Current Affairs Disaster Management: The Government has developed an advanced Expert Decision Support System (DSS) based on state-of-the-art Information Technology (IT), Visualization, geo-spatial and remote sensing technologies to build Indian Tsunami Early Warning System.

The Indian Tsunami Early Warning System comprises a real-time network of seismic stations, Bottom Pressure Recorders (BPR), tide gauges and 24 X 7 operational tsunami warning centre to detect tsunamigenic earthquakes and to monitor tsunamis and to provide timely advisories to concerned government departments and to vulnerable community by means of latest communication methods with back-end support of scenario database, vulnerability modelling and Decision Support System.

Current Affairs Indian Satellites: To Provide Satellite Based Augmentation System Services over India and neighbouring regions the GPS Aided Geo Augmented Navigation (GAGAN) - a Satellite Based Navigation System (SBNS) is launched by the Union Minister for Civil Aviation, Shri Praful Patel.  This system is expected to provide enhanced navigation performance for critical applications like Civil Aviation, Marine Navigation, Train & Road Transport, Precision Farming, Search and Rescue (SAR) operations, Surveying and Mapping (Geodetic & Geodynamic), Mining etc.

Major initiative has been taken by the Department of Information Technology to create an eco-system for all round promotion of Free & Open Source Software (FOSS), bridging the digital divide and strengthening the Indian software industry. The National Resource Centre for Free/Open Source Software (NRCFOSS) has been set up at C-DAC and AU-KBC Research Centre, Chennai, to provide design, development, training and support services to the FOSS community in the country and also strengthen the global FOSS ecosystem by contributing to the open source pool (www.nrcfoss.org.in).

A contract was signed with M/s Elta Israel for the procurement of three Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) aircraft. Two AWACS aircraft have already been inducted into the Indian Air Force while the third is expected to be delivered by December 2010. There has been no intrusion of foreign aircraft into the Indian airspace during AWACS operation.

Status of missile development programmes, currently being run in the country, are given below:-

(i)                 Nag – It is a 3^rd Generation Anti-Tank Missile having ‘top attack’ and ‘fire and forget’ capability with a range of 4 km. Its validation trial based on User Trial feedback has been completed successfully. Missile system is ready to enter production /induction phase.

THE near fatal radiation exposure in the Mayapuri scrap has led to hospitalisation of 11 people. The cause has now been identified as radioactive cobalt 60 sources that were mixed up in the scrap. What neither the Atomic Energy Commission nor the government has disclosed is that it is not the first time that we have found radioactive cobalt 60 in metal scrap. Almost two years back, Germanyreported finding radioactive steel coming from India. The French followed with reports of radioactive buttons in elevators originating from radioactive steel, again from India. It is amazing that even after this and known dangers to the people who would be inadvertently exposed to high radiation, the government of India and its agencies took no steps regarding the prevention of such incidents. Neither do we have any clarity on how such incidents have occurred or from where the offending radioactive material originated.

The Chandrayaan-II project is being designed and worked out based on the experience gained and lessons learnt from the Chandrayaan-I project.  The reasons that caused the termination of the Chandrayaan-I project, ahead of its originally planned life-span, are being specifically addressed in the Chandrayaan-II project.

The Chandrayaan-II project is envisaged to have an Indian Orbiter module with scientific instruments to go round the moon and a Russian Lander module carrying an Indian Rover and a few scientific instruments.  The Chandrayaan-II project will be launched using the Indian Geostationary Launch Vehicle – GSLV.  The costs towards these components will be met by the Space Agencies of the respective countries.

Coronal mass ejections (CMEs) are large clouds of charged particles that are ejected from the sun over the course of several hours and can carry up to ten billion tons of plasma. They expand away from the sun at speeds as high as a million miles an hour. A CME can make the 93-million-mile journey to Earth in just two to four days. Stronger solar storms could cause adverse impacts to space-based assets and technological infrastructure on Earth.

Current Affairs Digital World: The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) Chairman J S Sarma announced complete switch over from analog to digital broadcast signals in the country in a phased manner by December 2013. Addressing industry leaders at the CII organized conference on Managing Digital Media and Entertainment Business in the Digital Era (in Mumbai via video conferencing), Sarma called for support from industry in one voice for the digital switch over. “We are forward looking and pro active on regulation on digitalisation.’’

Scientists have produced a first-of-its kind map of the height of the world’s forests by combining data from three NASA satellites. The map will help scientists build an inventory of how much carbon the world’s forests store and how fast that carbon cycles through ecosystems and back into the atmosphere.

Maps of local and regional forest canopy have been produced before, but the new map is the first that spans the entire globe using one uniform method. The map was based on data collected by NASA’s Terra and Aqua satellites, along with the Ice, Cloud and land Elevation Satellite, or ICESat. Michael Lefsky, a remote-sensing specialist from Colorado State University in Ft. Collins, produced the final product. Lefsky describes his results in a journal paper to be published next month in Geophysical Research Letters.

On August 1st, almost the entire Earth-facing side of the sun erupted in a tumult of activity. There was a C3-class solar flare, a solar tsunami, multiple filaments of magnetism lifting off the stellar surface, large-scale shaking of the solar corona, radio bursts, a coronal mass ejection and more. This extreme ultraviolet snapshot from the Solar Dynamics Observatory shows the sun’s northern hemisphere in mid-eruption. Different colors in the image represent different gas temperatures ranging from ~1 to 2 million degrees K. Credit: NASA/SDO

Sometimes you really can believe your eyes. That’s what NASA’s Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory (STEREO) is telling researchers about a controversial phenomenon on the sun known as the “solar tsunami.”

Years ago, when solar physicists first witnessed a towering wave of hot plasma racing across the sun’s surface, they doubted their senses. The scale of the wave was staggering: It rose up higher than Earth itself and rippled out from a central point in a circular pattern millions of kilometers in circumference. Skeptical observers suggested it might be a shadow of some kind—a trick of the satellite’s eye—but surely not a real wave.

Gujar Mal Modi award for Innovative Science & Technology is presented every year on the birth anniversary of late Rai Bahadur Gujar Mal Modi, Founder of Modi Group of Industries. This year, the award which comprises of a Cash Prize of Rs 2 lakhs and one thousand, a silver shield and a scroll of honour will be conferred to Professor Palle Rama Rao at an award ceremony to be held at the Kamani Auditorium, 1 Copernicus Marg, New Delhi on 9th August at 6:30 pm.

Professor Palle Rama Rao is an internationally renowned scientist and is a recipient of the prestigious Padma Shri and Padma Bhushan awards. He has been selected for the Gujar Mal Modi award for Innovative Science & Technology for his outstanding contribution in the field of metallurgy.

Current Affairs Technology.

The Government has come to know through Telecom Service Providers that approximately 2150 cases of misuse of mobile cloning through duplication of subscriber identity in different parts of country have come to their notice during 2009-10. Cloning of subscriber identity takes place by duplication of SIM (Subscriber Identity Modules) in GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) and R-UIM (Removable User Identity Module)/ESN (Electronic Serial Number) & MIN (Mobile Identification Number in CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access) Networks, which gives the subscriber an identity and telephone number.

Dr Anil Kakodkar,

Former Chairman,

Atomic Energy Commission

The power sector, in India and globally, has tremendous opportunities to become a critical player in low cost nuclear power equipment manufacturing. This was the view of some key experts at the 3rd Annual Session of Visionary Leaders for Manufacturing Programme (VLFM) organized by CII, in joint cooperation with National Manufacturing Competitiveness Council of India, and Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).

Available inputs indicate that terrorists are using several means for communication inter-alia, including use of internet and e-mail. The Department of Information Technology (DIT) has initiated a major programme on cyber forensics specifically focused towards development of cyber forensic tools, setting up of infrastructure for investigation and training of law enforcement and judicial offices in use of cyber forensic tools, to collect and analyse the digital evidence.

Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), successfully conducted fourth consecutive Interceptor Missile test in Endo atmospheric regime at 15 Km altitude off ITR, Chandipur, Orissa. The single stage Interceptor Missile fitted with Directional Warhead and other advanced systems neutralized the target.

The target ballistic ‘enemy’ missile was launched from Launch Complex – III, ITR Chandipur. The Interceptor Missile fitted with directional warhead was launched from Wheeler Island and destroyed the Target Missile breaking it into fragments. This was tracked by various Radars and sensors. All weapon system elements including Command and Control, Communication and Radar performed satisfactorily.

The first electronic computers were developed in middle of 20^th century. They were of the size of a large room and consumed power as much as several present personal computers do. Modern day computers are made up of integrated circuits or chips which have eased our life in many ways. Many of us think that  personal computers are the only computers but the definition of a computer is a device which performs calculations and executes the list of instructions called program. From MP3 to fighter aircraft and from toys to industrial robots are most numerous embedded computers.  Infact, computer is  any programmable electronic device that can store, retrieve, and process data.

There are several dangers that are attached to the progression of the world into the technological and scientific age. One such danger includes the thousands of aerospace objects that revolve around the globe at surprisingly high speeds. These objects are collectively known as space junk. The National Aeronautic Space Administration (NASA) estimates that there are around 13,000 objects bigger than 4 inches in diameter. These objects exist in space due to the abandoned satellites, space shuttle debris, and other adverse effects of man’s quest into space. However, the biggest question exists whether these objects present any immediate danger to the International Space Station, satellites or even to people on the earth.

India on Monday successfully test-fired its indigenously developed interceptor missile, capable of destroying any in-coming hostile ballistic missile, from the  Integrated  Test  Range atWheeler Island off Orissa coast.

Aimed at developing a full-fledged multi-layer Ballistic Missile Defence (BMD) system, the trial was carried out from two launch sites of ITR off the Orissa coast, defence sources .