ESTABLISHMENT OF END-TO-END QUANTUM COMMUNICATION LINK | Current Affairs | Vision IAS
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    • March 2024

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    Posted 15 Apr 2024

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    ESTABLISHMENT OF END-TO-END QUANTUM COMMUNICATION LINK
    • In a first for India, C-DOT and PRL demonstrated integration of C-DOT’s indigenous Fibre-based Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) system with PRL’s Free Space QKD.
      • Centre for Development of Telematics (C-DOT) is telecom Research and Development arm of Department of Telecommunications.
      • Physical Research Laboratory (PRL) is a research institute under Department of Space.
    • QKD is a technique of quantum communications which enables future-proof security of communication networks using a cryptographic protocol involving components of quantum mechanics. 
      • It enables two parties to produce a shared random secret key known only to them, which can be used to encrypt and decrypt messages. 
      • Any intervention or tampering in quantum channel gets detected and key distribution can be aborted. 
      • QKD can be deployed through different mediums viz. optical fibre, free space as well as satellite to establish secure communication network.
    • Quantum communications is one of the four verticals of Quantum Technology along with Quantum Computing, Quantum Sensors and Quantum Materials.
      • Quantum technology is based on principles of Quantum mechanics such as superimposition, entanglement, tunnelling etc.
      • Its applications are in secure communication, computing, simulation, chemistry, healthcare, cryptography, imaging among others.
    • Tags :
    • Quantum communications
    • Quantum Key Distribution

    PUSHPAK REUSABLE LANDING VEHICLE (RLV) LEX 02 LAUNCHED SUCCESSFULLY
    • ISRO successfully conducted the Pushpak Reusable Landing Vehicle (RLV) LEX 02 Landing Experiment
    • RLV LEX 02 is the second of the series of experiments conducted by the ISRO under the Reusable Launch Vehicle Technology Demonstration (RLV-TD) Programme.
      • RLV LEX 02 re-validated the indigenously developed technologies for performing high speed autonomous landing of a space returning vehicle.
      • In it, the winged body and all flight systems used in RLV-LEX-01 were reused. 
        • In 2023, RLV-LEX-01 mission was successfully conducted.
    • RLV-TD Programme aims at developing essential technologies for a fully RLV to enable low-cost access to space
      • RLV is essentially a space plane which can travel to low earth orbits to deliver payloads and return to earth for use again.
      • This vehicle will be scaled up to become the first stage of India’s reusable two-stage orbital (TSTO) launch vehicle.
      • NASA is using RLV for long time and private space agencies such as Space X demonstrating partially reusable launch systems.
    • Advantages: RLV is considered a low-cost, reliable, and on-demand mode of accessing space.
    • Challenges:  Selection of materials like special alloys, composites, and insulation materials and the crafting of its parts is very complex and demands highly skilled manpower.
    • Tags :
    • ISRO
    • Pushpak
    • Reusable Landing Vehicle

    THREE SPACE INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS INAUGURATED IN KERALA
    • During Prime Minister’s visit to Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) in Thiruvananthapuram, projects were launched to reform country’s space sector.
    • Three projects include
      • SLV Integration Facility (PIF) at Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota to boost frequency of Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) launches from 6 to 15 per year.
        • It also caters to launches of Small Satellite Launch Vehicle (SSLV) and other small launch vehicles designed by private space companies.
        • SSLV is a 3-stage Launch Vehicle capable of launching satellites in low earth orbit at low cost.
        • PSLV is a four-stage launch vehicle capable of launching satellites into Geosynchronous and Geostationary orbits.
      • Semi-cryogenics Integrated Engine and Stage Test facility at ISRO Propulsion Complex at Mahendragiri will enable development of semi-cryogenic engines and stages, which will increase payload capability of present launch vehicles. 
        • Facility is equipped with liquid Oxygen and kerosene supply systems to test engines up to 200 tons of thrust.
      • Trisonic Wind Tunnel at VSSC for aerodynamic testing for characterisation of rockets and aircraft during flight in atmospheric regime.
    • PM also reviewed Gaganyaan Mission (India’s first human spaceflight mission) progress and bestowed ‘astronaut wings’ to four astronaut-designates, which symbolize trust, courage, and discipline.
    • Tags :
    • Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC)
    • Gaganyaan Mission

    KULASEKARAPATTINAM SPACEPORT (KS)
    • Recently, PM laid the foundation stone of Kulasekarapattinam spaceport in Thoothukudi district of Tamil Nadu. 
    • About Kulasekarapattinam spaceport
      • It will be used to launch SSLVs, (Small Satellite Launch Vehicles). 
      • It has several advantages in comparison to Sriharikota facility in Andhra Pradesh, such as 
        • Located more close to the equator and will save fuel
        • Rockets can now head straight in the southern direction. 
          • From Sriharikota facility, the rocket first heads east, and then turns south to avoid the airspace of Sri Lanka.
      • Nearby ISRO’s Propulsion Research Complex location makes it easier to transport the rocket components safely, and in a shorter period.
    • Tags :
    • SSLVs
    • Kulasekarapattinam spaceport

    SPACE-BORNE ASSISTANT AND KNOWLEDGE HUB FOR CREW INTERACTION (SAKHI) APP
    • Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (located at Thumba in Thiruvananthapuram) has developed it to help astronauts on Gaganyaan mission.
    • Benefits
      • Gaganyaan project envisages demonstration of human spaceflight capability by launching crew of 3 members to an orbit of 400 km.
      • monitor health of astronauts and provides information of blood pressure, heart rate etc.
      • seamless communication link by keeping crew connected with onboard computer and ground-based stations.
      • Helps in maintaining a log on mission in multiple formats including voice records, texts and images.
    • Tags :
    • Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC)
    • Thumba

    STATIO SHIV SHAKTI
    • International Astronomical Union (IAU) has approved the name 'Statio Shiv Shakti' for the landing site of Chandrayaan-3's Vikram lander.
    • Name was included in Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature, which documents planetary names approved by IAU.
      • Planetary nomenclature uniquely identifies a feature on surface of a planet or satellite.
    • IAU was founded in 1919 with its Secretariat in Paris, France. 
      • Its mission is to promote and safeguard the science of astronomy in all its aspects.
      • 92 member countries including India.
      • It serves as international authority for assigning designations to celestial bodies and surface features on them.
    • Tags :
    • International Astronomical Union (IAU)
    • Statio Shiv Shakti

    UNCOVER PROGRAM
    • Researchers, as part of the James Web Space Telescope (JWST) UNCOVER program, finds a clue about the end of ‘dark ages’ in early universe.
      • Dark ages refer to a period when sources of light were cloaked in a dense fog of neutral hydrogen gas. 
      • It was followed by ‘epoch of reionization’ that arose because of arrival of first stars and galaxies. 
    • UNCOVER (Ultra-deep NIRCam and NIRSpec Observations Before the Epoch of Reionization) aims at addressing two core JWST science goals:
      • Identifying first-light galaxies during the Dark Ages.
      • Studying the ultra-low luminosity galaxies that were responsible for reionization.
    • Tags :
    • James Web Space Telescope (JWST)
    • UNCOVER

    GARBHINI-GA2
    • Translational Health Science and Technology Institute (THSTI) and IIT Madras researchers have developed Garbhini-GA2. 
      • It is an India-specific model to precisely determine the age of a foetus in a pregnant woman in the second and third trimesters.
    • Garbhini-GA2 is a part of the Interdisciplinary Group for Advanced Research on Birth Outcomes –Department of Biotechnology (DBT) India Initiative (GARBH-Ini) program.
    • About (GARBH-Ini) program
      • It is a cohort study of pregnant women initiated in 2015.
      • Objectives: to identify clinical, epidemiologic, genomic, and generate a risk-prediction algorithm for preterm birth.
    • Tags :
    • Garbhini-GA2
    • GARBH-Ini
    • Foetus

    INDIA TO RESTART PENICILLIN G MANUFACTURING
    • Union Minister for Chemicals & Fertilizers said that India will restart Penicillin G manufacturing after a gap of 30 years. 
    • Penicillin G is an Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient (API) used in manufacturing antibacterial drugs to treat pneumonia, meningitis, gonorrhea, syphilis. 
      • It is also known as benzylpenicillin, or benzylpenicillinic acid. 
      •  IN 1928, SCOTTISH BIOLOGIST ALEXANDER FLEMING isolated the first specific form of penicillin from Penicillium fungi.
        • For this he shared Nobel Prize in Physiology/Medicine for the discovery in 1945.
      • It is administered intravenously or intramuscularly due to poor oral absorption.
      • Like many other APIs, manufacturing of Penicillin G was phased out from India due to cheaper imports from Chinaafter globalization. 
    • About API 
      • API or bulk drug, is key ingredient of a drug or medicine, which lends it the desired therapeutic effect or produces the intended pharmacological activity.
      • Despite India being 3rd largest pharmaceutical industry by volume in world, it is primarily dependent on bulk drug import particularly from China.
      • Key issues in established API manufacturing unit include huge initial costs, intense global competition, etc.
    • Initiatives for self-reliance in API: Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers has launched: 
      • Scheme for Promotion of Bulk Drug Parks
      • Production Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme for Pharmaceuticals covers APIs.
      • PLI scheme for domestic manufacturing of key starting material (KSMs)/Drug Intermediates (DIs) and API.
    • Tags :
    • Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient (API)
    • Penicillin G
    • Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient

    NATIONAL ACTION PLAN FOR PREVENTION AND CONTROL OF SNAKEBITE ENVENOMING (NAP-SE)
    • Launched by Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, NAP-SE aims at systematic reduction of snakebite envenoming risk through sustained availability of anti-snake venom, capacity building, referral mechanism and public education.
      • Its vision is to reduce snakebite deaths and disability cases by halve by 2030, through ‘One Health’ approach.
        • One Health is an integrated approach which highlights that health of people, animals and ecosystems is interrelated.
      • It envisages step-wise approach for states/ union territories to develop their own action plan as per their needs.
    • Key strategic actions identified by NAP-SE for  
      • Human health component: Ensuring provision of anti-snake venom at all health facilities, strengthening surveillance of snakebite cases, institutionalization of Regional Venom Centre’s etc.
      • Wildlife health component: Education awareness, systematic research and monitoring, snake venom collection and snake relocation etc.
      • Animal and agriculture component: Prevention of snakebites in livestock, community engagement, production and use of Anti-Venom etc.
    • Snakebite envenoming is a neglected tropical disease caused by bite of venomous snake. 
      • In India, around 90% of snakebites are caused by 'big four' among crawlers - Common Krait, Indian Cobra (spectacled cobra), Russell's Viper and Saw Scaled Viper.
    • Tags :
    • Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW)

    YAOUNDE DECLARATION
    • Ministers of Health from African countries signed the Yaounde Declaration to end malaria deaths.
    • Signed at the Yaoundé conference co-hosted by the World Health Organization (WHO) & Cameroon. 
    • 11 African nations, which account for the majority of global malaria infections and fatalities, signed it.
    • It includes the commitment to allocate 15 percent of annual budgets for the health sector.
    • It's aligned with the “High burden to high impact” WHO approach.
    • Tags :
    • Malaria

    PARTHENOGENESIS
    • Scientists have genetically modified a fruit fly to reproduce asexually through Parthenogenesis.
    • Parthenogenesis (PG)
      • It is an asexual reproduction in which a female can produce an embryo without fertilizing an egg with sperm.
      • Two forms of Natural PG
        • Automixis: It, observed mostly in sharks, slightly shuffles mother’s DNA to produce children who are close to but not identical clones of mother.
        • Apomixis: A type of genetic copy-and-paste where offspring generated are genetically identical clones of their parents. Plants are more prone to this type of parthenogenesis.
    • Tags :
    • Asexual Reproduction
    • PARTHENOGENESIS

    INDELIBLE INK (VOTER’S INK)
    • Mysore Paints and Varnish Ltd (MPVL), the sole manufacturer of indelible ink, received its largest order yet from Election Commission for 26.55 lakh vials of marker.
    • Under rule 49K of Conduct of Elections Rules, 1961 every elector shall allow his left forefinger to be inspected by Presiding officer or Polling Officer and an Indelible ink mark to be put on it.
    • Once applied, Purple-coloured ink cannot be removed by any chemical, detergent, soap or oil for several months.
    • Ink contains silver nitrate, which on reaction with nail and on exposure to light gets darker.
    • Tags :
    • Voters Ink
    • Indelible ink

    DRY ICE
    • Diners at Gurgaon eatery hospitalised after mistakenly being served dry ice.
    • About Dry Ice
      • It is common name for solid carbon dioxide (CO2).
      • It gets this name because it does not melt into a liquid when heated; instead, it changes directly into a gas (a process known as sublimation).
      • It is manufactured by compressing and cooling gaseous CO2.
      • It is considered lethal for human health. 
      • Applications: Hospitals & Clinics, Food Processing & Distribution, Industrial Cleaning and Technical Processes and Theatrical and Special Effects.

     

    • Tags :
    • Dry Ice
    • Solid CO2
    • Solid Carbon Dioxide

    ASBESTOS
    • USA’s Environmental Protection Agency banned all forms of deadly carcinogen asbestos.
    • Asbestos is a group of naturally occurring fibrous minerals having extraordinary tensile strength, poor heat conduction and resistance to chemical.
      • Main forms of asbestos are chrysotile (white asbestos) and crocidolite (blue asbestos).
      • Applications: Building materials, insulation, automobile parts etc.
      • Health impact: All types of asbestos are carcinogenic, causing lung cancer, mesothelioma, cancer of larynx and ovary, and asbestosis (fibrosis of the lungs).
      • India has not banned use of any type of asbestos

     

    • Tags :
    • Asbestos
    • Carcinogen
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