We will be providing the current affairs news related to science and technology developments  for the DRDO exam covering period  from DEC 2015 to  JUNE 2016.The articles will be published in 3 parts.

Part 1- Dec 2015-Jan 2016.

Part 2-Feb 2016-Mar 2016.

Part 3-April 2016-June 2016.

So ,Part -1 for today.

• Pandorum Technologies Pvt. Ltd, a biotechnology start-up focused on tissue engineering, has made India’s first artificial human liver tissue with the help of 3D printing technology.
• 3D printing, also known as additive manufacturing (AM), refers to various processes used to synthesize a three-dimensional object.In 3D printing, successive layers of
  material are formed under computer control to create an object.These objects can be of almost any shape or geometry, and are produced from a 3D model or other electronic data source.

• FREE BASICS PROGRAMME(Earlier known as INTERNET.ORG)– Facebook.
• Free Basics allows customers to access selected social networks, and services like healthcare, education and job listings from their phones without a data plan .In Free Basics, Facebook can decide the content for the users on their behalf which leaves them with no choice.It violates net neutrality, a concept that all Internet traffic should be treated equally.
• The govt is going to introduce Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) vaccine in the universal immunisation programme .The virus is believed to be responsible for most cervical cancer cases among women.
  
• 23RD NATIONAL CHILDREN SCIENCE CONGRESS (NCSC)
• To stimulate scientific temperament and learning the scientific methodology.It was based on the theme of ‘Understanding Weather and Climate’
• 103RD INDIAN SCIENCE CONGRESS-in Mysuru was organized with the focal theme ‘Science and Technology for Indigenous Development in India’. TECHNOLOGY VISION DOCUMENT 2035 was also released.
  
• ZMAPP- An experimental medicine used in West Africa during Ebola outbreak.
• FATHER of ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE – Marvin Minsky died on 24 January due to cerebral haemorrhage.
• Artificial Intelligence (AI) is the ability of a computer program or a machine to think and learn. It is also a field of study which tries to make computers “smart”.Ex-humanoid robots.
• ‘HISAR GOURAV’– ICAR-Central Institute for Research on Buffaloes (CIRB) has produced cloned calf.With this achievement CIRB becomes world’s third and India’s second institute to produce cloned buffalo.National Dairy Research Institute in Karnal was the first to produce a cloned calf in India.
• BIG DATA(mostly in news)- In easy words big Data is that everything we do is increasingly leaving a digital trace (or data), which we (and others) can use and analyse. Big Data therefore refers to that data being collected and our ability to make use of it.
• Life Sciences Breakthrough Prize for 2016-Prof.Karl Deisseroth.He has devised two path-breaking techniques that are changing understanding and control of the brain-Optogenetics & CLARITY.
• HYDROGEN BOMB –North Korea announced on January 6 that it had successfully tested a hydrogen bomb.
• Hydrogen bombs are thermonuclear weapons.
  • A thermonuclear weapon is a nuclear weapon that uses the energy from a primary nuclear fission reaction to compress and ignite a secondary nuclear fusion reaction.
  • The result is greatly increased explosive power when compared to single-stage fission weapons.
• A Hydrogen bomb is a much more powerful atomic weapon.
  • The energy released in a Hydrogen bomb is several magnitudes higher than an Atom bomb.
  • Hydrogen bombs use the fusion of hydrogen atoms.It is easier to make Hydrogen bombs in small size, so it is easier to place them in missiles.
  • Hiroshima and Nagasaki both were atomic bombs and till date Hydrogen bombs have never been used in war.
• 
• ISRO-SPACE PARKS
• ISRO will open a 100-acre Space Park in Bangalore where private industry players would be allowed to set up facilities to make subsystems and components for satellites.Space Park will also contribute to the government’s ‘Make in India’ initiative as the private industry
• ZIKA VIRUS-It was first identified in monkeys in Uganda in 1947.
• It is spread by Aedes mosquitoes.They are found throughout the Americas except for Canada and Chile where it is too cold for them to survive.
  • If mosquitoes drink the blood of an infected person they can then infect subsequent people they bite.
  • They are mostly active during the day.
• In May 2015, it was reported in Brazil and has spread rapidly in Latin American countries.

Next – part 2-to be covered later.

Keep reading,sharing and following.

• Maritime India Summit(2016) – held in Mumbai.
• BRICS -New development bank -provided §250 million loan to CANARA bank for renewable energy project.
• White tiger safari project– in Mukundpur,Satna district MP.
• Saraswati samman 2015-Padma Sachdev for  autobiography Chitt -Chette.
• Hridaynath award 2016 – Vishwanathan anand (chess player).1st sportsman to get this award.
• World 1st mass dengue Vaccine name – DENGVAXIA.
• World tiger population –3890 (as per World Wide Fund  and Global Tiger Forum).
• World largest recipient of remittances – India (1st position),China(2nd position).
• MAN BOOKER PRIZE 2015-Marlon james for novel-‘A brief history of seven killings’.
• TIME PERSON OF THE YEAR 2015-Angela merkel,Germany.
• NATO-Montenegro becomes 29th member of NATO(North Atlantic Treaty Organisation).
• OCO-2 -NASA launched 1st satellite to measure atmospheric CO2.
• 5th currency in IMF reserve currency basket – Chinese Renminbi.
• Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace, Disarmament and Development 2015- UNHCR(United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees).
• 2016-declared by UN as Year of pulses.

Significant achievements of DRDO:

Some of the major products/systems developed by DRDO and accepted/inducted by Armed Forces are:

Platforms:

• Light Combat Aircraft  ‘Tejas’
• Remotely Piloted Vehicle  ‘Nishant’
• Pilotless Target Aircraft  ‘Lakshya-I’
• Main Battle Tank ‘Arjun Mk-I’
• Armoured Amphibious Dozer Mk-I
• Armoured Engineer Recce Vehicle
• NBC Recce Vehicle
• Bridging Systems  ‘Sarvatra’

Sensors:

• Airborne Early Warning & Control (AEW&C)
• Integrated Sonar System for EKM Submarine.
• Hull Mounted Sonar.
• Short Range Battle Field Surveillance Radar
• Weapon Locating Radar  ‘Swathi’
• 3D Low Level Light Weight Radar ‘Aslesha’ Mk-I
• 3D Surveillance Radar ‘Revathi’
• Electronic Warfare System for Navy ‘Sangraha’
• Electronic Warfare System for Army ‘Samyukta’
• Electronic Warfare System ‘Divya Drishti’
• Electronic Support Measure ‘Varuna’
• Commander’s Thermal Imager Mk-II for T-72, T-90 and BMP tanks
• Holographic Sights for Small Weapons

Weapon Systems:

• Akash Weapon System
• Prithvi Missile for Army and  Air Force
• Supersonic Cruise Missile ‘BrahMos’
• Multi Barrel Rocket Launcher System ‘Pinaka’ Mk-I
• Torpedo Advanced Light
• Heavy Weight Ship Launched Torpedo ‘Varunastra’

Soldier Support Systems:

• Computerised Pilot Selection System for Indian Air Force
• Telemedicine System for Navy
• Submarine Escape Suit
• Flame Retardant Gloves
• NBC products

1.What are sounding rockets used for?

Sounding rockets are one or two stage solid propellant rockets used for probing the

upper atmospheric regions and for space research.

2. LAMITYE 2016-Joint Military Training Exercise between India and Seychelles.

3.Indian Naval ships INS Vikramaditya, Mysore and Deepak -visited Male and Maldives.

4. Exercise SURYA KIRAN-between Nepal and India.

5.Indian Naval ship Beas is on an official visit to Doha, Qatar(DIMDEX).

6.GARUDA SHAKTI IV/ 2016 –Indo – Indonesia Joint Training Exercise.

7.Kinfra Defence Park, Ottapalam (District – Palakkad), Kerala.

8. National Technology Day -11 May– is a very special day for Indian Technology since 1999. It is so significant because India achieved a huge technological advancement on the day. The first, indigenous aircraft “Hansa-3” was test flown at Bangalore on this day. Not only this, India also performed successful test firing of the Trishul missile on the same day. India also executed three successful nuclear tests, carried out at Pokhran, in Rajasthan May 11.

9.KALVARI- the first of the Scorpene class submarines.

10.Exercise Malabar – 2016- India, US and Japan

11.Fastest supercomputer– Sunway TaihuLight-China

Previously- Tianhe-2 -China

China(167) now has more of the world’s fastest supercomputers than the US(165)

The TOP500 project ranks and details the 500 most powerful (non-distributed) computer systems in the world. The project was started in 1993 and publishes an updated list of the supercomputers twice a year,in June and december.

Keep reading and Sharing.

Thanks

For DRDO Exam-Current affairs-Part 1

• UNMANNED GROUND VEHICLES (UGVS)

Unmanned Ground Attack Vehicle Capable, developed by DRDO, was showcased at DEFExpo 2016,Goa and is still in its initial stages of development. It would be a part of future combat operations in terrains and situations difficult for conventional manned vehicle

• SILICA AEROGEL

It is world’s lightest thermal insulator.

Why needed: In the past three years, at least 41 soldiers have lost their lives at the Siachen Glacier because of extreme weather. It can protect soldiers from extreme weather conditions.This aerogel is actually a solid but within its complex matrix it encapsulates 99 per cent air.Silica aerogel can also be used for insulating the tanks that hold the liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen in the cryogenic engines.

• Nomadic Elephant 2016 –Indo-Mongolia joint training Exercise commenced at Mongolia.

• Asia’s largest ground based Optical Telescope-in Devasthal in Uttarakhand –

Indo-Belgian collaborative effort -will be used to study star structures

and magnetic field structures of stars.

• K-4 MISSILE – INTERMEDIATE-RANGE SUBMARINE-LAUNCHED BALLISTIC MISSILE (SLBM)

        Features

• It is nuclear capable missile.
• It is under development by Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) .
• It will arm the Arihant-class submarines.
• It can carry a warhead weighing up to 2.2 ton

• SRSAM (SHORT RANGE SURFACE-TO-AIR) MISSILE SYSTEM

(DRDO) and French firm MBDA – jointly develop and build SRSAM systems in India.

It will replace ageing Israeli Barack-1 air defence systems and Russian weapon systems.

However the project is still waiting for government’s final approval.

About SRSAM

• SRSAM is a Mach 3-class missile, weighing around 100 kilograms.
• Range of 40 kilometers & can be launched vertically to provide 360-degree

defense coverage

• Unlike Akash (medium-range-surface-to-air) missile, the new missiles will be a cannister based and vertically-launched system suitable for naval ships.
• Can be placed hidden in the ship’s dock and escape enemy surveillance radars.
• Can be used by the Army and Air Force too

• TRACE GAS ORBITER (TGO) MISSION

Why in news?

Russian (Roscosmos) and European (ESA) space agency jointly launched a Mars Mission

called Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO).The Trace Gas Orbiter carries the Entry, Descent and landing

demonstrator Module (EDM), known as Schiaparelli. Trace Gases on Mars: Methane, Water Vapour, Nitrogen Oxides and Acetylene

Other Missions to Mars:

• Present Missions

Opportunity and Curiosity rovers exploring the Martian surface.

Odyssey and Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft currently orbiting the planet.

Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution Mission (MAVEN) orbiter, which is helping scientists understand what happened to the Martian atmosphere.

In year 2014 INDIA successfully inserted its first orbital mission, Mangalayan into Mars

orbit.

ALPHA GO

AlphaGo is a computer program developed by Google DeepMind in London to play the board

game Go.It is the first computer program to ever beat a professional player at the

game of Go.

INDIA’S FIRST INDIGENOUS SONAR DOME

What is a sonar dome?

Sonar domes are located on the hulls of submarines and surface ships. Their purpose is to

house electronic equipment used for detection, navigation, and ranging.

Why in news?

Recently, Defense Minister flagged off India’s first indigenous composite sonar dome.

What is it?

• It was designed and produced by a Defence and Research Development Organization

(DRDO) lab in Pune.

• All anti-submarine warfare (ASW) ships have a sonar array fitted to

the ship structure below the waterline.

• The sonar functions as the ship’s underwater eyes and ears

Iron Fist is an Indian Air Force exercise held at Pokhran, Rajasthan.

EXERCISE FORCE 18

India hosted its first multilateral Field Training Exercise (FTX) with regional countries.

The theme of exercise was ‘Humanitarian Mine Action’ and

‘Peacekeeping Operations’.

It was largest Multinational Field Training Exercise (FTX) ever conducted on Indian soil.

Army units from eighteen countries (ASEAN+8 dialogue partners) were participated in

exercise.

Rest updates in next part.

keep reading and work hard for the exams.

Thanks.