General Awareness

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY - December 2018

Dec 2018

Apr 16, 2021

India Ranks 49th in Inclusive Internet Index 2021

The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), in partnership with Facebook, has released the Inclusive Internet Index 2021. India has been ranked at 49th spot globally. It shares its rank with Thailand. This index measures the extent to which the internet is available and affordable by region, and highlights additional insight into how people around the world are using the web.
The 'Inclusive Internet Index' surveyed 120 countries, representing 98 per cent of global GDP and 96 per cent of the global population.
The overall Index score is based on four parameters, which are: Availability, Affordability, Relevance and Readiness categories. The Inclusive Internet Index is commissioned by Facebook and developed by The Economist Intelligence Unit.

India and France Sign Agreement for Cooperation on Gaganyaan Mission

Space agencies of India and France signed an agreement for cooperation for the former's first human space mission, Gaganyaan, a move that will enable Indian flight physicians to train at French facilities.
French space agency CNES said that under the agreement, equipment developed by it, tested and still operating aboard the International Space Station (ISS) will be made available to Indian crews.
The CNES will also be supplying fireproof carry bags made in France to shield equipment from shocks and radiation.
The agreement was announced during French Foreign Affairs Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian's visit to the Indian Space Research Organisation's (ISRO) headquarters in Bengaluru.

Apr 14, 2021

Scientists Discover a New Gamma-ray Emitting Galaxy

The scientists from Aryabhatta Research Institute have discovered a new galaxy that emits gamma rays. The galaxy has been categorised as Narrow Line Seyfert 1 (NLS1). However, it is unique and different from the other NLS1s discovered so far.
It is 31 billion light years away from the earth. The galaxy is located at a high redshift.
The galaxy was discovered when scientists tried to trace red shifted galaxies. The redshifted galaxies are those galaxies that emit longer wavelength. As the wavelength of light gets longer the light turns redder. This is termed as "redshifted" in astronomy.
The NLS1s discovered so far that emitted gamma rays were at lower redshifts. This is the first gamma emitting NLS1 discovered to be at higher redshift.
The newly discovered gamma ray emitting NLS1 is 13.8 billion years old. It was formed when the universe was 4.7 billion years old.

Piyush Goyal Launches e-Santa

Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said that e-Santa, an e-marketplace to connect aqua farmers and the buyers, will enable farmers to get a better price and the exporters to directly purchase quality products from them.
Launching e-Santa or Electronic Solution for Augmenting NaCSA farmers' Trade in Aquaculture, the minister said that the platform will change the traditional way of carrying out business on word-of-mouth basis and will make the system more formal and legally binding.
National Centre for Sustainable Aquaculture (NaCSA) is an extension arm of Marine Products Export Development Authority (MPEDA), under the department of commerce.
The farmers can sell their produce with a click of a button on e-Santa. It will provide more freedom, options and opportunities to the farmers. It will ensure fair prices for farmers & traceability.

Apr 13, 2021

Every Year 5,200 Tonnes of Extraterrestrial Dust Fall on Earth

Every year, 5,200 tonnes of extraterrestrial dust fall on Earth.
This gentle rain of bits of comets and asteroids far outweighs larger meteorites that hit the planet. Only about 10 tonnes of larger space rocks land on Earth annually.
Despite the large quantities, it's hard to detect space dust or track its annual accumulation in most places due to precipitation that washes dust away. And in most places, dust originating on Earth swamps dust from space.
But in Adélie Land, Antarctica, near the French-Italian Concordia research station, snowfall is very predictable and there is very little terrestrial dust. Over 20 years, French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) physicist Jean Duprat and his colleagues have made six expeditions to the area to collect particles. The layers of space dust are well enough preserved in the region for researchers to estimate how much fell year after year.

Apr 12, 2021

UAE Names its First Female Astronaut Noura Al-Matroushi

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) revealed its next two astronauts, which includes the Kingdom's first-ever woman astronaut, that it plans to send for the future manned space missions at a state program. Noura al-Matroushi, the UAE's first female astronaut, and her counterpart Mohammed al-Mulla were identified by the ruler of Dubai, also the Prime Minister and vice president Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum.
The two astronauts, selected from among 4000 applicants across seven sheikhdoms, will commence training at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, US.

Apr 08, 2021

Astronomers Discover Three New Galaxy Clusters

Dr. McDonald's team identified 11 cluster candidates around X-ray, radio, and mid-IR-bright sources, including six well-known clusters, two false associations of foreground and background clusters, and three new candidates: CHIPS 1356-3421, CHIPS 1911+4455 and CHIPS2155-3727.
With additional follow-up data from NASA's Chandra X-ray telescope, they confirmed two candidates: CHIPS 1356-3421 and CHIPS 1911+4455.
CHIPS 1911+4455 is similar in many ways to the rapidly-star-forming Phoenix cluster, but with a highly disturbed X-ray morphology on large scales.
This cluster invites further study, however, as it has a twisted shape with two extended arms, whereas all other rapidly-cooling clusters are circular.

WhatsApp Roles out New Features for Entrepreneurs

WhatsApp announced two new features to make it easier for people to know what's available and for entrepreneurs to quickly sell their products on WhatsApp for Business.
The company said that it is now providing businesses the ability to create and manage their catalog from WhatsApp web/desktop rather than just mobile phones.
Since many businesses manage their inventory from a computer, this new option will make it quick and easy to add new items or services so their customers know what's available.

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