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Current Affairs

CURRENT AFFAIRS
ISRO & DRDO
Chandrayaan - 3 Launch Pad:
Launch Date: 1. Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota.
1. 14.07.2023 Launch Vehicle:
Launch Pad: 1. PSLV-C57
1. Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota. Mission Objectives:
Launch Vehicle: 1. Study of solar upper atmospheric (chromosphere
and corona) dynamics.
1. LVM 3 - M4 Vehicle
2. Physics of solar corona and its heating mechanism.
Mission objectives:
3. Magnetic eld topology and magnetic eld measure-
1. ments in the solar corona.
2. To demonstrate rover roving on the moon. Mission Payloads:
3. To conduct in-situ scientic experiments. 1.
Mission Components:
1. The Propulsion Module. Project Director:
2. The Lander Module - Vikram. 1. Nigar Shaji
3. The Rover Module - Pragyan. Achievements:
Project Director: 1. Aditya - L1 reached the lagrangian point 1 on Janu-
1. P. Veeramuthuvel ary 6, 2024.
Achievements: 2. HEL1OS captured the rst high energy X-ray glimpse
of solar ares.
1. Soft landing on the south pole of the moon on Aug
23, 2023. 3. The Plasma Analyzer Performer for Aditya, known
as ‘PAPA’, detected the position of electrons ejected
2. Chandrayaan - 3 became the rst mission to land from the Sun.
on the south pole of the moon.
3. To commemorate this achievement, August 23 has XPoSAT
been named as the National Technology Day. Launch Date:
4. LIBS payload conrmed the presence of Sulphur on 1. 01.01.2024
the lunar surface.
Launch Pad:
Landing points of Chandrayaan:
1. Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota.
1. Chandrayaan - 1 - Jawahar point.
Launch Vehicle:
2. Chandrayaan - 2 - Tiranga point.
1. PSLV-C58
3. Chandrayaan - 3 - Shiva Sakthi.
Mission Objectives:
4. Approved by International Astronomical Union.
1. To study X-ray polarisation and its cosmic sources
Aditya - L1 like Black holes, neutron stars etc.
Launch Date: Mission Payloads:
1. 02.09.2023 1.
Thoothukudi Tirunelveli Ramanathapuram Madurai Chennai Coimbatore
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 Current Affairs...

2. 2. If the mission is successful, India will become the

Project Director: fourth country to send astronauts to space.
Launch Vehicle:
1. Dr. Jayakumar
1. LVM-3
Achievements:
Mission Payloads:
1. India’s rst X-ray polarimeter satellite.
1. Crew module
2. World’s second mission to study X-ray polarisation
after NASA’s IXPE. 2. Service module
3. Vyomitra - Female Humanoid robot to assist the
INSAT - 3DS
astronauts during the mission.
Launch Date: 4. Introduced by ISRO in 2020.
1. 17.02.2024 Mission objectives:
Launch Pad: 1. To send three humans to space and conduct experi-
1. Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota. ments there.
Launch Vehicle: Astronauts for the mission:
1. GSLV-F14 1. Prasanth Balakrishnan Nair, Angad Pratap, Ajith
Krishnan, Subhansu Shukla.
Highlights:
2. Ajith Krishnan is from Tamil Nadu.
1. Designed to enhance meteorological observations,
aid in weather forecasting, and improve disaster 3. Astronauts were trained by Russia for the mission.
warning capabilities. 4. Out of these four astronauts, only three will be
2. Helps in more accurate weather forecasting. selected for the mission.
3. Will provide satellite-aided search and rescue ser- SAKHI APP
vices, enhancing emergency response capabilities.
1. A multi-purpose app for astronauts on the Gagan-
Previous INSAT missions: yaan space ight mission.
1. INSAT-3D - 2013 2. Developed by Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC),
2. INSAT-3DR - 2016 Thiruvananthapuram.

NISAR 3. It aims to support astronauts by monitoring their

health, ensuring communication with Earth, and
1. NISAR - NASA - ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar. maintaining mission logs in various formats.
2. Jointly developed by NASA & ISRO. 4. It also reminds astronauts about hydration, dietary
3. schedules, and sleep patterns.
4. L-band radar developed by NASA. Vikram-S
5. S-band radar developed by ISRO. 1. India’s rst privately developed rocket.
6. It is capable of penetrating clouds and can collect 2. Developed by Hyderabad based Skyroot Aerospace.
data day and night regardless of weather conditions.
3. Launched under the mission name “Mission Parambh”
7. Capable of monitoring tectonic movements.
Agnikul Cosmos
8. Helps in monitoring the state of water bodies.
9. It can produce high resolution images of the earth. 1. A chennai based space technology startup.
2. Agnikul - India’s rst private launch pad in Sriharikota.
[Link] will map the entire globe in 14-15 days.
3. Agnibaan - A two stage launch vehicle powered by
Gaganyaan Agnilet engine.
1. Sanskrit term meaning spacecraft. 4. Agnilet - World’s rst single piece 3D printed engine.
Thoothukudi Tirunelveli Ramanathapuram Madurai Chennai Coimbatore
99445 11344 98942 41422 75503 52916 98431 10566 97555 52003 90433 10773
 ...Current Affairs

Kulasekarapattinam Spaceport 2. Dhara Mustard Hybrid-11 (DMH-11) is an indig-

enously developed transgenic mustard.
1. Located in Thoothukudi.
3. DMH-11 is a result of a cross between Indian
2. It will focus on the launch of SSLV (Small Satellite
mustard variety ‘Varuna’ and East European ‘Early
Launch Vehicles).
Heera-2’ mustard.
3. It will have 35 facilities, including a launch pad,
4. It contains two alien genes (‘barnase’ and ‘barstar’)
rocket integration facilities.
that enable breeding of high-yielding commercial
4. Will have the capacity to launch 24 satellites per year. mustard hybrids.
Advantages: Malaria Vaccine
1. If launched from Sriharikota, the rocket needs to fol- 1. Known as RTS, S malaria vaccine.
low a curved path to the south to avoid Sri Lanka’s
2. Approved by the World Health Organisation.
landmass.
3. Initially introduced on a pilot basis in Ghana, Kenya
2. However, Kulasekarapattinam will help save more
and Malawi.
fuel as the rockets can be launched directly south
over the Indian Ocean. 4. Cameroon became the rst country to approve the
use of the vaccine for malaria.
3. ISRO’s Propulsion Centre is located in Mahendragiri,
Tirunelveli. Hence, rocket parts can be easily trans- Cervical Cancer
ported to Kulasekarapattinam. 1. Caused by HPV virus (Human Papillomavirus).
Tamil Nadu government 2. Second highest cancer found among Indian women.
1. The Tamil Nadu government has announced that 3. Cervical Cancer Awareness Month - January.
TIDCO will set up a Space Industrial and Propellant 4 Vaccine - CERVAVAC, developed by Serum Institute
Park in Thoothukudi. of India.
Agni V 5. Administered to girls in the age group of 9-14.

1. Recently, DRDO tested the Agni V ballistic missile 6. Included under India’s Universal Immunisation
equipped with MIRV technology. Programme.
2. It was carried under the missile name Mission Di- 7. Tamil Nadu - The vaccination programme was rolled
vyastra. out in Villupuram Government Hospital.
3. Range of Agni V - 5,000 km Genome India Project
4. MIRV technology enables the missile to deliver 1. Announced in 2020, the project was led by the
multiple warheads to various or same locations in Centre for Brain Research at Indian Institute of Sci-
a single launch. ence, Bengaluru and involves collaboration with 20
Other Agni missiles institutions.

1. Range of Agni I - more than 700 km. 2. The Department of Biotechnology (DBT) announced
the completion of the ‘10,000 genome’ project.
2. Range of Agni II - more than 2000 km.
3. It is an attempt to create a reference database of
3. Range of Agni III - more than 3000 km.
whole-genome sequences out of India.
4. Range of Agni IV - more than 3500 km.
4. India rst sequenced a complete human genome
Biotechnology in 2006.
GM Mustard 5. It helps in creating a database that is representative
of the diversity of India’s population.
1. The Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee
(GEAC) has approved the environmental release of 6. A key step to learn about genetic variants that are
Dhara Mustard Hybrid-11 (DMH-11), a genetically- unique to India’s population groups and use that
engineered variant of mustard. to customise drugs and therapies.
Thoothukudi Tirunelveli Ramanathapuram Madurai Chennai Coimbatore
99445 11344 98942 41422 75503 52916 98431 10566 97555 52003 90433 10773