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19th November 2022 (7 Topics)

Vikram-S, India’s first private rocket, lifts off from ISRO spaceport

Context

In a historic moment Vikram-S, India’s first privately-developed rocket, lifted off from the Indian Space Research Organization’s (ISRO) launchpad in Sriharikota, under the ‘Prarambh’ Mission.




About

About Vikram-S Rocket:

  • It is a single-stage suborbital launch vehicle
  • It is India’s first privately developed rocket.
  • It is named after Vikram Sarabhai, the founder of India’s space programme.
  • It is developed by Skyroot Aerospace with support from ISRO and IN-SPACe (Indian National Space Promotion &Authorization Centre.
  • The Vikram-S rocket is a single-stage sub-orbital launch vehicle.
    • It will carry three customer payloads and help test and validate technologies in the Vikram series space launch vehicles.
    • Its engine was developed using 3D printing with a superalloy.
    • The engine used in the launch vehicle is named after former president Dr. A P J Abdul Kalam, ‘Kalam-80’.
  • The company is designing three Vikram rockets that will use various solid and cryogenic fuels to carry between 290 kg and 560 kg payloads to sun-synchronous polar orbits.
    • Vikram-I can carry 480 kilograms of payload to Low Earth Orbit. It will be powered by a Kalam-100 rocket.
    • Vikram-II is equipped to lift off with 595 kilograms of cargo.
    • Vikram-III can launch with an 815 kg to 500 km Low Inclination Orbit.

About Skyroot

  • The company is based in Hyderabad.
  • It builds state-of-the-art space launch vehicles for launching commercial satellites into space.
  • It aims to disrupt entry barriers to cost-efficient satellite launch services and spaceflight by advancing its mission to make space flights affordable, reliable, and regular for all.

Prarambh Mission:

  • The Prarambh mission is aimed at carrying three payloads into space, including a 2.5-kilogram payload that has been developed by students from several countries.
  • The Prarambh mission and the Vikram-S rocket were developed by the Hyderabad-based startup with extensive support from the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and IN-SPACe (Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre).

Significance of privatization of the space sector

  • Low costs: It has allowed companies like SpaceX, Blue Origin, etc. to cut their costs substantially and perform operations at reduced costs.
  • Creating widespread interest: The publicity of their operations, like live streaming launches, has sparked widespread interest in space exploration among the general public.
  • Quick decision-making: There is quick decision-making in private companies while the same process in a public enterprise would have to pass through several stages.
  • Higher autonomy: private companies have a greater degree of autonomy in making decisions, which enables them to take up new projects.

SHORT ARTICLES

Art & Culture

World Heritage Week

  • The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) is observing the annual World Heritage week from November 19 to 25.
  • At present, 3,691 monuments across India are protected by the ASI, with the highest number, 745, in Uttar Pradesh.
  • The Member States of UNESCO adopted the World Heritage Convention in 1972.
    • India is a signatory to the World Heritage Convention.
  • As of 2022, India boasts 40 World Heritage Sites located in India, out of which 32 are cultural, 7 are natural, and 1 is of mixed type. 

Polity & Governance

Madhya Pradesh Notifies PESA Rules

 

 

  • Madhya Pradesh has notified its PESA Rules on the occasion of Janjatiya Gaurav Divas on 15th November 2022. 
  • PESA is an Act to provide for the extension of the provisions of Part IX of the Constitution relating to the Panchayats to the Scheduled Areas.
  • Out of the ten PESA States, eight States namely; Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Telangana have framed and notified their State PESA Rules under their respective State Panchayati Raj Acts.
  • Presently, 10 States viz. Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Rajasthan, and Telangana, have Fifth Schedule Areas in their respective States.

Economy

National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF)

  • 5th Meeting of Governing Council of National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF)
  • NIIF is India’s first-ever sovereign wealth fund (SWF).
  • The state-owned fund was set up by the Indian Government in the year 2015.
  • The primary goal of setting up NIIF was to optimize the economic impact largely through investing in infrastructure-related projects.
  • Currently, the NIIF is managing the
    • Master Fund
    • Fund of Funds
    • Strategic Fund

Environment

Red-crowned roofed turtle

  • India has put forward a proposal to better protect a species of freshwater reptile called the red-crowned roofed turtle (Batagurkachuga) under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES).
    • CITES is an agreement regulating the movement across international borders of certain wild animal and plant species.
  • The Batagurkachuga or the red-crowned roofed turtle is found in India, Nepal, and Bangladesh.
  • In India, the Chambal sanctuary is among the last viable habitats. 
  • The red-crowned roofed turtle is already classified as critically endangered under the IUCN Red List.

Science & Technology

North Korea's new Hwasong-17 'monster missile'

  • North Korea test-fired its massive new Hwasong-17 intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM).
  • The Hwasong-17 is nuclear-armed North Korea's biggest missile yet and is the largest road-mobile, liquid-fuelled ICBM in the world.
  • Its diameter is estimated to be between 2.4 and 2.5 meters, and its total mass, when fully fuelled, is likely somewhere between 80,000 and 110,000 kg, according to 38 North, a U.S.-based program that monitors North Korea.

  • Countries that have ICBMs:
  • India, Russia, the United States, North Korea, China, Israel, the United Kingdom, and France.
  • North Korea conducted the first successful test of its Hwasong-14 ICBM in July 2017.

 

Science & Technology

Antimalarial drug

  • WHO launches new strategy to tackle antimalarial drug resistance in Africa.
  • Malaria is an acute febrile illness caused by Plasmodium parasites, which are spread to people through the bites of infected female Anopheles mosquitoes.
  • There are 5 parasite species that cause malaria in humans, and 2 of these species – P. falciparum and P. vivax – pose the greatest threat. 
    • P. falciparum is the deadliest malaria parasite and the most prevalent on the African continent. 
    • P. vivax is the dominant malaria parasite in most countries outside of sub-Saharan Africa.
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