General Awareness

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY - August 2015

Aug 2015

Aug 03, 2019

Airtel Looks to Phase Out 3G

As per reports, Bharti Airtel would shut down its 3G network across India's 22 telecom circles by March 2020, and increase its focus on providing 4G services.
Process of shutting down was started the process last month, when the company wound down the 3G network in the Kolkata circle.
Vodafone Idea continues to provide 2G, 3G and 4G services.

Aug 01, 2019

ISpace Plans up to 8 Launches Next Year

Beijing-based startup iSpace is planning up to eight commercial rocket launches next year, after becoming China's first privately funded firm to put a satellite into orbit.
iSpace's success turned up the heat on the country's other 15-plus startups to develop vehicles capable of delivering satellites into orbit. Since late last year, two other firms have attempted but failed.
China envisions constellations of commercial satellites that can offer services ranging from high-speed internet for aircraft to tracking coal shipments. Reliable, low-cost and frequent deployment by private firms would be key.

Jul 30, 2019

Chandrayaan 2

According to ISRO, the orbit of Chandrayaan-2 around the Earth was raised for a third time to reach a highly elliptical orbit of 276 x 71792 km. The on-board propulsion system was fired for 989 seconds.
The third manoeuvre was completed successfully and the spacecraft parameters are all normal for now.
The propulsion systems have to be fired two more times on August 2 and 6 (2019) to increase the apogee or the point on the orbit farthest from the Earth.
A total of six manoeuvres had been planned in the 23-day duration that Chandrayaan 2 would spend going around the earth – one to increase the perigee or the point on the orbit closest to the Earth and five others to the apogee.
However, the rocket carrying Chandrayaan 2, India's heaviest GSLV Mark III, "over-performed" on the day of the launch giving a boost of 6,000 km to the spacecraft.
This reduced the number of manoeuvres to five – one to increase the perigee and four to increase the apogee – till the spacecraft left Earth-orbit and started its journey towards the moon.
The spacecraft will be injected in a trans-lunar orbit (orbit between Earth and moon) on August 14, 2019 with the parameters 266 x 4,13,623 km. The spacecraft is scheduled to reach a lunar orbit of August 20, 2019.

Reliance Jio Launches 'Jio Saarthi'

Reliance Jio launched a digital assistant 'Jio Saarthi' to make it easier for users to recharge online. The voice assistant has been integrated in Reliance's MyJio app and supports Hindi and English languages for now. Reliance plans to add 12 regional languages in the near future.
The Jio Saarthi voice assistant essentially guides users through every step of making an online recharge.
For instance, it helps locate where to tap to enter card details or how to find your card number or expiry date and where to enter it. While the feature has been integrated within the MyJio app, Reliance Jio would send a notification to users who have never done an online recharge.

Jul 27, 2019

Indian Scientists Discover New Milky Way Stars

A team of scientists at Aryabhatta Research Institute of Observational Sciences (ARIES) in Nainital has identified 28 new variable stars in the halo or outer part of the Milky Way galaxy, nearly 60,000 light years away in the constellation Coma Berenices, visible in the northern night sky.
The brightness of variable stars fluctuates with time due to change in emitted light, with the periodic swelling and shrinking of stars changing the quantum of light reaching earth.
Using a powerful 3.6-metre optical telescope, the Devasthal Optical Telescope (DOT), the scientists conducted photometric observations to discover the stars.
The stars were found in globular cluster NGC 4147; a globular cluster is a large but compact cluster of stars around a galactic core and is spherical in shape. Typically a globular cluster has very old stars.
The detailed findings are to be published in next month's Astronomical Journal.
The halo of a galaxy is a nearly spherical region surrounding the galaxy like diffuse light when seen from a distance. Only about 1% of a galaxy's mass resides in its halo area, and coupled with low brightness, the observation of stars in halos is very difficult. This is why our finding holds much significance.

Jul 26, 2019

North Korea Tests Short-Range Ballistic Missiles

North Korea test-fired two new short-range ballistic missiles, its first missile test since its leader, Kim Jong Un, and US President Donald Trump agreed to revive denuclearisation talks last month.
South Korea, which supports efforts by North Korea and the US to end years of hostility, urged the North to stop acts that are unhelpful to easing tension, saying the tests posed a military threat on the Korean peninsula.
The South said it believed the missiles were a new type of ballistic missile but it would make a final assessment with the US.
Firing a ballistic missile would be a violation of UN Security Council resolutions that ban the North from the use of such technology. North Korea has rejected the restriction as an infringement of its sovereign right to selfdefence.
North Korea launched the missiles from the east coast city of Wonsan with one flying about 430km and the other 690km over the sea. They both reached an altitude of 50km.
The launch casts new doubt on efforts to restart stalled denuclearisation talks after Trump and Kim met at the demilitarised zone (DMZ) between the two Koreas at the end of June 2019.
US secretary of state Mike Pompeo and North Korean foreign minister Ri Yong Ho are expected to meet on the sidelines of a forum in Bangkok.

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