Most Interesting News EVER !!!

NEWS 1:

Epsilon-2 : Japan Successfully Launches Solid Fuel Rocket

Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) has successfully launched a solid fuel rocket named Epsilon-2 from the Uchinoura Space Center in southern Japan.

The 26-metre-long rocket released Exploration of energization and Radiation in Geospace (ERG) satellite for studying radiation belts around the earth soon after the lift-off.

Key Facts
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ERG satellite will orbit in a highly elliptical orbit, getting as close to Earth as 350 kilometers and as far away as 30,000 km.

This path will take the satellite through the Van Allen radiation belts, where the earth’s magnetic field traps huge numbers of fast-moving electrons and other particles.

These particles mainly damage the computer systems aboard satellites and pose a radiation danger to astronauts.

The satellite will use nine different instruments for studying radiation belts over the course of a mission designed to last at least one year.

Comment
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Epsilon-2 rocket is part of a new generation of solid propellant rockets which can reduce launch costs up to one-third.

The reduction in cost can allow it to put more communication and weather satellites in space.

Thus, it can give JAXA a competitive edge in space launch industry which has robust growth potential and strong security implications.

NEWS 2 :

DRDO Successfully Flight Tested The Smart Anti-Airfield Weapon (SAAW)

The Defence and Research Development Organisation (DRDO) has successfully tested an indigenous Smart Anti-Airfield Weapon (SAAW) from an Indian Air Force aircraft on 24 December 2016.

Designed and developed in the country, the 120-kg class smart weapon is used to destroy runways, bunkers, aircraft hangers and other reinforced structures.

Its long standoff range of 100 km will allow the IAF to hit adversary airfields with high precision from a safe distance.

The captive and release trials were tracked by radar and telemetry ground stations at the Integrated Test Range at Chandipur in Odisha during the entire duration of the flight.

The government sanctioned the Rs 56.58 crore SAAW project in September 2013.

In May, the DRDO conducted the first test on the weapon system from the IAF Jaguar DARIN-II aircraft in Bengaluru in Karnataka.

The test was carried out by IAF's Aircraft and Systems Testing Establishment (ASTE).

The trial mode mounting of the SAAW on Jaguar DARIN-II aircraft is manufactured by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited.

NEWS 3 :

World's First 'Solar Panel Road' Opens in Normandy , France

The world’s first solar road is here, in the small village of Tourouvre-au-Perche in Normandy, France.

The 1 kilometer road was opened yesterday by French Ecology Minister Ségolène Royal and could generate enough electricity to power the street lights.

That might not sound very impressive for 30,000 square feet of solar panels — and it kind of isn’t, especially for its $5.2 million price tag.

The panels have been covered in a silicon-based resin that allows them to withstand the weight of passing big rigs, and if the road performs as expected, Royal wants to see solar panels installed across 1,000 kilometers of French highway.

There are numerous issues, however. For one, flat solar panels are less effective than the angled panels that are installed on roofs, and they’re also massively more expensive than traditional panels.

Colas, the company that installed the road, hopes to reduce the cost of the panels going forward and it has around 100 solar panel road projects in progress around the world.

Solar Roadway is another company looking at building roads with solar panels, and it installed a small number of panels at the Route 66 Welcome Center in Conway, Missouri earlier this year.

Still, they’re facing the same seemingly insurmountable cost problems as Colas and the French.

Maybe those solar roofs from Tesla are the better way to go after all.

NEWS 4 :

France : First Country To Use Drones For National Mail Service

The French postal service has announced a drone delivery program to deliver parcels on a nine-mile route once a week, making France the world's first national postal service to use drones regularly.

The drone program has been cleared for launch by the General Directorate for Civil Aviation, France's airspace regulator.

For now, the drones will only be flying in the southern region of Provence, as a feasibility test for the technology and regulations.

The trial is being run by a group called DPDgroup, which has been working on the project with French drone startup Atechsys for the last two years.

The current route for the drones comprises picking up packages from Saint-Maximin-La-Sainte-Beaume and taking them to Pourrières in the Var department, a region that hosts some start-up companies, including a dozen specializing in technology.

DPDgroup, an international subsidiary of French national postal service Le Groupe La Poste, said it is "a new way of addressing the issue of last-mile deliveries, especially when it comes to areas that are difficult to access."

The group is particularly keen to use drones to deliver to remote areas like islands, mountain villages, and rural areas.

A delivery terminal, specially developed to assist drone at take-off and landing, secures it during the loading and unloading of the parcel.

After six hundred hours of flight time, the drone managed an autonomous delivery across a distance of 8.7 miles, carrying a package that weighed 1.5kg, back in September 2015.

According to DPDgroup, its drones have a range of up to 12.4 miles and can carry a payload of 3 kg and a top speed of 18.6 mph.

Their navigation system has a range of around 31 miles. They also have parachutes for safe emergency landing and will help reach mountainous regions.

NEWS 5:

Sunny Leone Named PETA's 'Person Of The Year' Award

The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) recently declared that actor Sunny Leone is PETA’s Person of the Year.

Leone will receive the award for her commitment for promoting the rescue of homeless dogs and cats, as well as her compassion for abused animals.

Earlier in 2016, Leone featured in PETA’s ad campaign, which encouraged people to "be an angel" and adopt a homeless dog.

In 2015, Kapil Sharma was chosen for the PETA’s Person of the Year award.

Past recipient of the award include Shashi Tharoor, KS Panicker Radhakrishnan, Hema Malini, R Madhavan, Jacqueline Fernandez among others.

About PETA
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People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) is an American animal rights organization.

It was founded in March 1980.

It has more than 3 million members and supporters.

It is the largest animal rights group in the world.

Its slogan is "animals are not ours to eat, wear, experiment on, use for entertainment, or abuse in any other way."

It rejects speciesism and also disapprove of the use and abuse of animals in any way, be it food, clothing, entertainment or research subjects.

Each year, the organisation selects a Person of the Year, who has helped promote the cause of animal rights.

Previous PETA persons of the year include Bill Clinton, Russell Simmons, Oprah Winfrey, and others.

NEWS 6:

NSG’s 'Black Cat' Commandos May March at Republic Day Parade For The 1st Time in History

The Indian Special Forces unit, National Security Guard may participate in the upcoming Republic day parade for the very first time in the history.

The decision was taken following a meeting between the Union Home and Defence Ministries.

The Special Forces unit, popularly known as the ‘black cat’ commandos due to their black uniform, has already begun its preparation for the parade.

Key Highlights
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• The NSG would have to choose a contingent of about 60 commandos.

• The contingent is expected to include personnel from both its army and paramilitary-based units.

• The commandos will for the first time display their prowess and commando-style fast march past at the parade.

• The first clearances for NSG’s participation have been issued.

• The only commando force to take part in the Republic Day celebrations until now has been the troops of Army’s Special Forces.

The inclusion of this force will indeed be a sight to see, as the commandos dressed in their trademark black attire with black headgear, special assault rifles MP-5, dagger and perfect manoeuvres will surely add a new level of energy to the day’s celebrations.

About National Security Guard
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• It is an Indian special forces unit that was created in 1984, following Operation Blue Star and the assassination of the then Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi.

• It was formed to combat terrorist activities in exceptional situations and to protect states against internal disturbances.

• The commandos of NSG are trained to conduct counter terrorist tasks including ones such as counter hijacking tasks on land, air and sea, bomb disposal and hostage rescue missions.

NEWS 7 :

Scientists Successfully Mapped Human Thought

American scientists have, for the first time, successfully tracked human thought by imaging rapidly fluctuating brain activity.

This was made possible using fast functional magnetic resonance imaging (FMRI), which measures changes in blood oxygenation associated with higher order brain functions.

The new discovery is a significant step towards mapping human cognitive functions such as perception, attention, and awareness.

The study, published in the journal PNAS, was conducted by the US National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering.

NEWS 8 :

Deepa Malik : First Indian Woman to Win Medal at Paralympics

Indian athlete Deepa Malik became the first Indian woman to bag a medal at the Paralympics.

Malik clinched a silver medal in the shotput F-53 event. Her throw of 4.61m was the best in her six attempts.

With the win, she confirmed India’s third medal from the Rio Paralympics.

Fatema Nedham of Bahrain won the gold medal with the best throw of 4.76m. Greece’s Dimitra Korokida bagged the bronze medal with a throw of 4.28m.

About Deepa Malik
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• Deepa Malik is an Indian athlete born in Sonipat.

• She is associated with Himalayan Motorsports Association (H.M.A.) and Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India (F.M.S.C.I.).

• She has done an 8 day, 1700-km drive in sub-zero temperatures which included a climb to 18000 feet.

• She is currently being supported by the GoSports Foundation through their Para Champions Programme.

• She is a member of the working group in the formulation 12th five- year plan (2012-2017) on Sports and Physical Education as nominated by the Planning Commission HRD Division on behalf of the Sports Ministry.

NEWS 9 :

Yuva Sanchar Yojana' : Goa Launches for Free Internet Data , Talktime for Goa Youth

In line with the central government’s Digital India initiative, the Goa Government launched its ambitious scheme providing limited free talktime and Internet data to the youth in the state.

Goa Yuva Sanchar Yojana will be unveiled across the state.

The scheme will provide 100 minutes talk time and 3 GB Internet data free with a SIM card (every month) for youths aged between 16-30 years

The government has tied up with Vodafone for the scheme which is expected to benefit nearly 1.25 lakh youth.

Goa Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar said the government has made a provision to discontinue with the scheme if a beneficiary is found to be misusing it.

The Digital India initiative is a flagship programme of the Modi Government that seeks to transform the country into a digitally-empowered society and knowledge economy.

Launched in July last year, the programme aims to provide a much-needed thrust to areas like broadband highways, universal access to mobile connectivity, public Internet access programme and e-Governance.

NEWS 10 :

'Lifeline Express' to Have 2 More Coaches for Cancer Treatment

The world’s first hospital train, Lifeline Express is all set to get two additional coaches for cancer treatment.

The decision was announced by the Ministry of Railways on 5 December 2016.

Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu along with Health Minister JP Nadda will be inaugurating the new additions.

The coaches are purely equipped for detection and control of oral, cervical and breast cancer and prevention of stroke.

They will be accompanied by three fully equipped operation theatres.

These additions just add more strength to the existing life-saving services present on the five-coach train, as it is already equipped to conduct surgeries for sight, hearing, clefts, burns, broken bones and treatment of epilepsy and dental issues.

Around 10000 people are estimated to benefit from the project at each location.

About the Lifeline Express
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Funded by Impact UK, the project was developed by the Indian Railways and Union health Ministry.

It also receives funding from international charitable sources, Indian corporate houses, and individuals.

The train became fully functional on 16 July 1991.

The main objective behind the service was to provide immediate medical aid to disabled adults and children living in remote and otherwise inaccessible areas of India, where advanced medical services are not available.

It has by far treated over one million disabled poor Indians living in the rural areas, completely free of cost.

The train’s staff comprises around 200,000 medical professionals from across the world, all of whom have donated their services for the cause.

The train has taken up almost 177 projects across the country and conducted more than one lakh surgeries.

The service’s 178th project will start at Satna, Madhya Pradesh from 15 December 2016 and will go on until 5 January 2017.

Besides providing instant medical aid, the service aims to improve the efficiency of existing government body and health infrastructure and services in the remote areas.

It also aims to encourage the local bodies to gain more understanding on the programme and then provide follow-up services once the train departs.