Civil Services Simplified: Decoding the Enigma of UPSC by Dr. CP. Kaushik

3. Project 75 India (P75I) • The P75I project is part of a 30-year submarine building plan that ends in 2030. As part of this plan, India was to build 24 submarines — 18 conventional submarines and six nuclear-powered submarines (SSNs) — as an effective deterrent against China and Pakistan. • India possesses 14 submarines belonging to three classes of Diesel Electric category — Kalvari, Shishumar and Sindhughosh. It also has two nuclear-powered submarines — o INS Arihant (SSBN, a ballistic missile submarine) o INS Chakra (SSN, a nuclear-powered one) leased from Russia. • The project is given support by the Department of Defence Production (MoD) and Indian Navy throughout its various phases of construction.

2. RUSTOM-2 • DRDO has flight tested the Rustom-2 medium altitude long endurance indigenous drone. • Rustom-2 surveillance drone is expected to match the specifications of the Israeli Heron unmanned aerial vehicle currently used by the Indian Air Force and Navy. • Rustom-2 is capable of carrying different combinations of payloads depending on the mission objectives including synthetic aperture radar, electronic intelligence systems and situational awareness systems. • The push to Rustom-2 program was given after the Chinese Army tried to occupy Indian territory in Ladakh on the basis of a 1959 cartographical claim on the LAC.

Day 04: August 17 1. Supersonic Missile Assisted Release of Torpedo (SMART) • India successfully flight-tested its indigenously developed Supersonic Missile Assisted Release of Torpedo (SMART) from Wheeler Island off the coast of Odisha. • SMART is a missile assisted release of lightweight Anti-Submarine Torpedo System for Anti- Submarine Warfare (ASW) operations far beyond Torpedo range. It takes off like a regular supersonic missile when launched from a warship or a truck-based coastal battery. When it approaches close to a submerged submarine, the missile would eject the torpedo system into the water and the torpedo will start moving towards its target to hit the submarine. • It has a maximum range of 650 km, a first for such a class of weapon in the world giving the Indian Navy a significant leap in engagement capabilities. • It also provides the exact location of the hostile submarine to correct its flight path midway. One of the most potent threats to surface ships is an undetected submarine and now with the SMART, it is possible to remove the surface ship from the weapon danger zone of a submarine.

Today's topics will be updated after 9 PM

3. Black Holes • A black hole is a place in space where gravity pulls so much that even light can not get out. The gravity is so strong because matter has been squeezed into a tiny space. This can happen when a star is dying. • Because no light can get out, people can't see black holes. They are invisible. Space telescopes with special tools can help find black holes. • A black hole’s “surface,” called its event horizon, defines the boundary where the velocity needed to escape exceeds the speed of light, which is the speed limit of the cosmos. Matter and radiation fall in, but they can’t get out. • In 2019, astronomers using the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) — an international collaboration that networked eight ground-based radio telescopes into a single Earth-size dish — captured an image of a black hole for the first time. It appears as a dark circle silhouetted by an orbiting disk of hot, glowing matter. Gravitational Waves • Gravitational waves are invisible ripples that form when a star explodes in a supernova; when two big stars orbit each other; and when two black holes merge. • Travelling at the speed of light, gravitational waves squeeze and stretch anything in their path. Gravitational waves were proposed by Albert Einstein in his General Theory of Relativity. • It was only in 2015, however, that the first gravitational wave was actually detected — by Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory.

2. SERB – POWER (Promoting Opportunities for Women in Exploratory Research) The Science and Technology Minister launched the SERB – POWER schemes. The schemes will promote women researchers in regular service in academic and research institutions to take up R&D at the highest level through two categories of research support: 1. The SERB-Power Fellowship offers a personal fellowship and a research grant to top performing women researchers for a period of three years. 2. SERB - Power Research Grants ensure funding to undertake highly impactful research across all disciplines of Science & Technology. Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB) • SERB is a statutory body under the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India, established by an Act of the Parliament of India in 2009 (SERB ACT, 2008). • The Board is chaired by the Secretary to the Government of India in the Department of Science and Technology is a body under the Department of Science and Technology.

1. Hepatitis • Hepatitis is inflammation of the liver tissue. Hepatitis is most commonly caused by viruses hepatitis A, B, C, D, and E. Other causes include heavy alcohol use, certain medications, toxins, other infections etc. • Hepatitis A and E are mainly spread by contaminated food and water. Hepatitis B is mainly sexually transmitted, but may also be passed from mother to baby during pregnancy or childbirth and spread through infected blood. Hepatitis D can only infect people already infected with hepatitis B. • Hepatitis C is commonly spread through infected blood such as may occur during needle sharing by intravenous drug users. A vaccine for the disease has still not been developed but it can be treated with the help of antiviral drugs. Hepatitis A, B, and D are preventable with immunization.

Day 03: August 14

3. Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre (IN-SPACe) • Government has announced a new organisation, IN-SPACe, part of reforms to increase private participation in the space sector. • IN-SPACe will provide a level playing field for private companies to use Indian space infrastructure. This centre will also hand-hold, promote and guide the private industries in space activities through encouraging policies and a friendly regulatory environment. • IN-SPACe is supposed to be a facilitator, and also a regulator. It will act as an interface between ISRO and private parties, and assess how best to utilise India’s space resources and increase space-based activities.

2. Global Partnership on Artificial Intelligence (GPAI) • India joined GPAI or Gee-Pay as a founding member to support the responsible and human-centric development and use of AI. • GPAI is an international and multi-stakeholder initiative to guide the responsible development and use of AI, grounded in human rights, inclusion, diversity, innovation, and economic growth. • India joined the league of leading economies including USA, UK, EU, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Republic of Korea, Singapore to launch the GPAI. • GPAI will be supported by a Secretariat, to be hosted by Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in Paris, as well as by two Centers of Expertise- one each in Montreal and Paris.

Day 02: Aug 13 2021 1. Quantum Satellite Micius • Micius, a quantum enabled satellite, has recently sent particles of light to Earth establishing the world’s most secure communication link. It enables first totally secure long range communication. • Micius is the world’s first quantum communications satellite launched by China in 2016. The satellite serves as the source of pairs of entangled photons, twinned light particles whose properties remain intertwined no matter how far apart they are. • If one of the photons is manipulated, the other will be similarly affected at the very same moment. It is this property that lies in the heart of the most secure forms of quantum cryptography, the entanglement-based quantum key distribution. • If you use one of the entangled particles to create a key for encoding messages, only the person with the other particle can decode them. This gives robust, unbreakable cryptographic protection without the need to trust the satellite. Until now, this had never been done via satellite or at such great distances.

3. Sun’s Coronal Heating • Scientists have recently discovered tiny flashes of radio light emanating from all over the Sun, which they say could help in explaining the long-pending coronal heating problem. • These radio lights or signals result from beams of electrons accelerated in the aftermath of a magnetic explosion on the Sun. Magnetic explosions have not been seen but these radio lights are the strongest evidence till date that the tiny magnetic explosions, originally referred to as ‘nanoflares’ can indeed be heating up the corona. • The solar corona, the outer layer of the Sun's atmosphere, is composed of extreme high temperature gas, known as plasma, with temperatures reaching millions of degrees Celsius. • The corona is usually hidden by the bright light of the Sun's surface. That makes it difficult to see without using special instruments. However, the corona can be seen during a total solar eclipse.

2. Captain Arjun • Railway Protection Force, Pune (central railway) has launched a Robot ‘CAPTAIN ARJUN’ (Always be Responsible and Just Use to be Nice) to intensify the screening and surveillance. • It is AI-based robot which conducts thermal screening of passengers, educates them on preventing the COVID-19 spread and displays utmost sensitivity to suspicious and abnormal activity. • Captain ARJUN also has a sensor-based sanitizer and mask dispenser and can speak in local language.

1. Winter Diesel • India’s armed forces may soon be using winter diesel for operations in high altitude areas such as Ladakh. • Winter diesel is a specialised fuel that was introduced by Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) last year specifically for high altitude regions and low-temperature regions such as Ladakh, where ordinary diesel can become unusable. • It contains additives to maintain lower viscosity can be used in temperatures as low as -30°C and that besides a low pour point, it had higher cetane rating — an indicator is the combustion speed of diesel and compression needed for ignition— and lower sulphur content, which would lead to lower deposits in engines and better performance.

Day 01: 12th August 2021

These bits will become the most imp source for S and T section revision for the upcoming Preliminary Exam.

It won't be crossing 3 relevant topics for a day. It's equally valid for both S and T and Environment

From today onwards, We will be beginning with the Prelims 2021 Series. On daily basis, we will have some shortlisted & important information on the portal regarding technological advancements, Current developments and core and concepts of S and T.

Gaganyaan Mission • Gaganyaan is an Indian crewed orbital spacecraft that is intended to send 3 astronauts to space for a minimum of seven days by 2022, as part of the Indian Human Spaceflight Programme. • The spacecraft, which is being developed by the ISRO, consists of a service module and a crew module, collectively known as the Orbital Module. It will be for the first time that India will launch its manned mission to space, making the country fourth in line to have sent a human to space. • ISRO's Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle GSLV Mk III, will be used to launch Gaganyaan. GSLV Mk III is designed to carry 4 ton class of satellites into Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO) or about 10 tons to Low Earth Orbit (LEO).

Global Bio-India 2021 ● It is a mega international congregation of biotechnology stakeholders, including international bodies, regulatory bodies, Central and State Ministries, SMEs etc. ● The theme for 2021 is “Transforming lives” with the tagline “Biosciences to Bio-economy”. ● This event was co-organised by the Department of Biotechnology, along with its Public Sector Undertaking, and Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC) in partnership with industry association Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), Association of Biotechnology Led Enterprises (ABLE) and Invest India.