World''s first artificial shooting star display to be launched by Japanese space start up

Sky Canvas Project:

• It is the world’s first artificial meteor shower project.
• The aim of the project will be to collect atmospheric data in the mesosphere.
• Under this project, meteor-replicating particles will be installed in a satellite 250 miles (400 km) up and then released over a designated area.
• These metallic particles will be spheres with a diameter of 0.4 inches (1 cm) and a mass of a few grams.
• The pea-sized balls have a secret chemical formula that causes them to light up from the friction of re-entry at speeds of up to five miles (8km) a second.
• ALE says they will travel more slowly and light up for longer than natural shooting stars - up to ten seconds each.
• They will be visible over a 125-mile (200 km) area.
• The ingredients in the pellets can be altered to change the colour, which means that a multi-coloured flotilla of shooting stars could be created.

Mesosphere

• The mesosphere is a layer of Earth''s atmosphere.
• It is directly above the stratosphere and below the thermosphere.
• It extends from about 50 to 85 km (31 to 53 miles) above our planet.
• The transition between the mesosphere and the thermosphere is called
• Temperature decreases with height throughout the mesosphere.
• The coldest temperatures in Earth''s atmosphere, about -90° C (-130° F), are found near the top of this layer.

Study finds how body’s anti-viral immune response may eliminate aging cells

Cellular Senescence:

• It refers to a state of stable cell cycle arrest in which proliferating cells become resistant to growth-promoting stimuli, typically in response to DNA damage.
• During this phase, the cell undergoes numerous phenotypic and metabolic changes.
• Senescent cells accumulate during ageing and have been implicated in promoting a variety of age-related diseases.
• Cellular senescence can compromise tissue repair and regeneration, thereby contributing towards ageing.
• Removal of senescent cells can attenuate age-related tissue dysfunction and extend health span.
• Senescence can also act as a potent anti-tumour mechanism by preventing the proliferation of potentially cancerous cells.

After Navy & IAF, Army to get dedicated satellite Gsat-7B as MoD inks Rs 3k cr deal with NSIL

GSAT 7B:

• It is a communication satellite part of the GSAT-7 series.
• GSAT 7 series satellites are advanced communication satellites developed by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) to meet the communication needs of the defence services.
• The GSAT 7B will primarily fulfil the communication needs of the Indian Army.
• It is a geostationary satellite which will considerably enhance the communication capability of the Indian Army by providing mission-critical beyond-the-line-of-sight communication to troops and formations as well as weapon and airborne platforms.
• It is the first-ever in the five-tonne category that will be designed indigenously by the ISRO.

GSAT 7 Series Satellites:

• GSAT-7 (Rukmini):
  • It is India’s first military satellite.
  • It was launched in August 2013 from an Ariane 5 ECA rocket from Kourou in French Guiana.
  • It is an advanced communication satellite developed by ISRO and primarily provides communication services to the Indian Navy.
• GSAT 7A:
  • It primarily provides communication services to the Indian Air Force.
  • It also helps in satellite-controlled operations of UAVs.

MoD signs contract with BEL for 13 Lynx-U2 fire control systems for Navy

• It is a naval gun fire control system designed and developed indigenously.
• The system will be installed on the NOPV ( Naval Offshore Patrol Vessel), Talwar and Teg class of ships.
• The system has been completely designed and developed by Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL).
• It is capable of accurately tracking and engaging targets amidst sea clutter.
• It is capable of accurately tracking air/surface targets and generating required target data for predicting weapon aiming points and engaging targets.
• The target engagement is carried out with medium/short-range gun mounts like Russian AK 176, AK190, AK630 and the Super Rapid Gun Mount (SRGM) available onboard ships.

Delhi High Court Restrains Institute Of Cost Accountants Of India From Using ‘ICAI’ Acronym

Institute Of Cost Accountants Of India

• It is a statutory body established by an act of Parliament, the Cost and Works Accountants Act, 1959.
• Mandate: Regulation of the profession of cost and management accountancy.
• It is the only recognised statutory professional organisation and licensing body in India specialising exclusively in Cost and Management Accountancy.
• It is under the administrative control of the Ministry of Corporate Affairs.

Cost Accounting

• It is the reporting and analysis of a company''s cost structure.
• It is a process of assigning costs to cost objects that typically include a company''s products, services, and any other activities that involve the company.
• Cost accounting can identify where a company is spending its money, how much it earns, and where money is being lost.
• It aims to report, analyze, and lead to the improvement of internal cost controls and efficiency.

Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI):

• It is a statutory body established under the Chartered Accountants Act 1949.
• Mandate: Regulating the profession of Chartered Accountancy in the country; Formulation of Accounting Standards; and Prescription of Standard Auditing Procedures.
• It functions under the administrative control of the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, Government of India.

Scientists spot piezoelectric effect in liquids for the first time

Piezoelectric effect

• It is a phenomenon where specific types of material produce an electric charge proportional to the mechanical stress applied to them.
• It was first time discovered in 1880, in quartz.
• Quartz is the most famous piezoelectric crystal. Quartz is silicon dioxide (SiO2).
  • The quartz crystal consists of silicon and oxygen atoms at the four vertices of a three-sided pyramid; each oxygen atom is shared by two pyramids. These pyramids repeat themselves to form the crystal.
  • When mechanical stress is applied – i.e., when the crystal is squeezed – the position of the charge is pushed further from the centre, giving rise to a small voltage. This is the source of the effect.
  • It is used in this capacity in analog wristwatches and clocks. Such crystals are also used in cigarette lighters, electric guitars, TV remote controls, audio transducers, and other instruments where converting mechanical stress to a current is useful.
• This effect has only been expected in solids thus far because the body being squeezed needs to have an organised structure, like pyramids of quartz.
• Liquids don’t have such a structure. Instead, they take shape of their container.

ISRO releases images of Earth captured by its EOS-06 satellite

• Earth Observation satellite (EOS-6) is the third-generation satellite in the Oceansat series.
• This is to provide continuity services for Oceansat-2 spacecraft with enhanced payload specifications as well as application areas.
• Payloads of the satellite are
  • Ocean Color Monitor (OCM-3)
  • Sea Surface Temperature Monitor (SSTM)
  • Ku-Band Scatterometer (SCAT-3)
  • ARGOS

Objectives

• To ensure the data continuity of Ocean colour and wind vector data to sustain the operational applications.
• To improve the applications, some additional datasets such as Sea Surface Temperature and more number of bands in the Optical region for fluorescence and in the Infrared region for atmospheric corrections are accommodated.
• To develop/improve related algorithms and data products to serve in well-established application areas and to enhance the mission utility.
• The EOS-06 is envisaged to observe ocean color data, sea surface temperature and wind vector data to use in Oceanography, climatic and meteorological applications.
• The satellite also supports value added products such as potential fishing zone using chlorophyll, SST and wind speed and land based geophysical parameters.

Dalai Lama names US-born Mongolian boy as 3rd highest spiritual leader

Tibetan Buddhism:

• Buddhism originated in India and became the predominant religion in Tibet by the 9th century AD.
• It evolved from the Mahayana and Vajrayana traditions of Buddhism, incorporating many tantric and shamanic practices of both post-Gupta period Buddhism in India.
• Tibetan Buddhism also incorporates the Bon religion which was spread across Tibet before Buddhism’s arrival.
• Tibetan Buddhism has 4 major schools: Nyingma (8th century), Kagyu (11th century), Sakya (1073) and Gelug (1409)
• The Janang school (12th century) is one of the smaller schools that grew as an offshoot of the Sakya school.

Gelug School

• Since 1640, the Gelug School has been the predominant school of Tibetan Buddhism.
• The Dalai Lama belongs to Gelug School (‘Dalai’ means ‘ocean’ in Mongol).
• The Dalai Lama is the foremost spiritual and temporal authority of Tibet.
• The 5th grand lama of the school, Ngawang Lobsang Gyatso, was first conferred the title of Dalai Lama.
• To consolidate his rule, he instituted the tradition of succession through reincarnation in the Gelug School.
• He claimed to be the reincarnation of Avalokiteshvara, one of the most important Bodhisattvas in Mahayana traditions.

CAG: Tata Chemicals’ open channel may affect national park ecosystem

Gulf of Kutch National Park:

• It is India’s first Marine Wildlife Sanctuary and first Marine National Park which were created in the Gulf of Kutch in 1980 and 1982, respectively.
• It is an archipelago of 42 tropical islands along the northern coast of Jamnagar district and the southern coast of Kutch.
• Some of the finest coral reef fringe islands are found at Pirotan, Narala, Ajad and Positara, with species of hard and soft coral.
• Fauna: There are 7 species of mangrove which are breeding grounds for colonies of near-threatened species of birds such as the Painted Stork, Darter and Black-necked Ibis. Endangered Sea Turtles like the Green Sea, Oliver Riddley & Leather Back can also be found here.

Sebi to set up corp debt mkt development fund with Rs 3,000 crore initial corpus from MFs

Corporate Debt Market Development Fund:

• The ‘Corporate Debt Market Development Fund (CDMDF) is a backstop facility for specified debt funds during market dislocations.
• The fund is intended to provide liquidity support in the event of a financial crisis.
• It aims to instil confidence amongst the participants in the corporate bond market and to generally enhance secondary market liquidity.
• The proposed CDMDF will have an initial corpus of Rs 3,000 crore contributed by mutual funds.
• The government has approved a 10-time leverage of the fund (Additional corpus), thus CDMDF may raise funds up to Rs 30,000 crore.
• Contributions to the fund can be done by the specified debt-oriented mutual fund schemes and asset management companies of mutual funds.
• This fund is guaranteed by the National Credit Guarantee Trust Company (NCGTC) and the backstop facility will be managed by SBI Mutual Fund.
• Specified mutual fund schemes will have access to the fund for selling securities during market dislocation.
• This access is proportional to the contribution made to the fund at a mutual fund level.

Backstop facility

• A backstop is an act of providing last-resort support or security in a securities offering for the unsubscribed portion of shares.
• When a company is trying to raise capital through an issuance, it may get a backstop from an underwriter or a major shareholder, such as an investment bank, to buy any of its unsubscribed shares.