional collaboration

for developing New Drugs in all systems of medicine

for creating infrastructure, mechanisms and linkages to facilitate new drug development

+HRD
E-psychiatrist or virtual psychiatrist

for effective delivery of mental health care in remote areas.

by Health Ministry + Tata consultancy services (TCS)

net-based, logically linked clinical diagnostic and management decision support system

in English + Hindi

to help identifying and managing 18 human psychiatric disorders.

Indigenously developed, First ever such system in the world.

Pilot testing @HP, JK and Uttarakhand states.

Health & Physical fitness monitor

Equipment capable of measuring parameters like electrocardiogram (ECG), blood pressure, pulse rate, body
temperature, respiration rate etc.

has sensors to measure, display and record physiological information about the patient

use? rural/urban Hospitals intensive care units, operation theaters, emergency and even in Ambulance.

297 S&T Mrunal

Under prototype stage. Currently, there is no indigenous manufactures of Multi-parameter monitors in India.
Blood Chemistry Analyser & Compact Portable Mobile Lab

by Amit Bhanagar/IIT with funding from DST.

This Analyser supports the analysis of 23 parameters including Haemoglobin count, Blood Glucose, Urea, Uric Acid,
Creatinine, Bilirubin, Cholesterol, etc

testing cost: Rs. 120 per person.

can test 4000 samples per day

Costs ~80000 rupees.

Bacteriorhodipsin

Rhodopsin=Fundamental photosynthetic protein in the retina of the eye for vision purposes.

They can be produced using bacteria like the Halobacterium Salinarum.

Photoactive biomolecules= in great demand for production of optical and electro-optical sensors.

Hence Rhodopsins= commercial application. But very expensive at present. Developed countries running secret
projects.

DST Funding project to indigenously synthesize Bacterio-Rhodopsines from purple bacteria.

Electro-Active Sensor Fabrics

Wearable strain sensor to measure the kinematic movements of elbow angle / knee angle. Will help in following:

Physiotherapist / rehabilitation centre to check elbow/knee angle bending over a period of time or after a critical
injury.

any research relating to arthritis.

sports related injuries / treatment

knee replacement surgeries.

Biosensors

Biomolecular electronics = intergrates biomolecules with the electronics through a transducer.

it uses fullerenes, carbon nanotubes, graphene, Organic electronics devices like Light Emitting Diodes (OLEDs) etc.

Result?= the development of biosensors for non-invasive (surgery free) health care, artificial muscles etc.

298 S&T Mrunal

Low Cost Wireless Polysomnograph

Polysomnography=Method to evaluate sleep quality.

Conventional methods use Electrodes, and Respiration belts to measure these parameters.= uncomfortable for the
patient.

This low cost wireless polysomnograph uses Thermal infrared imaging to detect sleep quality=no contact with patients
body=comfortable.
AYURVEDA BIOLOGY

Ayurvedas terms/principles/concepts are not effectively related to modern scientific biology and medicine.

Therefore, DST promotes basic research to proof biological basis of Ayurvedic treatment and thus establish Ayurvedas
effects at international level.

with help of full participation of scientists and Ayurvedic experts

Clubfoot Braces

for use in children with clubfeet (who have been corrected by any surgical or casting method)

for maintenance of correction of deformity.

Allows greater degree of freedom+comfort to child while wearing the brace.

Synriam

(became too clichd)

The Drug and Pharmaceutical Research Programme (DPRP)=for Public Private Partnership (PPP) initiatives in drug
research.

under this DRPA=> new anti malaterial drug Synriam developed by Ranbaxy via PPP route.

Synriam contains
o

Arterolane maleate 150mg

Piperaquine phosphate 750 mg

299 S&T Mrunal

first of its kind, a New Chemical Entity, fully developed through indigenous R&D which has reached the market place

The drug has been launched for global market

Will decrease cost of treatment.

Amphomul

by Bharat Serum for Kala Azar

Anaemia

DST supporting Directly Observed Home Based Daily Iron Therapy to reduce anemia among young
women in rural india

biodegradable
polymers

Cinnamon Extract

can be used for artificial organ transplant.

but very expensive.

DST supporting project to manufacture biodegradable polymers using microbes,

agricultural and forest resources.

herbal supplement for blood sugar management using Cinnamon Extract (Dalchini)

introduced in the international market in 2010.

DST funding indigenous development of low cost liquid nitrogen plant ( 7 liter/hr.
capacity)

they can be used for Biological material preservation (e.g. sperm banks/ stem cells), food &
nutrition, and a variety of small scale industrial application

for arsenic detection in drinking water

compact liquid
nitrogen Plant

e-tongue

fungisome

for Kala Azar (Visceral Leishmaniasis)

Glycine Max

for diabetes

IVDD

In Vitro Diagnostic devices (IVDD)=we mostly rely on imports.

new project to get proteins regeants from human biological waste, with help of Monoclonal
Antibodies.

this will help manufacture Indigenous IVDD (In Vitro Diagnostic Device)=low cost,
affordable.

loop mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) technique

LAMP

300 S&T Mrunal

for the detection of Chikungunya Viral Genome

EndoXS= First Indian Disposable Laparoscopy Trocar. Low cost and disposable.

Easymesh= Hernia repair system. Low cost and disposable.

Even potential for Export to other developing countries because of the cost advantage.

DST formulated a multidisciplinary programme to address and understand the cognitive

deficits of Learning Disabilities in 2012.

DST also funds of Cognitive Science like Neuroscience, Psychology, Linguistics, Bio
Engineering, Social Engineering, Education, Computer technology & Artificial Intelligence
etc.

wireless interface to a multichannel EEG recording

Useful in remote diagnosis and monitoring in everyday situations-out of the lab or clinic.

project for indigenous technology for plastic bi-aspheric lenses (PBLs)

These are used for indirect ophthalmoscopy of powers 20 & 28 diopters.

projects aims for cost-effective large scale production.

PacliALL

Advanced Drug Delivery for cancer drugs.

Paclitaxel

TeleOphthalmology solution on iPhone and iPAD.

laparoscopy and
hernia

learning disorders

Multichannel EEG

Optics

rodents and
beagle dogs

Theyre used for doing drug trials. DST funding housing, breeding facilities for them.

Savliv

patented folklore medicine, for hepatitic disorders

TIDE

TECHNOLOGY INTERVENTIONS FOR DISABLED AND ELDERLY (TIDE)

for using S&T to increase quality of life for old people. Examples:

1.

Locator and Communicative device for Dementia Patients. Uses RFID/GSM/GPS

technologies for tracking Dementia patients. SMS alert arrived on the care takers mobile
phone when clicked, gives the location in Google maps also.

301 S&T Mrunal

water purification

2.

a new technique of denture retention using dental implants

DST supporting projects for removal of arsenic, fluoride, salinity and iron from water.

brackish water reverse osmosis membrane @Ichhamati in West Bengal.

Silver nanoparticle-based systems for tannery contaminated waters.

Lab instruments

For detecting biological samples, bio-molecules (e.g. dopamic), toxic wastes (lead,
cadmium etc), Industrial effluents in ground water etc.

can detect samples even in ultra-low concentration.

by IIT Madras

this product is not readily available commercially even in foreign market=export

potential.

A state-of-the-art inert atmosphere glove box system

for doing experiments on organic, inorganic and composite material.

testing @IIT Guwahati (designated as Center for Organic Electronics)

based on Faraday effect

to convert optical power to electrical signal and pass on to a laptop for processing

helps measuring magnetic flux density measurement in high EMI environment

this instrument has application in nuclear fusion and plasma experiments.

Microelectrode arrays

glove box

Magneto-optic current
sensor

Long Pulse Gyrotron

Building/Construction related

3 aims

1.

4 areas

sustainable

1.

Housing,

302 S&T Mrunal

2.

energy efficient

3.

cost effective solutions

2.

Roads and Traffic Engineering,

3.

Bridges and Fly-overs

4.

Civil Construction Materials.

Lets check some progress supported by DST (Department of Science and Technology)
ECO BRICKS

A new material in Civil Engineering

energy efficient.

From farm soils, using Charuzyme microbes.

Semi-automated brick molding machine with capacity of 10,000 bricks per day.
GFRG

Glass Fibre Reinforced Gypsum (GFRG) panels/ IIT Madras.

These panels made from processed phospho-gypsum (recycled industrial waste from fertilizer industries).=ecofriendly.

Minimizes the use of cement, steel, river sand and water=sustainable Development.

Cheap in price+helps rapid construction = Affordable Mass Housing.

303 S&T Mrunal

Metal related

Gas furnace

CONTIFUR

EYE ON
PELLET

for rural artisans doing metal work.

uses LPG instead of solid fuel (wood, coal etc)=>reduced emissions

Better control of the heating rate through easy regulation of LPG and air flow.

No need of electricity for operating the furnace except during start-up.

tested by IIT Delhi.

Continuous Induction Furnace (CONTIFUR) Technology

Technology for Production of Steel

Utilizes ore waste, non-coking coal for steel production =conservation of resources.

Pelletization=process by which iron ore fines converted to spherical balls.

usually human supervisor monitors this process by manually observing the size-shape of those
balls=chances of error.

Eye on Pellet= indigenously developed instrument with camera. It monitors the pellet size,

304 S&T Mrunal

helps the supervisor.

Textile related

Membrane
separation system

Table Top Light

Fastness Testers

for textile industry to reduce pollution by recycling developed at Synthetic & Art Silk
Mills Research Association (SASMIRA)

Light Fastness Tester = used to determine the color fastness and degradation of
textiles and dyed material against sunlight.

Table top light fastness testers =small, portable, handy and accurate.

by Synthetic & Art Silk Mills Research Association (SASMIRA)

Normally, in any powerloom, the manufacturer will come to know about the production
quality only after 2-3 days i.e. after removal of fabrics from the loom. = not good for
quality control.

The E-pick instrument will provide online details related to production of machine and
defects in fabric to the user on real time basis

E-pick Counter for

powerloom

305 S&T Mrunal

Fabric Friction
Tester

instrument is designed to simulate the movement of human fingers over fabric to sense the
roughness/smoothness/slipperiness

will help in textile quality control.

by IIT Delhi + Department of Textile Technology

dye production from selected micro fungi Curvularia, Phoma, Pestalotiopsis

Fungi-dye
will help in industrial textile dyes.

Gas related

306 S&T Mrunal

Handheld portable methanometer

display the methane gas concentration

portable sensor collects gas data, forwards to laboratory via internet=>chromatography

machine at the lab, analyses the data and finds gas mixture composition.

this will provide a reliable result within a few minutes whether any toxic gas is present
or not inside the manhole and if so, it will alarm the workers.

Methanometer

Portable gas mixture

analyser

Electronics/IT Related

Next Gen
Networks

joint collaboration between India and UK

Phase 2 started from 2012 mainly concentrating on three broad areas i.e.

Heterogenous Wireless Access Networks (HELNET)

Application and Services

Core Networks Systems

by two young IITians- Sh. Rohan Pandey and Sh. Rohit Rathi.

Their Tablet PC is differentiated from other similar product in the market as it integrates
ZigBee along with WiFi, Bluetooth and 3G.

designed like a book: and it has 2 displays, one in front like a Magazine and another on the
spine to show secondary information.

cost Rs.~12000

Organic light-emitting devices (OELD)

Modular Tablet
PC

OELD

307 S&T Mrunal

Use? next generation of flat panel displays. Wide viewing angles, high color contrast, and
low power consumption as compared to LCD displays.

waste from electrical and electronic equipments (WEEE)

DST helping Life cycle analysis & strategies to reduce the environmental impact of
electronic waste.

Biometric Based Unique Key Generation for Authentic Digital Watermarking.

Low temperature Co-fired Ceramic

useful multilayer ceramic fabrication technology

for compact multilayer circuits, 3D microwave circuit and packaging of such devices.

Branchless Banking

Eko= low-cost payment infrastructure to enable instant small value financial transactions
over a mobile phone.

Eko uses existing retail shops, telecom connectivity and banking infrastructure to extend
branchless banking services to the common man

Virtual Reality based skills training SIMULATOR

for skill development of maintenance technicians across industries, particularly aircraft

and defense equipment.

National Centre for Aerospace Innovation and Research (NCAIR)

setup at IIT Bombay in collaboration with the Boeing Company.

for design and development of commercial scale aviation technologies, alloys, materials.

WEEE

biometric

LTCC

Eko: Branchless
banking

COMET simulator

aviation

Plasma research
following plasma processes are environment friendly, eliminate the use of hazardous chemical/machineries.

Handicraft

eco-friendly plasma system to coat brass articles.

308 S&T Mrunal

eco-friendly protective coating for wood crafts using plasma treatment

Tyre

Plasma tech for cutting machinery in tyre industry.

Wool

@Kullu, first industrial scale system is the world for Angora wool processing using plasmas.

Nano Mission
MISSION ON NANO SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY by DST in 2007.
1.

promotes basic research

2.

develops infra

3.

HRD (M.Sc./M.Tech in Nano Science & Technology)

4.

collaborates with international agencies/foreign countries

a.

PETRA/FLASH projects with Germany

b.

Beamline project with Japan

Some achievements:
1.

Nano drug delivery systems for

a.

Treating bone-disease in women.

b.

delivering anti-retroviral drugs to HIV infected cells;

c.

colon diseases

d.

cancer cells

2.

Jasad bhasma: Used as antiseptic. And Nanotech will increase its therapeutic effect.

3.

Gold nanoparticles can be used to catalyse organic reactions.

4.

FA-SPIONs: Folic Acid Super Paramagnetic Iron Oxide Nanoparticles. Help in cancer treatment.

5.

nano structured electrode materials for increasing life of lithium rechargeable batteries.

6.

Graphene based Nano composites=water purification.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
+++++
Dept.s Annual Report summary(Part1 of 4): Agro, Environment, Solar and Water related projects, inventions, research
Prologue
Im running the Summary of Department of Science and Technology (DST)s Annual Report 2012-13. This report contains some
good material UPSC General Studies Mains Paper 3 Topics:

309 S&T Mrunal

1.

Science and Technology- developments and their applications and effects in everyday life

2.

Achievements of Indians in science & technology; indigenization of technology and developing new technology.

Total four part article series:

1.

Agro, EnB, Solar and Water (Were here)

2.

Medical/Healthcare, Building-construction, textile, metal, plasma, Nano etc.

3.

Projects for benefit of SC, ST, Women, States and Human resource development

4.

Mapping, International relation (IR), awareness campaigns and awards.

ok But What about the Hindu science tech compilation for Sep-Oct-Nov? Ill release it after 15 th Nov.
Agri / Dairy related
Potash from Sea Water

Potassium is an essential plant nutrient. MOP (Muriate of Potash) and SOP (Sulphate of Potash) are the popular forms
of potassic fertilizer,

but We dont have local mineral resources, have to rely on Potash through imports= more current account deficit

However, were blessed with long coast line=salt production.

Britten= bitter liquid remaining after common salt has been crystallized out of sea water.

This Britten can be used to harvest potassium chloride (20-25 gms per liter)=> further processing will give Potash.

DST funding project for this indigenous production of Potash.

+ another project to extract ultra-pure magnesia from seawater

Banana Stem for Paper Making

India being the largest producer of banana in the world

But Banana stem=generally discarded as waste.

banana stem+wheat straw / Bagasses=>pulp them = can be used for paper making and reinforcement fibres

this will reduce the need to import softwood/hardwood pulp.

Non-Edible Oils (NEO)

Example of Non-Edible oils= Wild Apricot, Karanj, Malkangni, Jojoba, Wild Castor

NEO can be used for making soaps, lubricants, paints and varnishes, medicines etc.

But all value-addition and employment generation takes place in urban-industrial areas.

And tribals get very low income for collecting raw material.

DST promoting a hub-and-spoke supply chain using Village level women SHG.

310 S&T Mrunal

lets check some more projects supported by DST:

311 S&T Mrunal

bio control agents= using bugs/living organism to destroy other pests. DST running project to see
bio control potential of
Assassin bugs

Copra drying

Hand Held Electronic

Nose (HEN)

Jackfruit

MAAT/PAAT

Milk protein estimator

QCM sensors

solar food processing

SYST

copepods against mosquito larvae

Fabricius and Stal against cotton pests.

Solar Tunnel Dryers for Copra Production in TN.

by CDAC.

for tea aroma classification

helps in quality evaluation of finished tea and detection of tea fermentation process

uses metal-oxide semiconductor (MOS) based sensors Tin and zinc oxides.

Jack fruit cutter @ Thiruvananthapuram, minimize womens drudgery involved in jackfruit

processing

Mobile Alternative Analytical Technology (MAAT)

Portable Alternative Analytical Technology (PAAT

They can detect soil composition and recommend necessary fertilizers to the farmers
within 24 hours.

handheld electrochemical prototype for the detection of adulteration in milk or synthetic

milk

will help the by the diary industries.

by Anna University + IISc

for tea aroma classification

solar food processing of non-timber forest produce such as Gum Karaya, Satavari, Neelavemu and
Maredugaddalu for value addition and income generation for tribal farmers.

SCHEME FOR YOUNG SCIENTISTS AND TECHNOLOGISTS (SYST)

to motivate young scientists to use their brain for societys development. Result?

fodder nursery model to provide nutritive fodder throughout the year and reduce
womens drudgery.

312 S&T Mrunal

Humus: organic liquid fertilizer

Vitamate: solid humic acid

PEOPLE LIVING IN DIFFICULT AREAS

ASAR

for people living in the Arid and Semi-arid Regions e.g. Rajasthan, Gujarat and MP

CODER

for people living Cold Desert Regions. e.g. JK, HP.

These programs focus on Soil and water management, Sustainable Agriculture etc.
Environment and Biodiversity (EnB) related
National Action plan on Climate Change (NAPCC) => two components for DST
1.

National Mission on Strategic Knowledge for Climate Change (NMSKCC)

2.

National Mission for Sustaining Himalayan Ecosystem (NMSHE)

Lets check

National Mission on Strategic Knowledge for Climate Change

promotes PPP in key socio-economic sectors relating to climate change.

National Mission for Sustaining Himalayan Ecosystem

Glacial studies with Swiss Joint group.

NMSKCC

NMSHE

DST also helped in following projects related to climate change

1.

measuring Long Term Changes in Sea Level along Indian Coast by National Institute of Oceanography

313 S&T Mrunal

2.

studying Climate Change on Agriculture and Forest Ecosystem in Indo-Gangetic Plains

3.

case studies for sustainable livelihood and climate change by IRMA (Indian Institute of Rural Management) Anand.

4.

Knowledge for Climate Studies Centre by Indian Institute of Technology Bombay

FLY ASH UNIT

Coal based thermal power plants=>release fly ash=>pollution.

but fly ash could also be used for

o

Construction of railway embankments

in concrete for critical structures such as building

foundation material for turbo- generators, chimneys and cooling towers etc. in power plants

DST promotes R&D for such uses of fly ash to change the image of fly ash from a WASTE MATERIAL to a
RESOURCE MATERIAL.

Since its inception, this project has added economic returns worth >3 billion USD and employment >1 million people.

Even Russia has sought the expertise of this fly Ash Unit.
Bamboo Mission

NATIONAL MISSION ON BAMBOO APPLICATIONS (NMBA) by DST

to promote bamboo related to create economic opportunity, income and employment for the tribal.

Examples

bamboo=>burn without flame=>charcoal=>further processing gives activated carbon.

activated carbon can be used for water purification.

1.

Maharahstra: Villages in Nadurbar district,MH= remote, inaccessible area having no

road connections. Green school building from bamboo have been setup. Even include
kitchen and toilets.

2.

Manipur: Kitchen cum store under Mid day Meal. Using Bamboo material.

bamboo waste bundle=>dry=>glue=>hot press=Bamboo timber boards.

This Bamboo timber= 100% substitute of wood timber as it can be cut sawn, sanded and
polished in any direction.

obtained as byproduct processing bamboo into charcoal.

Activated Carbon

Bamboo For School

Buildings

Bamboo Timber

Bamboo Vinegar Oil

314 S&T Mrunal

has medicinal uses.

DSTs bamboo mission provides training, tools etc. for mat weaving, agarbati sticks and
incense-cone making, polishing bamboo etc.

Training given mostly in the states in Eastern India.

Bamboo=>Cellulose nano whiskers.

they enchance mechanical properties like strength and stiffness of the material.

This gives new opportunities to create completely bio degradable nano composites.
(=medical applications)

HRD

Nanotech

Thermoplastics

Bamboo thermoplastics are being used in the non-critical components/ interior decoration of 2/3
wheeler vehicles (i.e. three wheeler and two wheeler).

Misc.

Arsenic Kit

for detecting arsenic levels in drinking water. Uses silver nitrate.

Artificial Glacier
Technology

water bodies constructed in Leh region for livelihood generation and irrigation purpose.

This stove has a unique air-flow generator

saves fuel by 65% and reducs smoke by 70%

Making meals healthier and happier

by a team of student entrepreneurs from Indin

is the fish species which has been widely distributed among the foothills of
Himalaya

but recently due to the overexploitation of the natural bioresources the fish
species has become endangered.

DST promoting selective breeding program of this fish.

Greenway Smart Stove

Schizothoraxrichardsonii

WaSH

ECO & WaSH (WATER, SANITATION & HYGIENE) FUTURESProgram for science
communications related to eco-resources and water, sanitation & hygiene.

315 S&T Mrunal

Carbon Sequestration
2007: DST launched NATIONAL PROGRAM ON CARBON SEQUESTRATION RESEARCH (NPCSR).
At present DST funding projects for

Bio-fixation of CO2 using microalgae Scenedesmus sp. It grows well in industry effluent=cheap cost.

Bio-logical carbon sequestration in terrestrial, fresh water and marine forms.

Microbial fuel cell

carbon sequestration for crop land, forest land, grass land, wet land and agro-ecosystem etc.
Solar/ Energy related

lets check some projects supported by DST:

Alternate fuels

APEX

ARTI

application of Straight Vegetable Oils (SVOs)

Green Diesel from Non-Edible Oils Using Nano Metal Catalysts.

projects for turning Jatropha/Castor Oil/Thumba seed oil into biodiesel.

IIT Kanpur+Tata Motors= tested biodiesel on railway diesel engine with common
rail direct injection (CRDI) technology

Another project to use biogas on rail engines.

Micro-algae and Bio-coagulant for turning waste water into bio-crude oil.

Advancing the efficiency and production potential of exictonic solar cells (APEX)

as the name suggests, it focuses on development of materials, devices and

processing to improve solar cells.

players involved: IIT Delhi, Kanpur, National Physical/chemical Laboratories etc.

Appropriate Rural Technology Institute(ARTI), Pune, Maharashtrafor converting

agricultural and other waste into high grade fuels.

Desalination

Solar Biomass Hybrid Sea water desalination plant in Ramanathapuram district

of Tamil Nadu

Dye Sensitized Solar Cell

Technology

An alternative of Silicone Based Solar Cell

Dye Sensitized Solar Cell (DSSC), a third generation photovoltaic technology

316 S&T Mrunal

eco cookers

its cheaper, more efficient than contemporary Silicon based technology.

Can be fabricated on the flexible plastic => indoor and outdoor usages possible

Efficient Cooking System

products can have an option of using multiple fuel option such as gas (LPG),
kerosene, coal, wood or even biogas.

Eco Cookers of 4 Ltrs, 40 Ltrs, and 120 Ltrs capacity.

Their flow properties and magnetism has lot of commercial application. e.g. solar
power generator, advanced optical system etc.

DST Funding projects for indigenous production of ferrofluids.

Village Shive in Khed Taluka of Pune district is under the Public-PrivateCommunity Partnership (PPCP) mode

@day: uses solar energy to generate electricity

@night: uses biomass to generate electricity

=24/7 electricity offgrid.

PAN IIT initiative aims at developing pre-competitive research capacity for Solar
Power generation

+ focus on cost reduction.

Smart Energy Grids and Energy Storage (SEGES)

DST in collaboration with the Research Councils UK.

Smart Energy Grids and Energy Storages.

SOLAR ENERGY RESEARCH INITIATIVE (SERI)

DST=>Solar Energy Research Initiative (SERI), 2008

To promote innovation in Solar energy.

hybrid solar power systems to meet rural energy needs

FERROFLUIDS

Hybrid Solar-Biomass
Powerplant

PAN IIT

SEGES

SERI

317 S&T Mrunal

SERIIUS

Solar Hydrogen

STAPP

+devices, coatings, storage options, grid connectivity, etc.

Solar Energy Research Institute for India and U.S

to create an environment for cooperation and innovation without borders for

soal energy.

making Sustainable Photovoltaics tailored to Indias needs, environment, and

resource availability.

To convert solar energy => hydrogen=>storage device.

by IIT Kanpur, Madras; BARC, Mumbai etc.

Stability and performance of Photovoltaic (STaPP.)

As the name suggest, to improve performance of photovoltaic systems (solar cells)

increasing the performance and lifetime of such solar cells

players involved: IIT Bombay, Kharagpur, Kanpur etc.

Ultracapacity based lighting system= helps in power conversion especially for

rural and remote regions.

for example hybrid batter instead of conventional lead battery.

Ultacapacitor

Drinking Water related

Winning, Augmentation and Renovation (WAR) for water program.

318 S&T Mrunal

DST giving funds for developing low cost solutions using indigenous technology for safe drinking water, purification,
recycling etc. lets check progress:

States

water problem

solution given

Andhra, TN

saline water,
bacteria etc

Reverse osmosis and UV treatment

Assam/Bihar/UP/W
B

arsenic

Rajasthan

shortage

Uttarakhand

TN

arsenic removal using iron adsorbants.

Arsenic Removal Units (ARUs) deployed in the villages, costs about Re 1

for 1000 liter.

rain water harvesting structures and Kunds

saves drudgery of women to collect water from faraway areas.

In the hill regions, wells dont give sufficient water yield.

Therefore, River Bank Filtration (RBF) Projects to drill water out of

river banks.

Solar Multi Effect Distillation (MED), which was being done for the first
time in the country @ Naripayuur/Ervadi (Tamilnadu).

shortage

saline

Next part, well see DSTs support to medical, electronics, plasma research etc.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
+++++
TheHindu Sep-Oct-Nov:(Part 1 of 4) Environment and Biodiversity (EnB)-Jellyblooms,e-waste rules,SAFAR tech
Prologue

Until now, Ive compiled Hindu Sci-Tech upto August 2013. You can access the entire archive on Mrunal.org/snt now
moving to next three months: September, October and November 2013. (minus last Thursday of November
ie.28th Nov)

This compilation runs in total three parts, first part dealing with Environment and Biodiversity related topics. Topics
of agro, medical research, space, IT etc in remaining parts coming soon.

COP-19/ Warsaw climate change conference being a big topic- separately dealt click me

Disclaim: Ive covered only Thursday edition. (in that too, left many topics that I felt useless.) However sci-tech news
randomly comes in Non-Thursday editions also. And nothing prevents UPSC from asking anything from there. So one
should keep habit of maintaining daily notes from the newspaper on his own. These articles are only meant to
supplement your preparation- not substitutes of Hindu/IndianExpress

319 S&T Mrunal

Flora Fauna Wildlife related
Jellyfish bloom
Jellyfish bloom = huge increase Jellyfishes population.
Jellyfish bloom: result?
1.

In Sweden, a nuclear power plant had to be shut down after jellyfishes clogged its water cooling system. Similar
incidents reported from Muscat, S.Korea to Scotland

2.

Bad for fishermen: their nets get busted and trawl lines get clogged.

3.

Jellyfish stings are extremely painful. Sea-resorts/beaches receive less tourists whenever jellyfishes are sighted near
the coast.
Why Jelly fish blooms?

or, why is Jellyfish population increasing so rapidly?

Predators

They have few predators sea turtles, salmon, mackerel et al.Overfishing of salmon, mackerel = less
predators of jelly fish.

cuisine

Except a few Asian countries- most people dont eat Jelly fish because its meat is tasteless and you need to
carefully remove its poisonous stings.=less demand=fishermen avoid jellyfishes.

Competitors

Jelly fish competes with smaller fishes for the same food. But Jelly fish even eats the eggs of its
competitors fishes= collapses smaller fish populations.

Reproductio
n

They create polypslittle bundles of clones. Polyps attach to hard surfaces and wait for their
opportunity to release small jellyfish.

Nowadays with lot of man-made hard surfaces in the ocean: drilling platforms, offshore wind
turbines, boats, anchors etc even plastic cigarette packets= more places for polyps to thrive.

In Certain species of jelly fish- even dead jelly fishes cells find each other again and from a whole
new polyp.

Because of this polyps mechanism- Jellyfish can even transport to new ecosystem- where often
they have no natural predators.

Pesticides, fertilziers, industral waste etc=>river=>ocean

This increases the nitrogen and phosphorous content in water=> algal blooms

During algal bloom, oxygen content in water decrease. = most marine organisms are wiped out.
However, jellyfish can survive because it needs very little oxygen.

So as other animals dwindle, jellyfish colonies expand

Example: Pollution from Yangtze River in western China => dead zones in the East China and

Algae Bloom

320 S&T Mrunal

Yellow Seas with Jelly blooms.

Cyber poaching

Cyber poaching is the use of GPS, satellite, IT technology poaching animals.

Iridium collar= fitted on tigers, can track them both via satellite and ground tracking. Can provide GPS data about
animals movement at regular interval daily.

Wildlife official found that someone from Pune tried to access this GPS data of tiger in MP=>leading to suspicion that
hacker tried to get the tiger movement data- pass it to poachers so the animal can be easily hunted. FIR has been
lodged.

in the meantime, forest officers captured this tiger, replaced this iridium collar with Very High Frequency (VHF) collar.

VHF collar

GPS collar

since 60s

recent technology

An animal wearing a VHF collar = transmits radiowaves- you track it

with a special receiver and directional antenna. (but you have to in the
nearby region).

labor intensive. You need a man on the ground / plane in the

air to track animal.

So, doesnt work well in bad weather / difficult terrain.

GPS tracking is based on a radio receiver

(rather than a transmitter) in an animals
collar.

satellite used for monitoring the location

coordinates- every 15 minutes, one hour
etc.

Satellite captures GPS coordinates- you can see

animals location on computer anywhere.

cheap

expensive

long life

Battery expires in a few months.

Accuracy=reasonable.

extreme
Tiger Census

Conducted every four years.

By National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) + Wildlife Institute of India (WII), Dehradun

It is in news because October-December 2013 period, tiger census will run in the four southern states.

Authorities also want to include NGOs and citizens in this exercise. Public participation gives transparency and
credibility to tiger census. (else local forest officers might inflate tiger numbers in their district.)

321 S&T Mrunal

but as per the rules: no cameras/mobile phones allowed. hence very few volunteers applied.

Why? Because in previous census Volunteers spent most of their time shooting photos and recording videos, rather
than collecting data.

flashlights from camera=disturbs the tigers and other wildlife.

Giant African Snail

Exotic pest introduced from East Africa to India in 1800s

This is the biggest land snail

Damages crops of papaya, brinjal etc.

Snail is one type of Mollusk= Invertebrate having a soft body usually enclosed in a shell

Snail is a hermaphrodite and lays eggs on soil.

In cold regions, snail can undergo hibernation

Hibernation

What?

Hibernation is a way that some animals deal with the harshness of winter.

They curl up in a safe place, barely breathe, heartbeat is so slow you can hardly detect it, as if the animal is almost
dead.

In warmer weather, they return to their regular activities.

Hibernation =in winter / cold regions. Similarly, Estivation = in summer/ hot regions.

Why Hibernation?

Evolutionary mechanism to survive in winters + food shortage.

they breathe slowly, dont move=energy expenditure declines. Can live with just their body fat.

(new research)
o

Hibernation boosts immunity.

Predator avoidance: since animal is motionless and emit minimal noise and body odour= predator cannot
detect it.

Who?

Mammals: bats, bears, chipmunks, mice, hedgehog, Prairie Dogs, Raccoons, hamsters

frogs, snakes, turtles, snails, earthworms, bees, lizards

Birds: Poorwill, Nighthawks.

322 S&T Mrunal

Great Indian Bustard
Regarding Great Indian Bustard: Less than 250 left in country.
Why decline?

Andra

has received ca$h from CAMPA (Compensatory Afforestation Management and Planning).. Yet theyve not
declared bird sanctuary for great Indian bustards.

Maharashtr
a

in Chandrapur, the government ordered that farmland cannot be sold if bustard was seen on it. So, farmers
kill bustards to sell the land.

Karnataka

Forest officials planting exotic tree species= unsuitable as habitat for birds + less insect=less food

Erosion of grassland by domestic animals=less insects=less food for bird.

Grassland turned into farmland, Farmland sold for industrial purpose= less insects=less food.

Forest mafia destroying teak trees.

poaching

Unregulated tourism.

In recent times, UPSC has been asking MCQ about status and location of endangered species. So, As per International Union
for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)s red list:

Birds found in
India

red list status (on Nov

2013)

Found in

Great Indian Bustard

critically endangered

Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Karnataka and Andhra

Pradesh

Cattle Egret

least concern

Baya Weaver

least concern

Pink-headed Duck

critically endangered

Jerdons Courser

critically endangered

Siberian Crane

critically endangered

Indian Vulture

critically endangered

Egrets are local winter Migratory birds.

In winter, they migrate to Ooty hill station region.

They also feed on pest/insects=help farmers.

You dig and post in comments.

323 S&T Mrunal

Bengal Florican

critically endangered
Katurirangan report on western ghat

Weve already seen Gadgil report in detail: click me

But Gadgil report led to widespread protests by villagers and forest/builder/mining mafia lobby in Western Ghats.

So, Environment ministry setup one more committee under Kasturirangan, in August 2012.

headed by Dr. K. Kasturirangan (Member, Planning Commission)

Gadgil

Kasturirangan

Official name: Western Ghats Ecology Expert

Panel (WGEEP)

High Level Working Group (HLWG)

use satellite data down to 9km resolution

24 meters resolution

It classifies Western Ghat into

Classifies western ghat region into three zone: 1, 2
and 3. Separate level protection to each of this
zones. click me for more

cultural landscape: ~58%

Natural landscape ~42%.

Kasturi has kept cultural landscape out of purview of

Ecologically sensitive areas. e.g. sacred groves of Kerala- rich
in biodiversity.

So, if Kasturis recommendations accepted, any builder could

raze the sacred groves to construct new buildings. (or atleast
thats what Gadgil followers say)

nope, only 37% area of Western ghat (=60000 sq.km)

villages with population density >100, shoulnot be declared

ecologically sensitive.

kept cultural landscape within purview of

ecologically sensitive areas.

entire Western ghat should be declared as

ecologically sensitive area under Environment
Protection Act, 1986.

pro-people, pro-nature.Grama Sabhas should

decide on the Ecological Sensitivity of the
respective areas

autocratic approach. Doesnt include local communitys role in

ecological decision-making. (or atleast thats what Gadgil followers say)

Why Kasturi in news?

As per Kasturis recommendation, Environment ministry banned mining activities and restrict on construction
activities in 123 villages of Western Ghat.

Kasturi also recommends that commercial crops, rubber, tea, coffee, pepper, cashew, cardamom, arecanut and coconut
etc. shouldnot be allowed in such ecologically sensitive areas.

324 S&T Mrunal

+ even chemical fertilizers and pesticides should not be allowed for any crops.

result? farmers are against Kasturis report. = violent protests in Kerala.

Human Cruelty by Animals?

Shimla Municipal Corporation had earlier rounded up every stray dog and kept them in dog houses built outside the
town.

But an NGO got these dogs released and now leopards entering localities to hunt this dogs

Similarly, people throwing food garbage in the town= monkeys coming from jungle causing more crop destruction.

State Government has banned export of monkeys for medical research.

Kisan Sabha demanding that (1) monkeys must be culled and (2) monkey export should be permitted.

Animal-loving NGOs move to courts for flimsiest reasons but dont care for such problems faced by humans.
Waste Management related
#1: E-waste rules

e-waste (Management & Handling) Rules, 2011

By Environment ministry- made in 2011, became effective since 2012

Covers: electrical / IT equipment.

Doesnt cover: lead batteries and radioactive waste (separate rules for them)

325 S&T Mrunal

Features

aim

safe disposal e-waste through private bodies

Coverage

Apply to every producer, consumer and recycling center.

Specify the ceiling limits of lead, mercury, cadmium, chromium, ether etc. hazardous substances
in electrical equipment.

Every producer has to certify their equipment donot contain those substances beyond the
specified level.

Concept: Extended Producers Responsibility (EPR).

Meaning, once the consumer discards the electronic / IT product- it is producers responsibility
to collect the e-waste and ensure theyre safely disposed.

Producer has to take back its discarded electronic products from customers. (or can outsource
this work to a recycler/collection center)

If municipality gather e-waste (during their day-to-day operation)- they need to hand over ewaste to such private bodies.

Ceiling

Disposal

NonCompliance

State pollution control board can cancel the license of that producer.

Some more fodder points on e-waste

1.

E-waste is not entirely waste. you can salvage iron, aluminum, copper and gold and other precious metals and reuse
them

2.

but e-waste also contains mercury, cadmium etc. hazardous substances

3.

Mercury =bio-accumulates (builds up in organisms) and biomagnifies (moves up the food chain). Thus, even a
minuscule amount of mercury can affect entire ecology and human health.

4.

As per ASSOCHAM report top three e-waste producing cities

city rank

e-waste in tonnes per year

1.

Mumbai

Delhi

>60,000

>40,000

326 S&T Mrunal

>35,000

Banglore

#2: Nisrgruna
too clichd topic, besides already been asked in one of the earlier mains. but anyways:

Nisargruna= solid waste management technology devised by Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC)

1 tonne of biodegradable waste from households, hotels, farms=>nisargruna plant=>methane (1 cylinder) + manure
(50kg)

4 such cylinders can power 80-100 LED streetlight for 8 hours.

takes only 20 lakhs to setup one plant.

More efficient than traditional biogas plants

been in news because a new Plants being setup in Madurai + Chennai

some fodder points related to municipal waste

By 2100: Indias total waste generation will be 70 per cent of all the high income and OECD countries put together

by 2030 India will be worlds largest municipal solid waste generator.

#3: Coriander as biosorbent

Coriander or cilantro, the leafy herb used to garnish variety of Indian food.

US researchers found coriander leafs are potential biosorbent = can remove lead, nickel and other toxic heavy metals
from water.

can be used low-cost remedy to purify drinking water.

Air Pollution related
#1 Air Quality Index

Air Quality Index is a color-coded tool that categorizes air quality.

Air QualityRating

Air Quality Index (AQI)

Color

GOOD

0 50

green

MODERATE

51 100

yellow

UNHEALTHY FOR SENSITIVE GROUPS

101 150

orange

UNHEALTHY

151 200

red

327 S&T Mrunal

VERY UNHEALTHY

201 300

purple

HAZARDOUS

>300

maroon

Air Quality index can be measured based on particle size.

PM 10: measure pollutants with a diameter of 10 microns or less.

PM 2.5: pollutants with a diameter of 2.5 microns or less.

For example

Air QualityRating

Range

PM10

PM2.5

Color

GOOD

0 50

green

MODERATE

51 100

yellow

UNHEALTHY FOR SENSITIVE GROUPS

101 150

orange

UNHEALTHY

151 200

red

VERY UNHEALTHY

201 300

purple

HAZARDOUS

>300

maroon

for Beijing, it remains >300 (hazardous) and for Delhi- in the range of 250 (very unhealthy). [October data]
#2 SAFAR

SAFAR: System of Air Quality Forecasting and Research (SAFAR)

Computerized system developed by Indian institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM), Pune (under Ministry of Earth
Science)

with help of India Meteorological Department (IMD).

SAFAR was installed in Delhi, during CWG-2010. Later in Pune.

Why in news? Because SAFAR is being installed in Mumbai. (October)

it provides data on

1.

Air Quality Index health advisory

2.

UV Index skin advisory

3.

Dynamic city pollution maps.

328 S&T Mrunal

Quality of air can be forecasted 24-72 hours in advance.

#3 China bans coal based power plants

In Beijing, air quality index is constantly above 300 in recent months. Haze is a routine phenomenon. Air pollution has reduced
Chinese peoples life expectancy by 5.5 years and so on finally Chinese government woke up, has banned new coal based
power plants in the three key industrial regions
1.

Beijing

2.

Shanghai

3.

Guangdong (Pearl River)

China will try to reduce its coal consumption to 65% by 2017, and aim for more nuclear, natural gas and renewable energy.
#4: Aerosol
Aerosol= solid/liquor particles uniformly distributed in gas.

natural

man-made

sea salt, dust

soot from vehicles.

firewood burning,

sulphate particles from thermal / cement plants.

Aerosol optical depth (AOD)= An index of aerosol levels. Researchers found aerosol level has increased over the years in India.
Why aerosol bad in atmosphere?

They absorb light= less sunlight coming to ground. also affect how much heat escapes from earth

Thus aerosol affect aerosol affect regional climate and monsoon (+respiratory problems).

Man made aerosols have HFCs (Hydrofloro carbons)=greenhouse effect.

Energy related
#1: Nanotech: Better solar panels

Solar power panels use semiconductor material, like silicon or gallium arsenide

Sunlight=>photons=> Semiconductor material =>electromagnetic energy

London researchers coated this solar panel surface with aluminum nanostructures.

Result?

More photons absorbed=>more electricity produced.

329 S&T Mrunal

Earlier scientists tried similar thing with silver and gold nanoparticles. But Aluminum is giving better performance at
cheaper cost.

Price of Solar Power in India

2011

Rs. 18/kWh

2013

Rs. 7/kWh

Aluminum nano structure

Could help bring down the cost even further

#2: Nanotech: better fuel cells

Fuel cells: chemical energy=>electricity.

Fuel cell running cars will emit water rather than carbon dioxide.

But fuel cells use platinum as a catalyst= very expensive.

Researchers came with new tech. to convert cheap catalyst from geletin.

Gelatin is protein, used in jelly making.

Gelatin+Magneisum+Iron=>heating=>create metal nanoparticles. Useem as catalyst in fuel cells.

Mock Questions

Q1. Consider following statements about Nisargruna Technology

1.

It is a solid waste management technology developed by BARC

2.

can transform plastic waste into biodiesel

3.

More efficient than traditional biogas plants because Nisargruna plant can directly turn waste into butane gas.

The incorrect statements are

A.

only 1

B.

only 2

C.

only 2 and 3

D. only 1 and 3
Q2. Consider following statements about hibernation
1.

It is a survival mechanism to cope up with harsh winters.

2.

During hibernation, animal reduces its breathing rate to increase its metabolism rate.

3.

Only mammals can undergo hibernation.

Correct statements are

330 S&T Mrunal

A.

only 1

B.

only 2

C.

only 2 and 3

D. only 1 and 3
Q3. Which of the following set of birds are included in IUCNs critically endangered list?
A.

Great Indian Bustard, Cattle Egret, Indian Vulture

B.

Great Indian Bustard, Siberian Crane, Cattle Egret

C.

Great Indian Bustard, Siberian Crane, Indian Vulture

D. Cattle Egret, Siberian Crane, Indian Vulture

Q4. Consider following statements about Jellyfish:
1.

Jellyfish is one type of Mollusk

2.

Jellyfish population is on decline because the overfishing of its food-salmon and mackerel.

3.

Jellyfish requires high amount of dissolved oxygen and hence can die immediately during an algae bloom.

4.

Man-made hard surfaces in the ocean such as drilling platforms, offshore wind turbines, boats and anchors negatively
affect the reproduction of jelly fishes.

Correct statements
A.

only 1 and 2

B.

only 2 and 3

C.

only 2, 3 and 4

D. None
Q4. Find correct statements
A.

VHF collar is more accurate in tracking wild animals compared to GPS collars.

B.

VHF collar is one type of radio transmitter.

C.

Both A and B correct

D. Neither A nor B correct

Q5.Consider following statements about Tiger Census
1.

Tiger census is conducted at the interval of every five years.

2.

Tiger census is solely done by Wild life institute of India, with help of state forest departments.

3.

As per the tiger census rules, the forest officials are prohibited from using public and NGOs in the tiger counting work.

Correct statements

331 S&T Mrunal

A.

Only 1

B.

only 2 and 3

C.

Only 1 and 3

D. None
Q6. Consider following statements about Katurirangan report on western ghat
1.

Kasturirangan is the chairman of Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel (WGEEP)

2.

His report recommends entire Western ghat should be declared as ecologically sensitive area under Environment
Protection Act, 1986.

3.

His report recommends promoting cultivation of rubber, tea, coffee, pepper, cashew, cardamom, arecanut and coconut
in the ecologically sensitive areas- to prevent tribals from joining poaching activities.

Incorrect statements
A.

Only 1

B.

only 2 and 3

C.

All

D. None
Q7. Incorrect statement
A.

E-waste (Management & Handling) Rules were enacted by the Ministry of Communications and Information
Technology in 2011.

B.

These rules follow the principle of Extended Producers Responsibility (EPR), under which, producer is freed from the
responsibility of safe-disposal of e-waste, by paying a specified amount to government.

C.

both A and B

D. Neither A nor B
Q8. Correct Statement
A.

As per the Air Quality index- city with lower index number is more polluted than a city with higher index number.

B.

System of Air Quality Forecasting and Research (SAFAR) is a new technology developed by Japan to monitor air
quality index during next Olympic Games.

C.

both A and B

D. Neither A nor B
Mains

5 marks
1.

SAFAR technology

2.

Tiger Census

3.

Great Indian Bustard

332 S&T Mrunal

12 marks
1.

List the salient features of the rules enacted by Ministry of environment and forestry for management and
handling of e-waste.

2.

Between Gadgil and Kasturirangans recommendations- which one is more suitable for the conservation of
Western Ghats? Why?

3.

List the applications of nanotechnology in the area of clean energy.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
+++++
TheHindu Sep-Oct-Nov(Part 2of4): Agriculture, Public Health, Medical research related
Prologue

In the previous article (part 1 or 3) we saw the environment and biodiversity (EnB) related topics from Sep-Oct-Nov
months of TheHindu click me

Now (part 2 of 3): time for agriculture and public health related topics.

part (3 of 3): dealing with IT, Space and other misc. topics coming soon.
Foodcrops related
#1: Trombay Crop varieties

by BARC scientists.

Using radiation induced mutation and cross-breeding.

Agro. Ministry has permitted their commercial cultivation.

In the 70s, BARC started with Trombay Groundnut (TG-1) for Guj-Maharashtra region

Crop

No. of Trombay varieties

Groundnut

15- large seeds, drought resistant, no sprouts/germination during storage

Mustard

Soya

2-more resistant to bacteria

Sunflower

Mooong

8- can survive salinity, disease-resistant, early maturing

Tuvar

333 S&T Mrunal

Urad

Chouli

Rice

Jute

Total

41

Benefits: individual crop varietys feature may vary but by and large

takes less time to mature

drought/ pest tolerant

longer shelf life

#2: Navara Rice

Navara is a medicinal rice variety.

Red colored.

Grown in Kerala.

used in Ayurveda remedies for rheumatisms, neuro muscular disorders and body rejuvenation.

enjoys geographical indication (GI) status. (Pokkali rice=another Kerala rice that enjoys GI status=Pokkali rice)

but Navara rice cultivation is almost extinct. Why?

o

pure seeds not available

low yield, high production cost

Now farmers trying to revive this via concept of Navara Eco Farm- with organic farming

Pesticides not used. Instead, they plant Tulsi and marigold to repel the insects.
#3: Rice-Fish-Poultry Integrated Model

In this model, farmer uses

% of his
land

To grow

90%

Paddy (rice)

334 S&T Mrunal

5%

Fishes carp, roghu, cutla etc.

5%

Poultry cage. Erected in such a way that one part is over the fishes and one part over the paddy crop. This way,
bird dropping help as fish-feed + farm-manure.

Benefits
1.

Recycling waste products-using them as fish feed and manure

2.

Additional income from poultry and fishes

3.

bio-control of pests: fish feed on the pests and insects attacking the rice plant

4.

Similar triple-income model can also be constructed with silkworm rearing, or apiary.
Madurai malli

Flower in TN

Enjoys GI status (click me for earlier article)

Why in news? Because theyre looking for exprort potential in Malaysia

Problem: rainfall scarcity, Labor shortage because of MNREGA,

Cotton Duty

(Although not really a sci-tech topic)

Currently, duty-free cotton exports are permitted (after registering contracts with the Directorate General of Foreign
Trade (DGFT).

Textile minister wants to impose 10% duty on overseas sale of cotton.

But Group of Ministers (GoM) headed by Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar said not a good idea sir-ji

Reasons:
o

Indias cotton production has been increasing every year.

In such a situation, there should be no restrictions on export of raw cotton and no duty on export.

any quantitative restriction or export duty would penalise farmers

Milk/Meat/Fish related:
#1: Poultry Meat to Biodiesel

Namakkal district of TN= leading producer of poultry. (for more on [food processing] click me)

Avg. 4000 birds die here every day and discarded in the open=>foul smell, contamination of ground water, health
hazards, house flies and diseases.

Now a TN researcher designed method to extract bio-diesel out of dead poultry.

335 S&T Mrunal

Each dead chicken weighs about 1.5 kg and ~15% of its body has fat.

Using solvent extraction method, we can extract this fat and turn it into body diesel. This way six birds=1 litre of biodiesel. This bio-diesel can be blended with regular diesel in 20:80 ratio and can be used in regular vehicles.
#2: Sea Ranching

Sea ranching is a process of releasing artificially cultured juvenile fishes into the sea or estuarine waters=> let them
mature=>fishing.

can be used for shrimps, sea cucumber, sea urchin, variety of fishes.

New sea ranching project in Kozikode- 4 lakh larvae of tiger prawns released.

This would help inland fishermen of the district- who are negatively affected by overfishing practices and climatic
changes

Economies of sea ranching=> 4 lakh larvae = only 20% survive= 1,600 kg of prawn, and at an average Rs.250 a kg,
this will amount to Rs.3 lakh to Rs.4 lakh in returns.
#3: TMR (Total mixed ration)

New type of cheap cattle feed being tested in Kerala.

Uses mixture of ground nuts, sesame, red gram, molasses, toxin binder, salt and vitamin mineral mixtures.

Cheaper than commercial feeds

Can also be given to goats, sheep etc.

Reduces the green fodder requirement

Increases milk output.

#4: FMD outbreak in South India

In [Food Processing] Milk sector article, weve already seen theory Foot and Mouth disease (FMD) and how it affects
the supply line of milk/meat industry. click me

FMD is in news because of outbreak reported in Andhra.

There are four type of FMD virus: A, C, O and Asia1.

Indian cattle is given vaccines against all these FMD viruses- twice a year.

Sheep and goats (cloven hoofed animals) are also susceptible to the FMD viral disease.

FMD is not a public health hazard. It doesnt spread to humans.

Public Health/Policy related
#1: B.Sc (Community Health)

Union cabinet approved this new degree course.

3 years course in state university => Community health officer under health ministry.

336 S&T Mrunal

Syllabus designed by National Board of Examinations (NBE). (and not the medical council of India MCI)

Will help in: diarrhea, pneumonia, vaccination, TB, fever, skin infection, normal delivery etc.

will act as a bridge between village midwife/ASHA work vs a doctor

Opposition

Why?

1.

Course Syllabus not designed by MCI= such graduates cannot be expected

to provide professional diagnosis and treatment.

2.

This B.Sc course will create two tiers of medical professionals.

1.

these half-baked doctors will endanger the lives of the patients.

2.

Instead of such fancy new courses- better make it mandatory for new MBBS
to serve in rural areas for the first few years.

3.

12th FYP already proposed setting up medical colleges in every district. So

doctor shortage will be removed soon, then why are you making new
degree?

MBBS lobby

parliamentary standing Committee

on Health and Family Welfare

#2: Drug Price Control Order (DPCO) 2013

By Department of Pharmaceutics under ministry of Chemical and fertilizer. (and not health ministry).

To fix ceiling price of essential medicines on the basis of market-based pricing.

DPCO 2013 empowers the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) to regulate prices of 348 essential
drugs.

How?

Make a list of all pharma companies with marketshare of atleast 1% or more.

observe their prices for given drug-

take simple average of those prices

+local taxes and 16% profit margin for retail chemist.

Decide ceiling price based on that.

Sounds well and good, whats the problem?

1.

Patented drugs not covered. So most of the MNC pharma brands are out of the scope.

2.

AYUSH drugs are not covered.

3.

Only applies to 348 drugs. There are total ~900 allopathic drugs in India.

4.

Companies can still evade price ceiling by adding / changing a few ingredients in their drug formulation.

337 S&T Mrunal

5.

Doesnt not apply to newly patented within India (for first five years). =companies might file frivolous patents by
slightly modifying existing mixtures-to evade price ceiling.

6.

Even within ceiling, Doctors can still prescribe most expensive variety of drug and patient will buy it. (and doctor mints
commission from pharma company.)

Anyways, but why in News?

become Some NGO filed court case- alleging that

DPCO encourages profiteering. Government prince regime guided by market-driven forces= bad idea.

National List of Essential Drugs consists of only 348 drugs and left out many essential medicines from price control.
Drugs in news (DIN?)

MycidacC

Cadilas new New drug

For non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

Price: 40000 for 10 injections (still cheaper than its rival Avastin by Roche pharma.)

Got permission from to sell in India

used for treatment of type II diabetes.

Metformi
n

Ranbaxy

some researchers believed It also helps in heart-diseases-even in non-diabetic patients. But the clinical trials
have been inconclusive so far.

Indian drug company Ranbaxy Laboratories used fraudulent data to approval from USAs FDA to sell generic
drugs in America. (according to its whistleblower employee.)
#3: Brainmapping, Lie Detection and Narco Analysis

Popularly called Lie detection test. Been used since 1920s.

Lie detection instrument connected with suspects body. He is asked series of questions.
Polygraph

Principle: deceptive/wrong answers produce physiological responses different than true answers e.g. BP,
pulse rate, respiration and skin temperature.
Thus you can find lie by monitoring his physiological indices.

Narco
Analysis

Brain
Mapping

Suspect is given injection of truth serum e.g. sodium thiopental/ Sodium Pentothal/ Sodium Amytal. (one
type of barbiturate derivate.)
Principle: truth serums act on the central nervous system (CNS). They reduce anxiety and self-control.
Suspect becomes woozy/ trance/half-unconscious. Then you ask questions, hell (most likely) tell the truth.

Sensors attached to Suspects head. He is shown audio/video/images related to crime scene.

338 S&T Mrunal

Principle: suspects brain recognizes things from a crime scene and produces different type of brain waves
(while innocent person who has no knowledge of crime scene- will not produce those brain waves).

In a typical criminal investigation, suspects first undergo a lie detection test, then brain mapping and narco-analysis.

As per an expert committee of NIMHANS (National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences) says Brain
mapping = unscientific and should be discontinued as an investigative tool and as evidence in courts.

As per Supreme court directive: police cannot do Brain mapping, polygraph and brain-mapping tests without consent
of the accused person.

fine but Why in news? Because LeT bomber Abdul Karim Tunda refused to give consent for brain mapping, citing his
old age and health problems. (September 2013 news)
#4: Eye Donation

National Eye Donation fortnight was held in Aug-September period.

India has around 20 lakh people with corneal blindness they can see again with eye transplantation.

eye donation does not disfigure the dead body and the procedure takes only about 10 to 15 minutes.

shelf life of a retrieved eye is 12 days- it is given to needy patient based on waiting list.

We have to motivate people to donate eyes. but only signing forms alone is not sufficient. A person must inform his
friends and relatives. (that if I die, contact this xyz number to get my eye donated)

World Sight Day= celebrated on second Thursday of October. This year it was on 10th Oct.
Disease/Anatomy related
#1: Wifi Pacemaker

Normal heart beat

60-90 times per minute. (72 to be exact)

bradycardia

heart beats at a slower rate than 60 beats per minute

Tachycardia

Heart rate >100 beats per minute.

arrhythmias

irregular heartbeat

Group of cells- that generate electrical signal . This signal controls heartbeat rate.

Faulty electrical = arrhythmias=irregular heartbeat.

sinoatrial (SA) node.

During Tachycardia (too fast heart beats), upper chambers of heart cannot fill up blood within the fast beat= blood flow become
irregular=>fatigue, dizziness, fainting, and/or chest pain even death.

339 S&T Mrunal

Pacemaker

Implantable Cardio Defibrillator. (ICD)

Generates low energy electrical impulses= to make the heart beat

at normal rate.

Pacemaker runs on a battery- need replacement @4-5 years.

Latest models of pacemaker even have wifi-feature. It can

directly send messages to the doctor, about patients heart rate.

same. but not just impulse- it can also give an

electrical high-shock during emergency.

same

same

ok but Why in news?

Because ex-Vice President Dick Cheney had turned off wifi feature in his defibrillator- because of fear that terrorists could hack
it to kill him, via wifi!
Speaking of fancy heart gadgets:

AED

Holter
Monitor

Automated External Defibrillator

Shocks the heart back to its normal rhythm. You may have seen this in many Hollywood movies.

Anyone can use AED device on the patient during emergency.

But need to educate people and need to place AEDs @commonplaces like railway station, bus
complex, and a shopping malls.

A small, portable ECG. Can be worn over chest to track your heart rate for 24 hours and doctor can
use this data for diagnosis.

340 S&T Mrunal

#2: Rabies

is a zoonosis disease (transmitted from animals to humans) other examples of such diseases are Anthrax, Bovine
tuberculosis, Plague, Ringworm.

Virus is present in the salivary glands of rabid animals. When rabid animal bites human= virus transmitted.

Raccoons, skunks, bats, foxes, dogs, and cats, among other smaller animals can spread rabies through their bites.

Rabies virus infects the central nervous system. Causes hypersalivation (increase in saliva), hydrophobia (fear of
water), partial paralaysis, hallucinations and finally death. (India: >20,000 per year)

Louis Pasteur (French)= pasteurization, anthrax vaccine, rabies vaccine.

earlier, you had to get 16 injections of anti-rabies vaccine on the abdomen. Today, with advanced care, just 4-5
injection sufficient.

No treatment is required if a person feeds or touches a rabid dog.

No treatment required if rabid dog licks intact skin of human.

But if the rabid dog causes a skin injury or licks the mucus membrane like in the mouth, eyes and nose, vaccination is
must.
#3: Kala Azar

Also known visceral leishmaniasis. caused by Parasite: Leishmania

Spread by female sand-fly (it bites for blood meal)

Affects spleen, liver and bone marrow. (Parasite cannot synthesize iron containing haem molecule on its own. So, it
attacks those organs in search of hemoglobin.)

In terms of death record by parasitic diseases: #1 Malaria and #2 is Kala Azar.

Our national health policy aims to eliminate Kala-azar by 2015 i.e. less than 1 case per 10,000 population at subdistrict level.

341 S&T Mrunal

Weve also signed Tripartite Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Nepal and Bangladesh to eliminate Kala-azar
from the South East Asia region by 2015,

Drugs used: Miltefosine capsule, Amphotericin B injection. (brandname Fungisome) By and large, Kala Azar drugs are
toxic and expensive. No vaccine has yet been licensed.

ok but why in news? Because an American institute testing vaccine in India.

#4: Goose bumps

Goosebumps are caused by extreme cold or intense emotions

How? electric impulse passing thru tiny muscles below skin=>skin contracts and the hairs get erect.

Fur animals use goose bumps for insulation against coldness. (because erect hairs trap more air=more insulation)

in cats and rats- goose-bumps make their bodysize appear bigger= to frighten their enemies.

ok but what is the use of goosebumps in humans? Nothing. Its just a vestigial reflex.

Other examples of vestigial traits=appendix, tailbone, wisdom teeth and tonsils.

#5: Pediatric TB

1997: Revised National TB Control Programme (RNTCP) started

Limitation?

Passive
approach

RNTCP waits for the patient to come to the clinic and get his sputum tested.

But in the meantime, hed have infected dozen more.

WHO recommends that if an adult has TB, then all children (below 5 years age in his house must be
tested for TB. Because children are particularly susceptible to TB bacteria. But RNTCP doesnt do
this.

DOTS workers dont inquire about children living in TB patients house either.

Children
neglected

Result? Highest number of TB patients found in India- ~3.5 million and >10% of them are children.

TB in Children: detection problems?

Unlike adult, children donot product sputum= hard to diagnose in lab.

Smear microscopy and other traditional methods to detect TB= dont give conclusive result when used on children.

Solution? Use Xpert MTB test on children to detect TB. (we already saw this test under GeneExpert device click me)

Xpert MTB is a rapid molecular test.

WHO recommends it for diagnosing Multi-drug resistant TB (MTB)

342 S&T Mrunal

this test can give result within two hours.

even if very few TB bacteria present in the sample.

Limitation: barely ~30 Xpert diagnostic machines in India.

Brighter side: if Child is infected but has not yet developed TB disease, just give him isoniazid drug for six month and
problem solved.
Medical research related
Nano capsule vaccine

Nanocapsule vaccines give better protection than normal vaccine

Doesnt require injection /needle.

Mucosa tissues= found in Human respirator track, alimentary canal, and the reproductive tract.

If Nano-capsule vaccine is delivered to any of these one sites- it gives immunity to all other sites as well.

e.g. if future HIV vaccine is given through inhaler in nose= will grant immunity to genitals (from where HIV virus can
enter body.)

Thus nanocapsule vaccines delivered through inhalers=future of medicine- especially HIV, human papillomavirus
(Cervical cancer), herpes, influenza and tuberculosis and other diseases that pass through mucosal tissues.
Regenerative Medicine

It is a branch of medical science which studies the replacement or regeneration of human cells, tissue and organs.

This helps in chronic (long term) diseases.

Involves use of stem cells and now 3D printing (for example: 3d printed liver, kidney, ears etc.)

Latest in this area is 4D printing.

4D printing

4D printing=3D printing + time / place dimension.

For example,

A soldiers uniform that can alter its color pattern depending on time/season/surrounding place

A soldiers armor that can alter its defense-mechanism based on type of attack: bullet/acid/fire/radiation/chemical etc.

An artificial organ that can adapt based on lifestyle, diet, blood group, and infection etc. of the patient.
In-vivo iPS cell

Adult cell (e.g. from skin, muscle etc)=>reprogram=> becomes iPS cell (induced pluripotent stem cells)

Use this iPS stem cell to grow liver, heart, kidney etc. in lab.=>organ transplant.

Last year, Nobel was given for this iPS research.

343 S&T Mrunal

So far, iPS cells could be grown only in labs (in-vitro)

But now researcher working on how to grow iPS cells right inside the body (in-vivo)

Benefit? Theyll have more uses as regenerative medicine than lab grown iPS cells (in-vitro)
3 parent baby

already covered in june-july-august series click me

same story repeated in October edition as well. Anyways, lets check

Mitochondria= powerhouse of cell, help oxidizing food and generate energy. Also help coordinating several molecular
events.

During fertilization

Embryo gets mitochondria DNA from mother side.

Fathers sperm also contain mitochondria in its tail- but not given to the embryo.

If mother has Defective mitochondria=> baby likely to have liver, heart and respiratory disease.
What is the solution? In mothers egg, replace mitochondria with healthy from a donor lady. Then use this modified
egg in the fertilization with fathers sperm.

Thus three-parent baby is born:

Father

Gave sperm

Mito-mom

Donor lady, Gave mitochondria DNA

Geno-mom

Gave the egg

UK gave permission for clinical trials.

USA still contemplating over the biological, ethical and legal issues involved in this technology.

1978

Invitro fertilization

1996

Dolly ship clone

2013

Three parent baby

Exact years not important but chronology is. Incase UPSC asks an like they did in CAPF-2013 for plasma, LED and CRT
televisions chronology.
DNAs half life

New research found DNA has a half-life of 521 years.

344 S&T Mrunal

That means that after 521 years, half of the bonds between nucleotides in DNA would have broken; after another 521
years half of the remaining bonds would have gone.

ok but how is that even relevant?

Because in Hollywood sci-fi movies, you may have seen how scientist would use DNA sample from dinosaurs and
ancient insects are trapped in amber and breed a new dinosaur or some other massive creature.

This is implausible because dinosaurs died 65 million years ago. And given that DNAs half-life is just 521 years- their
DNA has become junk- there is no way you can decode it and create new dinosaur.

Cytoskeleto
n

This material in our cells, determines the mechanical properties of the cell.

If the cytoskeleton is damaged, cell-division is affected, too.

Cancer damages this cytoskeleton, rendering cells softer and smoother.

Thus, by studying cytoskeleton we can detect cancer. Research on going in this area.

Clostridium botulinum is an anaerobic bacteria=can only grow in the absence of oxygen.

Botulinum = toxin produced by this bacteria.

It can enter human body through contaminated food, wounds, water=> botulism=death if
untreated.

ok but why in news?

Scientists have discovered a new strain of this bacteria- its toxin has no antidote.

Theyve not published all details- otherwise terrorists can use it for making bioweapons.

Polonium (Po) is a radioactive element. Marie Curie had discovered it and named after her
homeland- Poland.

Polonium is deadlier than cyanide.

ya but why in news?

A Swiss scientist found high levels of Polonium on blood-saliva stains on Yasser Arafats clothessuggesting that someone (=Israelis) had poisoned him.

Botulism

Polonium

DEET ( N,N-diethyl-meta-toluamide) is the most widely used insect repellant

DEET

Problem: costly, dissolves plastics and synthetic fabrics, But now scientists looking for natural alternative
made from grape.

Mock Questions
1.

Which among the following set of agriculture produce, enjoys GI status?

345 S&T Mrunal

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

a.

Madurai Malli, Trombay groundnut, Pokalli rice

b.

Trombay groundnut, Navara Rice, Madurai Malli

c.

Pokkali rice, Navara Rice, Madurai Malli

d.

None of Above

Sea Ranching
a.

is an adventure sport

b.

is a novel method for mining metals from Polymetallic nodules in the sea bed.

c.

is a method where juvenile organisms are released in the sea /inland water to increase their harvestable stock.

d.

none of above

find Correct statement(s)

a.

Foot and mouth Disease (FMD) is a viral disease that can only spread among domestic animals.

b.

FMD can spread from animals to humans, therefore it is not advisable to eat the meat of an animal died of
FMD.

c.

Both A and B

d.

Neither A nor B

Find correct statement(s) about Trombay Crop varieties

a.

Theyre developed by ICAR

b.

Environment ministry has banned their commercial usage due to presence of Bt-strain.

c.

both A and B

d.

Neither A nor B

What is the principle behind polygraph tests?

a.

Deceptive answers produce notable difference in pulse rate, respiration and other physiological parameters.

b.

Injection of certain drugs can inhibit self-control and suspect would give true answers.

c.

Brain can automatically generate specific type of waves, when it recognizes a sound / picture / video of a place
the suspect had earlier visited.

d.

None of above

What is the principle behind narco-analysis tests?

a.

Under influence of truth serums, deceptive answers produce notable difference in pulse rate, respiration and
other physiological parameters.

b.

Injection of certain drugs can inhibit brains self-control and suspect would give true answers

c.

Under influence of truth serums, Brain can automatically generate specific type of waves, when it detects a
sound / picture / video of a place/person that suspect had earlier visited.

346 S&T Mrunal

d.
7.

8.

9.

None of above

What is the principle behind brain mapping tests?

a.

Deceptive answers generate notable different type of brain waves in the suspects brain, compared to true
answers.

b.

Injection of certain drugs can inhibit brains self-control and suspect would give true answers.

c.

Brain can automatically generate specific type of waves, when it detects a sound / picture / video of a
place/person that suspect had earlier visited.

d.

None of above

Incorrect statements about eye donation

a.

If the donated eye is not transplanted to patient within 3 days, it becomes useless.

b.

Donated eye cannot restore vision of a patient suffering from corneal blindness.

c.

both A and B

d.

Neither A nor B

Correct statements about mitochondria

a.

Mitochondria helps coordinating several molecular events.

b.

If mother has defective mitochondria, baby will not be affected because an embryo gets mitochondria from
fathers side through sperms.

c.

Both A and B

d.

neither A nor B

10. Incorrect statements about Botulism

a.

Botulism is a genetic disorder found in the next generations of survivors of nuclear disaster.

b.

Polonium can used as a medication to treat botulism

c.

Both A and B

d.

neither A nor B

11. Correct statements about Drug Price Control Order (DPCO) 2013
a.

It is formulated by the Ministry of Health and family welfare

b.

It fixes ceiling price of both allopathic and AYUSH drugs in India.

c.

Both A and B

d.

neither A nor B

Q12. Consider following statements about Navara Rice

1.

It is a green colored rice having anti-cancer properties.

2.

grown in Mizoram

347 S&T Mrunal

3.

enjoys GI status

Correct statements:
A.

Only 1

B.

Only 1 and 2

C.

Only 2 and 3

D. Only 3
Q13. Consider following statements
1.

Tachycardia is a condition where heart beats at lower rate than 72 beats per minute.

2.

Kala-Azar is a viral disease spread via sand fly

3.

Human appendix is an example of non-vestigle organ

Which of them are incorrect?

A.

only 1 and 2

B.

only 1 and 3

C.

only 2 and 3

D. All of them.
Q14. Consider following statements about Rabies
1.

Only the mammals from dog family (Canis lupus familiaris) can spread rabies virus.

2.

In humans, rabies virus decreases salivation and induces hydrophobia.

3.

Jonas Salk had developed vaccine against Rabies.

4.

Even if a rabid dog licks intact human skin, the person must get rabies vaccine shots.

Correct Statements are:

A.

only 1

B.

only 1 and 2

C.

only 2 and 3

D. None
Q15. Which of the following is/are capable of spreading rabies?
1.

Raccoons

2.

bats

3.

dogs

4.

cats

348 S&T Mrunal

Answer choice
A.

only 3

B.

only 1 and 3

C.

only 2 and 3

D. All of them
Mains

5marks
1.

Trombay Crop varieties

2.

Navara Rice

3.

Sea Ranching

4.

B.Sc (Community Health)

5.

Mycidac-C

6.

Xpert MTB

7.

Regenerative medicine

12marks
1.

Write a note on the community health care initiatives by Government of India.

2.

Discuss the salient features and limitations of Drug Price Control Order (DPCO) 2013.

3.

What are the salient features Revised National TB Control Programme (RNTCP). Suggest improvements to
make RNTCP more effective.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
+++++
TheHindu Sep-Oct-Nov(Part3of4): Computer/IT/Mobile Tech: Gecko, Street View Trekker, Param Yuva, EMF Radiation
Prologue
So far

Part 1 of 4: Environment-Biodiversity

Part 2 of 4: Agriculture and Healthcare

Part 3 of 4: IT/Computers related (youre here)

Part 4 of 4: Space and defense related (Coming in a few hours)

ICT for Public welfare

349 S&T Mrunal

#1: C-DAC mobile app for womens safety

C-DAC=Centre for Development of Advanced Computing under Department of Electronics and Information
Technology (DeitY)

Made new mobile app for women.

Just by presing a button on the phone- the women in distress can send automatic message to nearest police control
room. Then police can track the women based on her mobile location- send nearby PCR van etc.

Pilot project in Rajasthan.

financed by Nirbhaya fund

but What is Nirbhaya fund?

In 2013s budget, Chindu came up with two new initiatives for women
1.

all India bank for women

2.

Nirbhaya fund. (Named after Delhi rape victim Nirbhaya)

This Nirbhaya fund has 1000 crore rupees- to support women centric projects by government and NGOs.
#2 VithU App

VithU, is an emergency App for mobile phones. (you may have seen its ad on TV)

App launched by Channel V (of Star India pvt. ltd.) in response to Delhi and Bombay gangrape incidents

With only 2 clicks of the power button, person can send SOS message to their guardian along with location on google
maps.

App keeps sending the message repeatedly every two minutes with new location updates.

Limitation: Phone must have GPS+ internet connection.

#3: Google for Indian women

Only 1/3rd of Indian internet users are women. Google India came up with new project to get 50 million Indian women online
by the end of 2014.
How?
1.

Via a new website hwgo.com. This website will provide very basics of the Internet, special content for women like
childcare, cooking recipes, household management etc .

2.

Available in Hindi + English. (Similarly, Intel designed a mobile app easy step to promote digital literacy)

3.

Toll free helpline number where women can call and get free answers about internet/computer. (1800 41 999 77)

4.

A pilot project in Rajasthan to train computer-net surfing to 1 lakh women.

Benefits:

New opportunity for women to get education, freedom of expression and self-esteem. Ultimately

350 S&T Mrunal

Less MMR and IMR

Higher GDP and HDI

#4: Google to defend freedom of expression

Google funded following projects to fight against online barriers

Project
shield

Digital
Attack Map

to protect websites against distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks.

Google gave money to defend websites related to independent newsreporters, human rights, and
elections-related bloggers (whom hackers/secret government spy agencies try to shut down)

is a live data visualization to map DDoS attacks across globe.

shows real-time anonymous traffic data related to these attacks.

is a new browser extension under development

lets friends provide each other with a trusted pathway to the web- thus protects your net surfing
from filtering, surveillance or misdirection.

uProxy

#5: Street View Trekker

wearable backpack with a camera installed at the top

351 S&T Mrunal

Camera has 15 lenses, takes picture every 2.5 seconds. The images are stiched together with software= you get a 360
degree view of the location.

For streetviews (under google maps) they mount this camera on top of a car.

but @certain places like ancient monuments or natural sites, the car cannot go. and person has to take this camera on
foot.

why in news? Because Google India and the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) announced partnership to create
360-degree online imagery of 100 most important heritage

including Taj Mahal, Khajuraho, Qutub Minar, Humayuns Tomb and Ajanta and Ellora caves.

will help people virtually visit those site.

Concept already used for Grand Canyon in the US and Mt Fuji in Japan. click me to see

Speaking of monuments and culture

Kittur Utsav2013

Ayyappan
Theeyyattu

In Karnataka

to celebrate the historical revolt of Rani Chennamma. She was queen of Kittur in N.Karnata,
fought against the British in 1824.

Janapada Kalavahini: Cultural procession showing traditional art forms of north Karnataka
region.

Ayyappan Theeyyattu is an age old temple art form from Kerala.

There are no training schools and it is practised and propagated by a handful of members of a
few families known as Thiyyadi Nambiars,

Udayasthamanakoothu: performance of the art in full by a single performer that ends with
breaking of 12,000 coconuts.

Bidar is a city of Karnataka.

In the 1400s, it was the capital of Bahamani kingdom.

Bahamani kings used Persian style to construct the palace, water system etc. here

The karez water system= a complex system of aqueducts used for agricultural irrigation.

has three national monuments Bidar Fort, Ashtur tombs and the Madrasa of Mahmud
Gawan

Bidar

ok but why in news?

World Monuments Fund (WMF) gave ca$H to Following desi monuments:
1.

Bidar in Karnataka

352 S&T Mrunal

PIN 110201

2.

house of Sheikh Salim Chisti in Fatehpur Sikri,

3.

Juna Mahal in Rajasthan

this has nothing to do with Sci-tech or Culture. but came across while going through
Thursday newspaper.

Department of Posts has given this separate PIN code 110201 for the Supreme Court of
India.

before this PIN: letter to SC=>sorting office => delivery post office=>reaches to SC.

After: letter to SC=>sorting office=>directly reaches SC.

Benefit? faster delivery + cost savings for post office

Soon, Separate PIN codes for High courts as well.

anyways back to the topic: IT topic.

#6: Param Yuva II

super computer by C-DAC (Centre for Development of Advanced Computing)

launched in early 2013

capacity: 524 teraflops but consumes 35% less electricity than other supercomputers of same capacity.

Uses?
1.

Precise weather forecast

2.

faster tapping of natural resources in the sea

3.

design customised drugs for individuals

4.

solve large and complex computational problems

Ok but why in News?

This supercomputer has been ranked in the list of top 500 Green supercomputers in the world.

In terms of Power efficiency, Params ranking: 1 st in India, 9th in Asia-Pacific and 44th in world
IT: new Technology by Indians

353 S&T Mrunal

#1: Gecko: Bluetooth device

Gecko is a Bluetooth device- size just little bigger than a coin. by Banglore based startup company.

it also has an accelerometer sensor to detect motion.

You can pair it with an apple or android phone/device.

ok but whats the use?

1.

Since it can detect motion- you put it in the doorknob- everytime someone opens door, itll notify you on phone. If
someone opens door at odd hours- say 2AM, it can make your phone raise the burglar alarm.

2.

similarly can be put in a pillbox- to ensure the person doesnt forget to take medicine. (if he forgets=pillbox doesnt
move=gecko sends remainder via phone)

3.

you can even pair it with a camera- once you can get in the frame, wave your arm and Gecko will trigger the camera to
shoot photo

Why in news? because Apples co-founder Steve Wozniak gave funding.

#2: Zendrive

Another startup company- one of its founder from India- Pankaj Risbood.

Zendrive aims to make driving better by using data from smartphone sensors.

insurance companies can use its data to determine auto-insurance premium e.g. if person has erratic driving
habit=more likely to accident=should be charged higher insurance premium.

Similarly, Parents could also use the system to track their teenagers driving habits.

Determining best route based on real time traffic data and so on.

Why in news? Because Jerry Yang (of Yahoo) gave funding to them.
#3: ZoomCar Pvt. Ltd

This is Indias first and only car-sharing company (similar to Zipcar in the US).

allows individuals to hire cars by the hour or by the day.

You can rent a car as low as Rs 225 an hour- for personal driving. (you must be minimum 23 years old)

354 S&T Mrunal

Reservations are made through the website or through mobile.

If you get in car accident- they coordinate everything with the police, insurance, and road-side assistance.

Available only in Bangalore at the moment.

Why in news? Because former US treasury secretary Larry Summers gave funding to this startup company.
IT: Government Rules/Policy
#1: EMF radiation limit

DoT (Department of Telecom) panel has recommended 10 lakh fine if cell tower violates EMF (electro magnetic field) radiation
limits. (0.45 watts per sq metre)
More background news covered in an earlier article: click me
Lets check the theory
Electromagnetic field (EMF)

as the name suggests: Electrical field + Magnetic Field= Electromagnetic field (EMF)

EMF is created when electric and magnetic waves travel to space together.

for example: electricity supply, radio waves from TV, radio devices, medical devices mobile phones, radar and satellite
communications.

EMF strength is measured in units watt per square meter(W/m2).

EMF radiation weakens very quickly as we move away from the source / antenna.

EMF strength is inversely proportional to the square of the distance from the source.

e.g. when distance from antenna doubles (2x) the EMF strength is reduced to (1/4)th

Similarly when distance 3times (3x), strength reduced to 1/9 th.

Electromagnetic Radiation (EMR)

Its source can be of two types

natural

manmade

UV, visible light

radio, TV, mobile phones etc.

we can further classify electromagnetic radiation based on can they ionize (and hence damage) biological molecules?

Non Ionizing radiation

1.

mobile handsets and antenna

Ionizing radiation

1.

X-ray radiation

355 S&T Mrunal

2.

radiation from visible light

3.

infra-red radiation

2.

has relatively low energy and low frequency

gamma ray radiations

relatively higher

cant break chemical bonds in body cells.

cant cause ionization of atoms and molecules.

cant damage DNA

Can do those damages.

Electromagnetic spectrum
Observe following photo-From left to right: frequency increases and wavelength decreases.

Mobile Frequencies

mobile handset

frequency

CDMA

869 890 MHz

GSM900

935 960 MHz

GSM1800

1805 1880 MHz

3G

2110 2170 MHz

4G

2300-2400 MHz

Observe frequency increases with new technology. Meaning wavelength must decrease.

356 S&T Mrunal

Speaking of mobile phones

A mobile phone is two way radio.

It contains a transmitter and a receiver.

It emits electromagnetic radiation to exchange information with nearest base station.

but the strength of electromagnetic field decreases rapidly as we move away from source- so we need to setup more
and more mobile towers to have good connectivity.
Specific Absorption Rate (SAR)

It is the Rate at which Radio Frequency energy is absorbed in the human body

Unit of SAR = watts per kilo gram (W/kg) of tissue.

Every model of mobile handset has specific SAR value.

SAR Limit in India: 1.6 w/kg (effective from Sep.2012)

SAR matter falls under Department of Telecom.

myth

fact

It is safer using a mobile from car

because the car shields from the
radiation.

Mobile phone generates more RF radiation to overcome the shielding of car and
reach the tower. so infact, using phone while in car=more harmful.

mobile phone emits radiation only

when you are talking with someone.

As long as mobile is on it automatically transmits Radio frequency signal to

check (poll) the network with nearest tower. it doesnt matter where youre talking
or not.

Mobile Base stations are dangerous and

we should keep distance from it.

We need to keep distance from the antenna of base station.At the ground level,
the radiation intensity is much lesser than @Antenna.

Metal & water are good conductors of radio waves so avoid using a mobile phone while wearing metal-framed glasses
or having wet hair

People having active medical implants should preferably keep the cell phone at least 15 cm away from the implant
Mobile towers- radiation limits

for mobile phones, Telecom department has prescribed SAR limits (1.6 w/kg)

similarly for Mobile towers, Telecom department has prescribed EMF radiation limits:

Nation

EMF limit for mobile towers

India

0.45 watt/m2

357 S&T Mrunal

China

0.9 watt/m2

Italy

0.1 watt/m2

Even Italians are more conscious about mobile tower radiation than India/China.

Anyways, if a mobile tower operator doesnt comply with this limit, hell have to pay 10 lakh rupees fine per tower.

Telecommunications Engineering Centre (TEC) under Department of Telecom measures these radiation levels.
UV radiation: three types

Ultra violate light (UV) has three subtypes based on their wavelength

Shorter the wavelength=more dangerous for body.

UV
A

wavelength
longest among 3

Majority of UV radiation coming to earth, is of this type.

UV
B

medium

As Ozone layer depletes, more and more of this UVB light incoming. It cannot penetrate
beyond skin layer. Hence does all its damage to skin itself e.g. tanning, burning, skin cancer.

UV
C

shortest among 3

but doesnt reach earths surface. Most damaging- upto cells DNA. Artificial UVC lights used in
food/medical/pharma industry to kill germs.

#2: Preferential market access (PMA) policy

By Department of Electronics and IT (DEITY)

PMA policy makes it mandatory for the government and private companies to procure a certain percentage of its
requirements from desi manufacturers.

This was opposed by American companies including Apple.

Now government revising this policy to give some exemption to private companies

And limit to the scope of PMA policy to only the supply of electronic and telecom equipment that has security
implications.
#3: IT Potential in Africa

Nothing sci-tech but some fodder material:

Scope of Indian IT Companies in Africa because of following reasons:
1.

Most of the African countries are seeing political stability and better economic growth than ever before.

2.

Indian companies can create digital infrastructure for in e-governance, e-banking, e-learning- especially for
maths+science.

3.

IIT Delhi actively involved in the training, particularly vocational training and training of teachers in some African
countries.

358 S&T Mrunal

4.

Nearly 30% Of Africas demand for CRT, picture tubes, inverters, radios, sound equipment, medical equipment, etc. is
met from India imports.

5.

Indian government setting up IT parks and other ICT related activities in a number of African countries like Ethiopia,
Senegal, Mozambique, Rwanda and Tanzania.
IT: Misc.

chromeboo
k

Snapchat

Windows
8.1

it is a netbook, but instead of Microsoft windows, it runs on googles chrome operating system. (OS)

photo messaging system.

you take a picture, send it to friend. itll automatically disappear from his phone after 24 hours.
American teenagers like this.

Mark Zukerburg (facebook) wants to bring them to facebook- hence offered 3 billion $ cash to
snapchat maker, but he refused.

Its a patch released by Microsoft to add new features in the existing Window8 Operating system

Lookflow=Yahoo bought this company, to provide image recognition facility in Yahoos photo website
flickrTumblr=Yahoo bought this blogging companyMarissa Mayaer=Yahoos female CEO.

Yahoo

Mock Questions
1.

2.

Arrange the given mobile phones in the ascending order of the frequency they use: (1) 3G (2) GSM (3) CDMA
a.

123

b.

321

c.

213

d.

All work on same frequency

Arrange these in ascending order of wavelength (1) Visible Light (2) Gamma Rays (3) Radiowaves (4) Microwaves
a.

1234

b.

4321

c.

1243

d.

2143

Q3.Consider following statements

1.

Rani Chennamma was the queen of Southern Kerala.

2.

Rani Chennamaa was a contemporary of Rani Gaidinliu.

3.

Both Rani Chennamma and Rani Gaidinliu had fought against the British.

359 S&T Mrunal

Correct Statement(s)
A.

Only 1

B.

Only 2 and 3

C.

Only 1 and 3

D. Only 3
Q4. Consider following statements
1.

Bidar fort is located in Balasore, Odisha.

2.

Bidar was once the capital of Bahmani kings

3.

Bahmani architecture is influenced by Persian style.

Correct Statement(s)
A.

Only 1

B.

Only 2 and 3

C.

Only 1 and 3

D. Only 3
Q5. Consider following statements
1.

SAR is the rate at which base tower receives signals from mobile phones in the given cell region.

2.

In India, SAR limit for mobile phones is 0.45 watts/sq.meter

3.

The SAR and EMF radiation limits are administered by Ministry of Environment and Forest

Correct statements
A.

Only 1 and 2

B.

Only 2 and 3

C.

only 1 and 3

D. None
Mains
5 marks

1.

Nirbhaya Fund

Rani Chennamma

2.

VithU App

Ayyappan Theeyyattu

3.

Street View Trekker

Param Yuva II

360 S&T Mrunal

4.

Kittur Utsav

Gecko Bluetooth device

5.

Ayyappan Theeyyattu

Zendrive

6.

Bidar Fort

Preferential market access (PMA) policy

12marks
1.

Discuss the significance of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) as a tool for empowerment and safety of
women.

2.

Write a brief note about any five women freedom fighters of India- except Rani Laxmibai, Annie Besant, Meeraben,
Kasturba and Sarojini Naidu.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
+++++
TheHindu Sep-Oct-Nov(Part4of4): Space, Defense related: ISRO Mars Mission, MAVEN, INSAT3D, Vikramaditya, EMP,
Napalm
Prologue
So far in the Science Tech compilation for the months September-October-November:

Part 1 of 4: Environment-Biodiversity

Part 2 of 4: Agriculture and Healthcare

Part 3 of 4: IT/Computers related

Part 4 of 4: Space and defense related (youre here)

ISROs MAR Orbiter Mission (MoM)/Mangalyaan
Timeline

Click on following image

361 S&T Mrunal

click to enlarge Mangalyaan Timeline

Launch Vehicle

PSLV

GSLV

Polar satellite launch vehicle

Geosynchronous satellite launch vehicle

Can carry upto 1600 kg satellite

2500kg

MoM/Mangalyaan= first Indian spacecraft to cross Earths escape velocity of 11.2 km per second.

Mangalyaan will travel for almost 300 days, covering 680 million kilometres, and reach Martian orbit in September
2014.

ISRO used PSLV XL (C25) launch vehicle to launch the Mangalyaan (Mars spacecraft). Why?
1.

GSLV tests are not yet successful. Last time they tried GSLV to launch GSAT-14 satellite and failed because of fuel leak.
(Aug 2013)

2.

Mangalyaan weighs ~1300 kg. PSLV can easily carry this weight.

3.

PSLV is tried and tested technology.

Payloads

ISROs Mangalyaan wants to gather data about Mars SAM (Surface Atmosphere Minerals) using five payloads/instruments:

Study Mars S-E-A

I.

Surface

Payload

1.

detail

Color Camera

Mars Color camera.

362 S&T Mrunal

(Particle)Environment

Spectrometer

MENCAGandhi

Methane Sensor

Study surface, dust storms etc.

also taking photos of Mars satellites: Phobos

and Deimos.

Thermal Infrared Imaging spectrometer

(TIS). To study mineral resources of Mars

and to help UPSC update its Mains GS1

syllabus: Distribution of key natural
resources across the Earth AND Mars.

Mars Exospheric Neutral Composition Analyzer.To

study neutral gas atoms in the Martian atmosphere.
Methane Sensor for Mars (MSM).If methane + water
detected=possible that at some point of time, Mars
had supported life form.
Lyman Alpha Photometer (LAP). Measure hydrogen
and deuterium.Deuterium = heavier than hydrogen.

Atmosphere
1

Photometer

Water made from heavy hydrogen is heavier and

hence it evaporates differently.
Knowing Hydrogen : Deuterium ratio will help
answer how did water vanish from Mars?

The combined weight of these five instruments =just ~25 kg.

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ISTRAC

ISRO Telemetry, Tracking & Command Network @Banglore.

Previously tracked and commanded Chandrayaan-1

Now doing the same for Mars orbiter.

Do we need Mars Mission?

(for Group Discussion GD/Interview)

Anti-Arguments
1.

Crores of rupee wasted- could be used to feed millions of hungry people in India. Millions of children suffering from
malnutrition, half the junta doesnt have toilets. Better get those thousands of ISRO scientists and engineers to comeup
with new technology to fix malnutrition and malnutrition.

2.

ISROs budget is better spent to meet Indias communication needs and bring down digital divide.

3.

Even Airtel has sued ISRO for not meeting its contract obligations. So, ISRO better focus on present rather than doing
some mars research whose benefits can materialize may be after 100-200 years.

364 S&T Mrunal

4.

ISRO has installed a fancy methane detector in this spacecraft. But NASAs curiosity rover data has already concluded
that Mars environment doesnt contain methane. ISRO is only doing gaddha majoori (donkey labour). Counter
argument: NASAs Curiosity rover measured presence of methane in a small area. But ISRO will scan entire Martian
environment to detect Methane.

5.

GSLV testing has not giving positive result yet. Had they waited for GSLV testing to finish- Mars Mission could be done
in 2016. (Even Chandrayan-2 project is stalled due to this GSLV problem). But it seems ISRO chairman wants media
publicity before retiring, so made he all the haste to launch Mars Mission in 2013 using PSLV (instead of GSLV).

6.

Less of a scientific pursuit and more of a space race with China- me too going on Mars. First India should overtake
China in terms of GDP and poverty removal.

7.

Britain, Japan, World Bank etc. reduce the donation to India thinking since India has lot of money of run such Mars
adventures, they must have money to take care of their poors as well.

(to drag the argument further non-seriously)

1

This is just publicity stunt to divert attention from real issues. Earlier Chandryaan found traces of water on Moon, then
Aaj-tak etc. Hindi channels ran 24/7 reports for weeks= in the meantime government can go scot free with bigger
scams.

And most importantly, the youngsters have to mugup one more stupid topic for the competitive exams. The financial
cost of combined man-hours wasted in studying such topics= alone worth 13% of GDP.
Pro-arguments
#1: cash will be recovered

At the core of Anti arguments= Ca$H that ISRO has wasted in this Mars project. But in reality its an investment that will be
recovered within a few decades, How?
1.

Many countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America are seeing good economic growth. But they lack skilled manpower,
technology and budget to setup their own launch vehicles and premier space agencies.

2.

But they too need satellites for communication and military. So, they outsource the satellite launch/survey work to
established players.

3.

ISROs commercial Arm ANTRIX makes annual profit of ~100 crore rupees from such outsourced contracts.

4.

ISRO spent only 450 crore rupees. NASA has spent billions of dollars on Mars. This Makes ISRO world-famous as a
prudent cost saving space agency= more clients via its commercial arm ANTRIX = more money incoming.

So, we can see this Mars mission as ISROs 450 crore rupees advertisement / PR campaign- to impress those potential clients
and get more contracts=> money will be recovered and profit will be made.
#2: Soft Power
As ISRO establishes reputation, gets more contracts from third world- it can be used as a tool to exercise soft power. How?

give

take

personnel /technology exchange programs with

developing countries

their support for Indias claim to Permanent seat in

UNSC

giving discounts on their space

projects/infrastructure

their votes in our favour whenever Kashmir/Arunachal

issues popup in UN General Assembly

365 S&T Mrunal

Oil-gas exploration contracts in their territory and so

on.

In short, there is more to international relations than what meets the eyes. 450 crore is a very petty amount to accomplish many
diplomatic victories- [compared to the thousands of crore rupees weve given to Bangladesh, Myanmar, Nepal and Bhutan via
soft loans so they dont shelter terrorists and secessionists on their soil.]
#3: Did not steal from poors month
1.

Government spends barely ~0.35% of budget on space programs. And even out of that ~0.35% allocation, ISRO spent
only 8% on Mars Missions. There are plenty of government schemes with way bigger budgetary allotments for poor
people. So its not like government stopped/reduced expenditure on some xyz scheme for poors to fund ISROs Mars
adventure.

2.

Agreed, poverty should be removed, and everyone must get food security. But the proposed food security bill will need
~1-2 lakh crores rupees every year. Even If ISRO didnt spend 450 crores on Mars, the money thus saved- wont make a
big contribution to food security anyways.
#4: Making History

So far only three agencies have succeeded in Mars Mission

1.

European Space Agency (ESA) of European consortium,

2.

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) of the US

3.

Roscosmos of Russia

Even USA, Japan and China failed to reach mars in their first attempt.

So, if ISROs Mars mission succeeds in first attempt (that too without coaching), itd be a milestone in the history of
space explorations.
#5: Misc.

1.

Will attract talented desi scientist/engineers to join ISRO=braindrain prevented.

2.

Data gathered from ISROs mission, can be used to send manned mission (astronauts) on Mars later, with
collaboration of NASA etc.

3.

The technology used in this mission has potential application in weather forecast, computer tech, health-medicine etc.
in future.

4.

Space research is not waste of time. 1990 Odisha cyclone killed >10000 people. But 2013 cyclone Phalin killed very
few, because Indian satellite gave accurate weather prediction about where and when the storm would hit. Space
research has given immense benefits to Agriculture, education, fisheries and defense. (Counter argument: then send
more weather/education satellites- not spacecrafts to Moon and Mars!)
MAVEN (NASA)

ISROs MoM

NASAs Maven

Mars Orbitor Mission

Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution Mission (MAVEN)

366 S&T Mrunal

launch vehicle=PSLV

Atlas V rockets. (more powerful than PSLV)

launched on 5th Nov 2013

18th Nov 2013

from Sriharikota, Andhra

from Cape Canaveral in Florida, US.

Rs.450 crore

$671 million

~1,350 kg

??

will enter Mars Orbit ~Sept. 24, 2014

will enter Mars Orbit ~Sept. 22, 2014

Doing three studies:

Only study Martian (upper) atmosphere.

based on that data: Itll give clues about martian climate,

geologic, and geochemical conditions over time

Will find the answer: Did Mars ever had suitable environment
to support life?

has five instruments/payloads

has eight instrument- spectrograph, magnetometer, ion

analyzer etc.

The spacecraft may also provide communications relay

support for future Mars landers and rovers.

1.

Surface/geology: using camera and

spectrometer.

2.

(Particle) Environment: using

MENCA

3.

Atmosphere: using Photometer and

Methane sensor

INSAT 3D

Weather satellite (meteorology), search and rescue operations.

At present Indias meteorological observation is done by two satellites Kalpana-1 and INSAT 3A. This INSAT 3D is
more powerful and advanced.

it can detect signals from distressed fishing boats, aeroplanes etc. and help in search and rescue missions, with help of
coast guard, navy etc.

Launched in late August 2013.

expiry date= after seven years in 2020

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RH 200 &
Thumba

GSAT-7

Thumba Equatorial Rocket Launching Station (TERLS), Kerala, under ISRO

1963: Vikarm Sarabhai and team had launched an American rocket Nike-Apachefrom here.

2013: completed 50 years. RH 200 rocket was launched.

RH 200 is a Rohini series advanced sounding rocket. can carry 10 kg payload.

to study the upper atmosphere.

Indias first full-fledged military communications satellite

Navy will use it for ship-to-ship and ship-to-shore communications.

Launched from French Guiana in late August 2013.

this communication satellite was to be launched ~mid-August 2013, from Sriharikota, Andhra

but #EPICFAIL because launch vehicle GSLV-D5 developed a leak= ISRO had to cancel.

GSAT-14

NASAs Mars Rover Curiosity- gave two new findings

1.

Martian meteoritesreally are from the Mars Planet.

2.

Found two isotops of argon gas : Argon-36 and Argon-38by the Sample Analysis at Mars
(SAM) instrument on Curiosity.

Curiosity

Chandra X-ray Observatory

belongs to NASA

allows scientists from around the world to obtain X-ray images- to understand universes structure and evolution

It recently found a black hole @the center of milky way a producing high energy particles.

High energy particles = produced by young stars and blackholes.

They play important role regulating the rate of formation of new stars.
Olympic torch in Space

2014s winter Olympics will be held in Sochi, Russia during February.

From Kazakhstan, rocket was launched to carry Olympic torch to the international space station. (ISS)

Astronauts will carry out a spacewalk with this Olympic torch. That way we can brag Olympic torch has even been to
space.

This torch has also been through:

368 S&T Mrunal

1.

Worlds deepest lake: Baikal

2.

Highest mountain in Russia and Europe: Mt.Elbrus

Ashish Yadav

from Haryana.Selected in NASAs three year astronaut training program.

Defense related
#1: INS Vikramaditya

1987

INS Virat- Aircraft carrier inducted.

1994

India starts negotiating with Russia to get their aircraft carrier called Admiral Gorshkov (to be added as INS
Vikramaditya)

2004

formal deal signed

2013,

INS Vikrant: Indias first ever indigenously built aircraft carrier launched @Kochi.

2013,
Nov

Finally Russia handed over the ship to Indian Navy, after almost 9 years wait. Total cost: >12000 cr. rupees.

Ok but why is it so special?

INS Virat is soon to retire. Vikrants testing is still ongoing. So, We needed a new aircraft carrier.

vikramaditya will makes us only the third country in the world after the US and Italy to own more than air craft one
carrier. (Vikrama+Vikrant)

Even China has only one aircraft carrier: Liaoning

INS Vikramaditya can carry

o

30 aircraft including MiG 29K, Sea Harrier; Dhruv, Chetak helicopters.

1600 personnel

Its radar has a range of 500kms.

2013 has been a special year for Indian Navy for following reasons:
1.

got Boeing P8 I long range maritime reconnaissance planes

2.

got Hawk jets to train navy pilots.

3.

got full fledged communication satellite GSAT-7

4.

first MiG-29K squadron was commissioned

5.

INS Vikrant: first indigenous aircraft carrier, was launched at Kochi.

6.

INS Arihant- Indias first home grown nuclear submarine: Its nuke reactor went critical in August month.

369 S&T Mrunal

7.

and finally got this INS Vikramaditya

#2: Napalm

incendiary weapon, designed by American chemists during WW2

Principle: fuel + thickening agent= fuel burns longer, gives higher temperature= more damage if poured on an enemy
bunker/vehicle/soldier.

Thickening agent used was: Naphthenate + aluminium palmitate. (hence called Napalm)

was widely used during Korean and Vietnam War.

UN convention prohibits the use of Napalm against civilians.

Why in News? Syrian Air force dropped Napalm bombs over schoolchildren. (BBC report.)
#3: EMP Bomb

EMP=electromagnetic pulse

Nuclear bomb blast => gamma radiation.

Atom is made up of: proton + neutron + electron.

but this gamma radiation throws electrons out of the atom.

all those free electrons are then deflected by earths magnetic field. And thus an EMP blast is created.

An EMP blast can disable all type of electronic equipment. But it wont damage physical structures- like
bridges/buildings, It cant kill people directly.

Solar flares also create EMP- damage satellites and communication network.

ok but why in news? Because North Korea has (allegedly) bought EMP bombs from Russia = South Korea is worried.
Physics/Chemistry
#1: Tree Leaves to detect gold

Gold mining companies spend billions of dollars to search new deposits of gold.

But Australian researcher came with a cheaper method= just study the tree leaves.

Acacias and eucalypts treet roots go very deep in the earth and while they suck water and minerals- they also suck gold
particles.

But these trees treat the gold as toxic, and store it away in their leaves for shedding later.= by studying the chemical
contents of the tree leaves, we can make a preliminary assessment about gold deposits in the area.

Synchrotron =particle accelerator machine in Australia. it was use for testing this tree-leaves-gold theory.
#2: Candle flame vs Gravity

When we light a candle, why does the flame go against the gravity (up)?

Burning candle= nearby air gets hot=moves upwards.

370 S&T Mrunal

And the cold air from above comes downward.

Soon, this cold air also gets hot and moves upward.

This continuous cycle of air movement pushes the flame upwards and gives the teardrop / elongated shape.

If there is no gravity, then candle flame will be in spherical shape. (Because there is no up direction for the warm air
to rise.)
Mock Questions

1.

2.

3.

4.

Which among the following used GSLV launch vehicle?

a.

GSAT7

b.

GSAT14

c.

Mars Orbitor Mission

d.

None of Above

Which of the following is not associated with Indian Navy

a.

Hawk Jet Trainer

b.

Boeing P8

c.

GSAT-7

d.

Samudra Paheredar

Find the correct statement about Nepalm

a.

Napalm is used in synethsis of Agent Orange

b.

Napalm can be used as fuel in bomber jets.

c.

UN convention forbids the use of Napalm against enemy soldiers during war.

d.

None of Above

Find incorrect statements

a.

an EMP blast cannot damage mechanical instruments stored in a bunker

b.

an EMP blast cannot kill soldiers hiding in a bunker

c.

an EMP blast cannot damage electronics stored in a bunker

d.

None of above

Q5. Consider following statements about ISRO Mars Mission

1.

Mangalyaan was launched using PSLV because PSLV can carry heavier weight and longer journey than GSLV

2.

Mangalyaan has a Spectrometer to determine hydrogen and Deuterium levels in Martian atmosphere

3.

Mangalyaan has a Photometer to study mineral composition of Martian soil

371 S&T Mrunal

Correct statements are:
A.

Only 1 and 2

B.

Only 2 and 3

C.

Only 1 and 3

D. None
Q6. Consider following pairs
1.

Mangalyaan=first Indian spacecraft to cross Earths escape velocity of 11.2 km per second.

2.

INS Virat= Indias first ever indigenously built aircraft carrier

3.

GSAT-7= Indias first full-fledged Military communication satellite.

Correct pairs are

A.

Only 1 and 2

B.

Only 2 and 3

C.

Only 1 and 3

D. None
Q7. Which of the following do not belong to ISRO?
1.

Chandra X-ray Observatory

2.

RH-200

3.

Mars Exospheric Neutral Composition Analyzer

4.

Sample Analysis at Mars

Answer choice
A.

Only 1 and 2

B.

Only 2, 3 and 4

C.

Only 2 and 4

D. Only 1 and 4
Mains
5 marks

1.

Payloads on ISROs Mars orbital mission

INSAT 3D

2.

MENCA

GSAT-7

372 S&T Mrunal

3.

ISTRAC

GSAT-14

12 marks
1.

Discuss the modernization initiatives of 2013 that will help Indian Navy to become a Blue Water Navy.

2.

India, a country faced with plethora of socio-economic problems, should not involve in space race with developed
countries. Do you agree? Justify your stand.