Daily Quiz: UPSC Prelims Marathon (Science & Technology) – October 1, 2020

India’s defence scientists have successfully launched Agni 5, the nuclear-capable ballistic missile, with over 5,000 km range.

• It is a three stage missile, 17 metres tall, and two metres wide and capable of carrying upto 1.5 tonne of payload, especially nuclear warheads.
• It is developed by labs (DRDO) under the Missile Complex in Hyderabad and several industries across the country were first flight tested in 2012.

Source: The Hindu

The Central Drugs Standard Control Organization (CDSCO) is the Central Drug Authority for discharging functions assigned to the Central Government under the Drugs and Cosmetics Act. CDSCO has six zonal offices, four sub-zonal offices, 13 port offices and seven laboratories under its control. Major functions of CDSCO:

• Regulatory control over the import of drugs,
• Approval of new drugs and clinical trials,
• Meetings of Drugs Consultative Committee (DCC) and Drugs Technical Advisory Board (DTAB),
• Approval of certain licenses as Central License Approving Authority is exercised by the CDSCO headquarters.

Source: The CDSCO website

Explanation: Lithium is an alkali metal. It has the lowest density of all metals.

• The most important use of lithium is in rechargeable batteries for mobile phones, laptops, digital cameras and electric vehicles.
• But as well as the lithium-ion batteries for which it has grown in popularity, the highly reactive and flammable alkali mineral – sometimes referred to as “white gold” – is also used in ceramics and glass, lubricating greases, polymer production, and air treatment.
• According to the latest figures from the US Geological Survey (USGS), global lithium production in 2018 reached around 85,000 tonnes – up from 69,000 in the previous year.
• Continued exploration efforts have seen global lithium resource estimates reach 62 million tonnes – a significant proportion of which are located in South America’s “lithium triangle” – an area encompassing Chile, Argentina and Bolivia.
• India currently imports all its lithium needs.
• It imported lithium batteries worth $1.2 billion in fiscal 2019, up from $384 million in FY17.
• Recently researchers at the Atomic Minerals Directorate, a unit of India’s Atomic Energy Commission, have estimated lithium reserves of 14,100 tonnes in a patch of land surveyed in Mandya, 100 km from Bengaluru.

Source: The Hindu

Explanation: The Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO) is an agency of the Government of India, charged with the military’s research and development, headquartered in New Delhi, India.

• It was formed in 1958 by the merger of the Technical Development Establishment and the Directorate of Technical Development and Production with the Defense Science Organization.
• It is under the administrative control of the Ministry of Defense, Government of India.

Source: DRDO website

Explanation: DBT had earlier announced the First National Biotechnology Development strategy in 2007 which provided an insight into the enormous opportunities.

After this, NBDS was launched in 2015 with an aim to establish India as a world class bio manufacturing hub.

It aims to achieve:

• Making India ready to meet the challenge of achieving US$100bn by 2025
• Launching Four Major Missions – Healthcare, Food and Nutrition, Clean Energy and Education backed with significant investments for the creation of new biotech products
• Create a strong infrastructure for R&D and commercialization and empower India’s human by creating a Life Sciences and Biotechnology Education Council
• Creating a Technology Development and Translation network across the country with global partnership
• To revitalize the knowledge environment at par with the growing bio-economy, focus of biotechnology tools for inclusive development etc.

Source: PIB

Explanation: ISRO’s PSLV C43 launched India’s first Hyperspectral Imaging Satellite (HysIS) along with 30 foreign satellites from Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota.

• HysIS is an earth observation satellite built around ISRO’s Mini Satellite-2 (IMS-2) bus.
• It combines the power of digital imaging and spectroscopy to attain both spatial and spectral information from an object.
• This result can be then used to identify measure and locate different materials and their chemical and physical properties.
• Every pixel in the image contains a continuous spectrum (in radiance or reflectance) and can be used to characterize the objects in the scene with great precision and detail.

Source: ISRO

The European Space Agency (ESA) recently tested a device which is designed to assist in astronaut rescue missions on the surface of the Moon.

• The test was among preparations for NASA’s 2024 Artemis Mission.
• The device is called the Lunar Evacuation System Assembly (LESA).
• LESA is a pyramid-like structure. It can be operated by a single astronaut to help rescue an injured astronaut on the surface of the moon.
• It will enable an astronaut to lift their crewmate onto a mobile stretcher in less than 10 minutes, before carrying them to the safety of a nearby pressurized lander.
• ARTEMIS stands for Acceleration, Reconnection, Turbulence and Electrodynamics of the Moon’s Interaction with the Sun. It will be a manned moon mission.
• The Artemis mission includes establishing of lunar outpost, investigating the Moon’s resources and how they might be exploited and using it a base to explore Mars and further into deep space.

Source: European Space Agency

CERT-In is a functional organization of Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, Government of India, with the objective of securing Indian cyber space.

CERT-In provides Incident Prevention and Response services as well as Security Quality Management Services.

The Information Technology (Amendment) Act 2008 designated CERTIn to serve as the national agency to perform the following functions in the area of cyber security:

• Collection, analysis and dissemination of information on cyber incidents.
• Forecast and alerts of cyber security incidents.
• Emergency measures for handling cyber security incidents.
• Coordination of cyber incident response activities.
• Issue guidelines, advisories, vulnerability notes and whitepapers relating to information security practices, procedures, prevention, response and reporting of cyber incidents.
• Such other functions relating to cyber security as may be prescribed.

Source: PIB

GLONASS is an acronym, which stands for Globalnaya Navigazionnaya Sputnikovaya Sistema, or Global Navigation Satellite System.

• GLONASS is Russia’s version of GPS (Global Positioning System).
• Soviet Union started the development of GLONASS in 1976.
• GLONASS is the most expensive program of the Russian Federal Space Agency, consuming a third of its budget in 2010.

Source: The Hindu

The first ever Industry-Academia mission to accelerate biopharmaceutical development in India will be formally launched by the Cabinet Minister for Science and Technology, Earth Sciences, Environment, Forests and Climate Change, Dr. Harsh Vardhan in New Delhi on 30th June 2017.

• The program named Innovate in India (i3) will witness an investment of USD 250 million with USD 125 million as a loan from World Bank and is anticipated to be a game-changer for the Indian Biopharmaceutical industry.
• It aspires to create an enabling ecosystem to promote entrepreneurship and indigenous manufacturing in the sector.

Source: PIB