UPSC NOTES & CURRENT AFFAIRS

2021-07-11 07:30:06 ︎ SCIENCE and TECH - 7

■ DNA PROFILING / FINGERPRINTING.


#Biotechnology #GS3

◇ DNA profiling (also called DNA fingerprinting) is the process of determining an individual's DNA characteristics.

◇ DNA profiling is a forensic technique in criminal investigations, comparing criminal suspects' profiles to DNA evidence so as to assess the likelihood of their involvement in the crime.

◇ It is also used in parentage testing, to establish immigration eligibility, and in genealogical and medical research.

◇ DNA profiling has also been used in the study of animal and plant populations in the fields of zoology, botany, and agriculture.


︎SOURCE - NCERT || CLASS 12 || CHAP - 6.

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2021-07-09 16:30:07 ︎ S & T - 6

■ FSSAI GUIDELINES ON GMO CROPS.


#Biotechnology #GS3

FSSAI issued an order setting the permissible limit for genetically modified organisms (GMO) in imported food crops at 1%.

□ GMO REGULATION IN INDIA.

◇ The task of regulating GMO levels in imported consumables was initially with the Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC) under the Union environment ministry.

◇ With the enactment of the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 and FSSAI was asked to take over approvals of imported goods.

□ Genetically modified organism ?

In GMO, genetic material (DNA) is altered or artificially introduced using genetic engineering techniques.

□ GM techniques are used in :-

1.Biological and medical research.

2. Production of pharmaceutical drugs.

3. Experimental medicine (e.g gene therapy).

4. Agriculture (e.g. golden rice etc )

5. Genetically modified bacteria to produce the protein insulin.

6. To produce biofuels from some GM bacteria.

︎SOURCE - DOWN TO EARTH.

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2021-07-08 17:30:09 ︎ SCIENCE and TECH - 5

■ TIANWEN - 1

#space #GS3

China’s first Mars probe is called Tianwen-1 (formerly Huoxing 1).

□ ABOUT :-

◇ The spacecraft consists of an orbiter, a lander and a rover.

◇ Launched last year on a Long March 5 rocket from Xichang, China.

◇ Landing site: Somewhere in Utopia Planitia, a vast plain in Mars’ northern latitudes and the same place NASA’s Viking 2 mission landed in the 1970s.

◇ If the mission is successful, China will become the third country to achieve a Mars landing after the USSR and the United States.

□ FIVE CORE OBJECTIVES :-

◇ Create a geological map of Mars.

◇ Explore the characteristics of the Martian soil and potentially locate water-ice deposits.

◇ Analyze the surface material composition.

◇ Investigate the Martian atmosphere and climate at the surface.

◇ Understand the electromagnetic and gravitational fields of the planet.

︎SOURCE - THE INDIAN EXPRESS.

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2021-07-07 15:30:02 ︎SCIENCE and TECH - 4

■ CHINA'S CHANG'E 5

#Space #GS3

Chang'e-5 mission is the first lunar sample-return mission since the 1970s.
China is the third country to have retrieved lunar samples after the United States and the Soviet Union.

□ ABOUT CHANG'E 5 PROBE

◇ The probe is named after the mythical Chinese moon goddess.

◇ The rocket is comprised of four parts: an orbiter, a returner, an ascender and a lander.

◇ The objective of the mission is to bring back lunar rocks, the first attempt by any nation to retrieve samples from the moon in four decades.

◇ This will help scientists learn about the moon’s origins, formation and volcanic activity on its surface.

□ Identified location for the collection of samples:

The Chinese probe collected surface material from a previously unexplored area known as Oceanus Procellarum — or “Ocean of Storms” — which consist of a vast lava plain.

︎SOURCE - THE INDIAN EXPRESS.

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2021-07-06 09:40:09 ︎SCIENCE and TECH - 3

■ STARDUST 1.0

□ ABOUT :-

◇ Stardust 1.0 was launched recently from Loring Commerce Centre in Maine, US.

◇ It has become the first commercial space launch powered by biofuel, which is non-toxic for the environment as opposed to traditionally used rocket fuels.

◇ Stardust 1.0 is a launch vehicle suited for student and budget payloads.

□ WHAT ARE BIOFUELS ?

◇ Any hydrocarbon fuel that is produced from an organic matter (living or once living material) in a short period of time (days, weeks, or even months) is considered a biofuel.

◇ Biofuels may be solid, liquid or gaseous in nature.

1. Solid: Wood, dried plant material, and manure.

2. Liquid: Bioethanol and Biodiesel.
3. Gaseous: Biogas

︎SOURCE - THE INDIAN EXPRESS.

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2021-07-05 16:30:09 ︎SCIENCE and TECH - 2

■ THIRTY METER TELESCOPE PROJECT.


Indian astronomers collaborated with Nobel laureate on Thirty Meter Telescope Project.

2020 Physics Nobel Laureate Prof. Andrea Ghez had worked closely with Indian astronomers on the design of back-end instruments.

□ ABOUT :-

◇ It is an astronomical observatory with an extremely large telescope (ELT).

◇ It is international project being funded by scientific organisations of Canada, China, India, Japan and USA.

◇ Planned location: Mauna Kea on the island of Hawaii in the US state.

◇ Purpose: The TMT is designed for nearultraviolet to mid-infrared observations.

□ SIGNIFICANCE :-

◇ It will enable scientists to study fainter objects far away from us in the Universe, which gives information about early stages of evolution of the Universe.

◇ It will give us finer details of not-so-far-away objects like undiscovered planets and other objects in the Solar System.


︎SOURCE - THE INDIAN EXPRESS.

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2021-07-04 16:30:04 ︎1

■ ASTROSAT


AstroSat’s Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope spots rare ultravioletbright stars in a massive intriguing cosmic dinosaur in the Milky Way.

□ SIGNIFICANCE.

◇ Such UV-bright stars could be the reason for the ultraviolet radiation coming from old stellar systems such as elliptical galaxies which are devoid of young blue stars.

□ ABOUT :-

◇ AstroSat is India’s first multi-wavelength space telescope.

◇ It has five telescopes seeing through different wavelengths simultaneously — visible, near UV, far UV, soft X-ray and hard Xray.

◇ Onboard the AstroSat is a 38-cm wide UltraViolet Imaging Telescope (UVIT), which is capable of imaging in far and near-ultraviolet bands over a wide field of view.

◇ AstroSat was launched on 28 September 2015 by ISRO into a near-Earth equatorial orbit.

◇ A multi-institute collaborative project, involving IUCAA, ISRO, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (Mumbai), Indian Institute of Astrophysics (Bengaluru), and others.

︎ SOURCE - PIB

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2021-07-04 16:29:01 SCIENCE AND TECH RELATED CURRENT AFFAIRS OF LAST 1 YEAR.

START DATE - 4 JULY. Open / Comment