11 OCTOBER 2021 DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS | UPSC CDS CAPF AFCAT NDA SSB

1. QUANTUM COMMUNICATIONS

The Quantum Communication Lab was inaugurated at the Centre for Development of Telematics (C-DOT). The indigenously developed Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) solution by C-DOT was also unveiled which can support a distance of more than 100 kilometers on standard optical fiber.

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Quantum Technologies can broadly be divided into four verticals viz. Quantum Computing, Quantum Communications, Quantum Sensors and Quantum Materials.
To comprehensively address all these verticals and leapfrog India in this crucial & niche area, India has launched National Mission on Quantum Technologies & Applications (NM-QTA). This was announced by Finance Minister in her budget speech delivered in February 2020.
This initiative, with a budget of more than USD 1 Billion spanning over eight years, will be led by Department of Science and Technology (DST) and will have active participation from various other ministries e.g. Department of Telecommunications, Department of Space, Department of Atomic Energy etc.
Centre for Development of Telematics (C-DOT), a premier telecom research & development organization under Department of Telecommunications, Government of India, is leading the effort in the Quantum Communications vertical of NM-QTA.

Source : PIB

2. LONG HAUL TRAINS

Indian Railways has successfully operated two long haul freight trains “Trishul" and “Garuda" for the first time over South Central Railway(SCR).

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Long haul trains, which are twice or multiple times longer than the normal composition of freight trains, provide a very effective solution to the problem of capacity constraints in critical sections.
Trishul is SCR’s first long haul comprising of three freight trains, i.e., 177 wagons. This train was started on 07.10.2021 from Kondapalli station of Vijayawada division to Khurda division of East Coast Railway.
SCR followed it up with running of yet another similar one named Garuda on 08.10.2021 from Raichur of Guntakal division to Manuguru of Secunderabad division.
In both the cases the long haul trains comprised of empty open wagons for loading of coal meant for predominantly thermal power stations.

Source: PIB

3. BRIDGMANITE

On May 22, 2012, a large meteor shower occurred near the town of Katol in Nagpur.

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Initial studies revealed that the host rock was mainly composed of olivine, an olive-green mineral. Olivine is the most abundant phase in our Earth’s upper mantle.
Now, by studying the composition of these meteorite fragments, researchers have unravelled the composition expected to be present in the Earth’s lower mantle which is at about 660 km deep.
The research paper published reports the first natural occurrence of a mineral called bridgmanite. The mineral was named in 2014 after Prof. Percy W. Bridgman, recipient of the 1946 Nobel Prize in Physics.
Various computational and experimental studies have shown that about 80% of the Earth’s lower mantle is made up of bridgmanite. By studying this meteorite sample, scientists can decode how bridgmanite crystallized during the final stages of our Earth’s formation.

Source: Indian Express

4. SINDHUDURG AIRPORT

Civil Aviation Minister, Jyotiraditya Scindia inaugurated the Greenfield Sindhudurg airport in Maharasthra under the UDAN scheme. The first flight connecting Sindhudurg with Mumbai under the RCS-UDAN (Regional Connectivity Scheme-Ude Desh Ka Aam Naagrik) was also flagged off on the occasion.

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Sindhudurg airport in the Sindhudurg district of Maharashtra is popularly also known as Chipi Airport.
Sindhudurg, Maharashtra lies in the southern part of ‘Konkan’.
The district is named after the fort of Sindhudurg meaning “fort in the sea”, which lies on a rocky island just off the coast of Malvan.

Konkan Region

The Konkan region consists of numerous riverine islands, river valleys, and the hilly slopes of the Western Ghats. Geographically, Konkan is bound by the Arabian Sea to the west and the Deccan plateau to the east.
The Konkan coast proceeds from the north at Damaon in the Gulf of Cambay and extends southwards along with the western seaside areas of Maharashtra and Goa. It meets the Canara coast at the northern edge of Karwar district in Karnataka.

Source: All India Radio

5. INDIAN AIR FORCE (IAF)

The Indian Air Force (IAF) has recently taken many steps towards ramping up the air defence ecosystem in order to get strategic advances over their enemy.

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In a whopping ₹48,000 crore deal with state-run aerospace & defence company Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL), the Indian government ordered 83 Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas for the Indian Air Force in February this year.
In a landmark ₹22,000 deal inked by the Indian government with Airbus Defence, Spain the Indian Air Force is set to welcome Fifty Six (56) C-295 transport aircraft. Under the deal, the IAF fleet will receive 16 aircraft in flyaway condition within the span of 48 months, while a consortium of the Airbus Defence and Space and Tata Advanced Systems Limited (TASL) will manufacture 40 planes in domestically within 10 years of signing the contract.
The Indian Air Force (IAF) is set to acquire 24 second-hand Mirage 2000 fighters, made by French manufacturer Dassault Aviation. The Indian government recently inked a deal to buy phased-out Mirage 2000 aircraft from the French Air Force.
Apart from fighter aircraft, the IAF is also set to acquire Akash missiles, manufactured by India’s manufacturers of ammunitions and missile systems Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL). The ₹499 crore contract was signed by the two in July 2021.
Under the ₹155 crore pact, the Indian Air Force is also scheduled to induct Counter Unmanned Aircraft Systems (CUAS) manufactured by Hyderabad-based Zen Technologies. This will be carried out in a 12-month time frame, and the technology will improve the IAF’s capabilities in the anti-drone space.

Source: All India Radio

6. MENTAL HEALTH

To commemorate World Mental Health Day, the Ministry of Health launched a Green Ribbon Initiative. The initiative intends to raise awareness on Mental Health as part of the activities being taken up during ongoing Mental Health Awareness Week, 5th-10th October.

Mental Health Services in India

The Union Social Justice and Empowerment Ministry provides a 24/7 toll-free helpline to give support to people facing anxiety, stress, depression, suicidal thoughts and other mental health concerns.
The mental health rehabilitation helpline, KIRAN, can be called from landline and mobile phones across the country at the number 1800-599-0019. The helpline KIRAN was launched in collaboration with state-run telecom firm Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) that provides the department with telecom infrastructure.
The Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India Prof. K VijayRaghavan-launched the “MANAS” App to promote wellbeing across age groups on 14 April 2021. It has been endorsed as a national program by the Prime Minister’s Science, Technology, and Innovation Advisory Council (PM-STIAC).
As per Mental Healthcare Act, 2017, mental healthcare services of India have been integrated into general healthcare services like National Health Mission, PMSSY, Rashtriya Kishore Swasthya Karyakram, AYUSHMAN Bharat, PMJAY, etc.
The Ministry of Education under Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan also runs the “Manodarpan” initiative, aimed to provide psychosocial support to students, family members and teachers for their mental health and well-being during the times of Covid-19.
The National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro-Sciences (NIMHANS) runs a “NIMHANS RAAH app” that provides free information to the public on mental health care professionals and mental healthcare centres in the form of a one-stop source of data on mental health centres and professionals.

Important Info :

World Mental Health Day

World Mental Health Day is celebrated every year on October 10 wherein countries, governments and people speak about this very important aspect of the overall health of individuals.
World Mental Health Day was first observed on October 10, 1992, as an annual activity of the World Federation for Mental Health. Initially, the day was celebrated without any prior set theme or curated agenda other than to talk about Mental Health in general.
In 1994 for the first time, a theme for the day was used which was “Improving the Quality of Mental Health Services throughout the World.”
The theme of this year’s World Mental Health Day is ‘Mental health in an unequal world’.

Source: All India Radio

7. BANGLADESH NUCLEAR POWER

The government of Bangladesh is planning to set up its second nuclear power plant in the southern region of the country.

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Rooppur is the first nuclear power plant of Bangladesh being built with financial and technological support from Russia. The 2400 megawatt Rooppur nuclear power plant is expected to become functional by 2024.
India is assisting Bangladesh through a concessional line of credit worth about USD 1 billion in the construction of a transmission line and power evacuation facility from the Rooppur nuclear power plant.

Source: All India Radio

8. ABDUL QADEER KHAN

Abdul Qadeer Khan, the disgraced atomic scientist known as the ‘father of Pakistan’s nuclear bomb’ under the clandestine enrichment programme and infamous for his controversial role in nuclear proliferation, died after a brief illness. He was 85.

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Khan, considered as the father of Pakistan’s nuclear bomb, is revered at home as a hero. He was also called a man who built the Muslim world’s first atomic bomb.
The nuclear physicist was disgraced in 2004 when he was forced to acknowledge responsibility for nuclear technology proliferation and was forced to live a life of official house arrest.
Khan was accused by the U.S. of sharing nuclear technology with North Korea and Iran.
The U.S. State Department said in 2009 that Khan had run an “extensive international network for the proliferation of nuclear equipment and know-how that provided ‘one stop shopping’ for countries seeking to develop nuclear weapons.” This network’s actions had “irrevocably changed the proliferation landscape and have had lasting implications for international security.

Source: The Hindu

9. FIRST PILOT PLANT TO CONVERT HIGH ASH COAL TO METHANOL DEVELOPED

India has developed an indigenous technology to convert high ash Indian coal to methanol and established its first pilot plant in Hyderabad.

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This technology will help the country move towards the adoption of clean technology and promote the use of methanol as a transportation fuel (blending with petrol), thus reducing crude oil imports.
The broad process of converting coal into methanol consists of conversion of coal to synthesis (syngas) gas, syngas cleaning and conditioning, syngas to methanol conversion, and methanol purification. Coal to methanol plants in most countries are operated with low ash coals.
Handling of high ash and heat required to melt this high amount of ash is a challenge in the case of Indian coal, which generally has high ask content.
In order to overcome this challenge, Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) has developed the fluidized bed gasification technology suitable for high ash Indian coals to produce syngas and then convert syngas to methanol with 99% purity.
This pilot-scale project with a methanol generation capacity of 0.25 metric tons per day has been initiated by NITI Aayog and funded by the Department of Science and Technology (DST) under Clean Energy Research Initiative.

Source: Outlook

10. VYZOV

Sixty years after the Soviet Union beat its rival superpower United States to become the first state to send a human into space, its successor Russia has trumped the US in another kind of space race — shooting the first feature film in orbit.

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Actor Yulia Peresild and director Klim Shipenko travelled to International Space Station (ISS) in a Soyuz MS-19 aircraft to film about 35 to 40 minutes of footage from the movie titled Vyzov, or The Challenge. With them was veteran cosmonaut Anton Shkaplerov.
Vyzov is about a cosmonaut who loses consciousness after being hit by space debris in the middle of a spaceflight. It is the first feature-length fiction film shot in outer space.

Source: Indian Express

11 OCTOBER 2021 DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS | UPSC CDS CAPF AFCAT NDA SSB

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