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General Awareness Updates – November 2009 Miscellaneous-1 ISRO
& NASA over the Moon as Water is found
The NASA’s Moon Mineralogy Mapper
(M3) instrument was one of the instruments aboard the Chandrayaan-I, which was
launched on October 22, 2008. However, the mission had to be aborted on August
30 this year after Chandrayaan-I lost radio contact with the Earth.
The analysis of the huge volume of
M3 data was carried out by a joint team of scientists from the
The team had concluded that there
were traces of hydroxyl (OH) and water (H2O) molecules on the
surface of the moon closer to the polar region. The experts also concluded that
traces of OH and H2O were in the form of a thin layer embedded in
rocks and chemical compounds on the surface of the moon and the quantity were
extremely small – of the order of about 700 parts per million (ppm). ISRO
Chairman G. Madhavan Nair termed the discovery as “path-breaking”, saying no
lunar odyssey so far had given a “positive” conclusion about the presence of
water on the Moon.
Naxal violence claims 2,600 lives
in three years
The Naxalites, who
have become the gravest internal security threat forcing the Centre to plan an all-out
offensive against them, have killed more than 2,600 people, including
civilians, in the last three years. The highest number of incidents of violence
has taken place in four worst-affected states Chhattisgarh,
More than 5,800 incidents of Naxal
violence have been witnessed across the country during the period forcing the
government to announce a new strategy to deal with the menace which is growing
at an alarming pace in many states. In Chhattisgarh, 388 people were killed by
the Maoists in 715 incidents in 2006. While 369 lost their lives in 2007,
another 242 were killed in 2008. In 2009 till August, about 180 people lost
their lives in the state.
Altogether 124 people were killed
by Maoists in 2006 in Jharkhand, 157 people in 2007 while another 207 lost
their lives in 2008. In 2009 till August, about 150 people were killed by the
Naxals. With nearly 40,000 para-military personnel, the Centre has readied its
anti-Naxal plan which also includes Rs.7,300 cr package for developmental works
in areas cleared off the Left-wing extremists.
As part of its “holistic”
anti-Naxal plan, the funds would be disbursed in this fiscal and spent over a
span of three years in those areas where the Naxals were driven out. The key
factor in the current strategy is that the government will have a heavy
concentration of security forces to ensure elimination of the Naxals and
restoration of civil administration. Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh had
described Left-wing extremism as the gravest internal security threat and
called for a nuanced strategy to tackle Naxal violence which, despite best
efforts of the security forces, continues in many parts of the country.
China celebrated
60 years of Communist rule on October 1 by staging its biggest-ever military
parade of latest defence hardware and lavish pageantry with its top leader
saying “only socialism can save” the country. Amid tight security, thousands of
troops marched in tight formations. The People’s Liberation Army (PLA), the
world’s largest military, also unveiled its most sophisticated weaponry
including new intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM) in a patriotic show of
force.
Chinese President Hu Jintao,
dressed in a gray Mao tunic instead of the Western suit he usually wears,
reviewed the troops and hundreds of tanks and other weaponry, shouting “Hello,
comrades” while riding in an open-top, Red Flag limousine. “We have
triumphed over all sorts of difficulties and setbacks and risks to gain the
great achievements evident to the world,” Mr. Jintao, also General
Secretary of the Communist Party said while addressing the nation from atop the
Tiananmen gate ahead of the two-hour-plus festivities.
“The development and progress of
the new
ISRO launches
Oceansat-2
ISRO has placed in
orbit seven satellites including Oceansat-2 within a span of 20 minutes, its
first successful mission after the abrupt end of the ambitious Chandrayaan-I
project. The 44.4 meter tall four-stage PSLV-C14 blasted off from the first
launch pad at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota with ignition of
the core first stage and put the satellites in orbit one after another.
Oceansat-2, the country’s 16th
remote sensing satellite, will identify potential fishing zones, sea state
forecasting and coastal zone studies, besides providing inputs on weather
forecasting and climate studies. A set of six nano satellites rode piggyback
accompanying Oceansat-2 on its trip to orbit. Besides two German Rubin nano
satellites, other Oceansat-2 co-passengers are four cubesats: Beesat, built by
G20
is now world’s premier economic forum, says India
Prime Minister Dr.
Manmohan Singh concluded his engagements at the G20 Summit with a clear victory
for
“With the rise of Asia, with growth
of
In the case of fiscal stimulus, the
leaders’ statement reflected what Manmohan Singh had been articulating ahead of
the G20 Summit. “We pledge today to sustain our strong policy response until
a durable recovery is secured. We will act to ensure that when growth returns
jobs do too. We will avoid any premature withdrawal of stimulus,” their
statement said.
Dr. Singh also said that
“It is a compromise figure. Our
demand was for seven per cent, and we got five per cent,” the prime minister
said. “We now have to address the issue of the Fund Quota increase by early
2011. We have agreed to shift five per cent to countries that are under-represented.”
For developing countries there was another pledge from the G20 summit -
which represents 90 per cent of humanity - that will benefit free flow of
trade, services and capital among or between nations.
“We will fight protectionism,” said the
statement, adding the leaders also remained committed to conclude the Doha
Round of multilateral trade negotiations to a successful conclusion in 2010. “The
success of the
However, one positive outcome of
this is that the G20 statement clearly called for the removal of “inefficient”
fossil fuel subsidies, which should address
46 per cent of Indian infants are
malnourished
Despite
“It’s the contrast
between
The report also
highlighted the Government’s failure to improve basic living standards for most
Indians despite its unprecedented economic growth since 2004.
The quality of
life in
The ranking clearly shows
“Overall, however,
In a breakthrough,
researchers have for the first time have found a vaccine that cuts HIV
infection by more than 31 per cent, giving fresh boost to the global fight
against the dreaded disease. The experimental drug cuts the risk of HIV infection by a
third in the world’s largest AIDS trial of more than 16,000 volunteers in
The trail run for the vaccine for
the last six years has been jointly conducted by the U.S. Army, the Thai
Ministry of Public Health, NIAID institute, and two other patent holder
companies. The finding is statistically significant with 31.2 per cent
effectiveness but scientists seldom consider licensing a vaccine which is less
than 70 or 80 per cent effective. Instead, the chief benefit of the
ALVAC-AIDSVAX vaccine is that it can give fresh insights into the human immune
system, especially when a person is protected from HIV.
At least 160 people are
dead after a huge Pacific earthquake and tsunami hit the islands nations of Samoa and
The Union Government
has renamed the ambitious rural poverty alleviation programme NREGA (National
Rural Employment Guarantee Act) as
Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment
Guarantee Act, as a befitting tribute to the Father of the Nation who
strongly advocated the decentralisation of governance, to make it more
effective and transparent.  |
