Topics
- PSLV-C51
- SWACHHTA SAARTHI FELLOWSHIP
- SUGAMYA BHARAT APP
- North East Cane and Bamboo Development Council
- National Science Day
- 125th birth anniversary of Morarji Desai
- PSLV-C51
Context: Recently, India’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle PSLV-C51 successfully launched Amazonia-1 along with 18 co-passenger satellites today (February 28, 2021) from Satish Dhawan Space Centre SHAR, Sriharikota.
- This was the 53rd flight of ISRO’s launch vehicle
- PSLV-C51/Amazonia-1 is the first dedicated commercial mission of NewSpace India Limited (NSIL), a Government of India company under Department of Space.
- The 18 co-passenger satellites onboard PSLV-C51 includes four from IN-SPACe and fourteen from NSIL.
Amazonia-1
- Amazonia-1 is the optical earth observation satellite of National Institute for Space Research (INPE).
- This satellite would further strengthen the existing structure by providing remote sensing data to users for monitoring deforestation in the Amazon region and analysis of diversified agriculture across the Brazilian territory.
- India has two operational launchers- Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) and Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV)
- Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle is an indigenously-developed expendable launch system of the ISRO.
- It comes in the category of medium-lift launchers with a reach up to various orbits, including the Geo Synchronous Transfer Orbit, Lower Earth Orbit, and Polar Sun Synchronous Orbit.
- All the operations of PSLV are controlled from the Satish Dhawan Space Center, Sriharikota.
- SWACHHTA SAARTHI FELLOWSHIP
Context:Recently, the Office of the Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India launched the “Swachhta Saarthi Fellowship”
- It was launched under Office of the Principal Scientific Adviser “Waste to Wealth” Mission launched
- The Waste to Wealth Mission is one of the nine national missions of the Prime Minister’s Science, Technology, and Innovation Advisory Council (PM-STIAC).
- Aim of the fellowship to recognize students, community workers/self-help groups, and municipal/sanitary workers who are engaged in tackling the enormous challenge of waste management, scientifically and sustainably.
- The Waste to Wealth Mission is one of the nine national missions of the Prime Minister’s Science, Technology, and Innovation Advisory Council (PM-STIAC).
- The three categories of awards under the fellowships are as below:
- Category-A – Open to School students from 9th to 12th standards engaged in waste management community work
- Category-B – Open to College students (UG, PG, Research students) engaged in waste management community work
- Category-C – Open to Citizens working in the community and through SHGs, municipal or sanitary workers working beyond specifications of their job requirement/descriptions
- Sugamya Bharat App
Context:The Union Minister for Social justice and Empowermentwill launch the “Sugamya Bharat App” in the virtual mode on March 2, 2021. the minister will also launch a handbook called “Access – The Photo Digest”.
About App
- The App has been developed by the Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (DEPwD) under Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment.
- It is a Crowdsourcing Mobile Application which has been developed as a means to sensitise and enhance the accessibility within the 3 pillars of Accessible India Campaign namely- transportation sector, built environment and ICT ecosystem in India.
- This mobile app comprises of five main features. Out of these features, 4 are directly related to enhancing accessibility while the one is a special feature which cater to the Divyangjan with respect to the COVID-19 related issues.
- The accessibility related features of the app are- registration regarding the complaints of inaccessibility across 3 broad pillars of Sugamya Bharat Abhiyan. It also comprises of various user-friendly features such as easy drop-down menus, videos in Hindi and English, sign language interpretation and uploading complaints with photographs.
- North East Cane and Bamboo Development Council
Context:The Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir will set up three Bamboo Clusters through technical knowhow and collaboration from North East Cane and Bamboo Development Council (NECBDC).
- Ministry: Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER)
- Under these clusters, Agarbatti, baskets and charcoal shall be produced respectively.
About NECBDC
- It is formerly known as ‘Cane and Bamboo Development Council’ (CBDC)
- NECBDC was incorporated with the objective of organizing the hitherto untapped bamboo sector of North East India.
About CBTC
- Cane and Bamboo Technology Centre has facilitated the emergence of a new scenario in North Eastern India.
- Almost two decades of its existence in this part of India has struck the imaginations of the population here and led them on to dream about the possibility of a healthy future.
- Inevitably a future replete with expanded livelihood opportunities stemming unendingly from the right and rich harvest of Bamboos.
- CBTC strongly believes in the thrust which will be felt globally following our role as the matchmaker of the human resource, bamboo and technology.
- CBTC was incorporated with the objective of organizing the hitherto untapped bamboo sector of NE India which is a significant occupant of its topography, culture and customary practices since time immemorial.
- Its formal existence came into being as a coordinated effort headed by North Eastern development Finance Corporation (NEDFi) along with the Department of Science and Technology, Govt of India, UNIDO and UNDP.
- CBTC is the field implementation agency and forms a part of the Technology Management Program (TMP) which is a joint effort of Govt of India and UNDP.
- CBTC has embarked on a new phase of programmes and projects in the bamboo sector with renewed vigor under the aegis of North Eastern Council (NEC).
- It can be said that CBTC is one of the core outreach programmes of NEC for giving a shift to the economy of NE in the positive direction.
- The progress of these two organizations has been acknowledged by the greater community as the change agent whose need was continually felt in the region.
National Bamboo Mission (NBM):
- The mission was launched in April 2018.
- It aims to-increase area under bamboo cultivation and also adopting region-based strategies to promote bamboo products.
- The NBM envisages promoting holistic growth of bamboo sector by adopting area-based, regionally differentiated strategy and to increase the area under bamboo cultivation and marketing.
- The NBM will be a sub-scheme of National Mission on Sustainable Agriculture (NMSA) under the umbrella scheme Krishonnati Yojana.
National Science Day
Context:To commemorate the discovery of the ‘Raman Effect’ by Sir Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman28th February is celebrated as National Science Day.
- The first National Science Day was celebrated on February 28, 1987.
- Theme: “Future of STI: Impacts on Education, Skills, and Work”.
- Objective: To propagate the message of the importance of science and its application among the people.
- Nodal Agency to Support Celebration: National Council for Science & Technology Communication (NCSTC) of Ministry of Science and Technology.
Raman Effect
- Raman Effect is a change in the wavelength of light that occurs when a light beam is deflected by molecules.
- Raman is the inelastic scattering of a photon by molecules which are excited to higher vibrational or rotational energy levels. It is also called Raman scattering.
- When a beam of light traverses a dust-free, transparent sample of a chemical compound, a small fraction of the light emerges in directions other than that of the incident (incoming) beam.
- Most of this scattered light is of unchanged wavelength. A small part, however, has wavelengths different from that of the incident light; its presence is a result of the Raman Effect.
- The Raman effect forms the basis for Raman spectroscopy (study of the interaction between matter and electromagnetic radiation) which is used by chemists and physicists to gain information about materials.
125thbirth anniversary of Morarji Desai
Context:29th February is celebrated as Morarji Desai birth anniversary
Morarji Desai
- He was the 4thPrime Minister (1977-79) and the first non-Congress Prime Minister of India.
- Shri Morarji Desai was born on 29th February, 1896 in Bhadeli village, now in the Bulsar district of Gujarat.
- He was detained in the individual Satyagraha launched by Mahatma Gandhi, released in October, 1941 and detained again in August, 1942 at the time of the Quit India Movement.
- In 1952, he became the Chief Minister of Bombay.
- In 1963, he resigned from the Union Cabinet under the Kamraj Plan.
Kamaraj Plan— it was proposed that all senior Congress leaders should resign from their posts and devote all their energy to the revitalization of the Congress. |
- He was later unanimously elected as Leader of the Janata Party in Parliament and was sworn in as the Prime Minister of India on 24th March, 1977.
- For him, truth was an article of faith and not an expediency.
- According to him, unless the poor and the under privileged living in villages and towns enjoy a decent standard of life, the talk of socialism will not have much meaning.