India’s SARAS radio telescope gives clues to Universe’s 1st stars & galaxies
GS Paper - 3 (Science and Technology)
Raman Research Institute (RRI) in Bengaluru on 28 November 2022 said that in a first-of-its-kind work, using data from an Indian telescope, scientists have determined properties of radio luminous galaxies formed just 200 million years after the Big Bang, a period known as the Cosmic Dawn.
What
- Pointing out that a number of telescopes, both ground and space-based, peering into the sky are aiming to capture the faint signals arising from the depths of the cosmos to better the understanding of our Universe, RRI said they used the Shaped Antenna measurement of the background RAdio Spectrum-3 (SARAS-3) telescope.
- For the study, SARAS-3, indigenously designed and built at RRI, was deployed over Dandiganahalli Lake and Sharavathi backwaters, located in Karnataka, in early 2020.
- Researchers Saurabh Singh (RRI), Ravi Subrahmanyan from the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) in Australia, along with collaborators at the University of Cambridge and the University of Tel-Aviv, used data from SARAS-3 to throw light on the energy output, luminosity, and masses of the first generation of galaxies that are bright in radio wavelengths.
- Scientists study properties of very early galaxies by observing radiation from hydrogen atoms in and around galaxies, emitted at a frequency of approximately 1420 MHz.
- The radiation is stretched by the expansion of the universe, as it travels to us across space and time, and arrives at Earth in lower frequency radio bands 50-200 MHz, also used by FM and TV transmissions.
- The cosmic signal is extremely faint, buried in orders of magnitude brighter radiation from our own Galaxy and man-made terrestrial interference.
- Therefore, it added, detecting the signal, even using the most powerful existing radio telescopes, has remained a challenge for astronomers.
- The results from the SARAS-3 telescope are the first time that radio observations of the averaged 21-cm line have been able to provide an insight to the properties of the earliest radio loud galaxies that are usually powered by supermassive black holes.
Austra Hind begins in Rajasthan
GS Paper - 2 (International Relations)
The inaugural edition of the bilateral military exercise Austra Hind between the Indian Army and the Australian Army began at the Mahajan Field Firing Ranges in Rajasthan on 28 November 2022. The exercise will comprise joint training operations in semi-deserts terrains under the United Nations (UN) peace enforcement mandate and will conclude on 11 December 2022.
More about Austra Hind
- This is the first exercise in the series of Austra Hind with the participation of all arms and services contingents from both armies.
- The Australian Army contingent comprising soldiers from the 13th Brigade of the 2nd Division has arrived at the exercise location. The Indian Army is represented by troops from the Dogra Regiment.
- Exercise Austra Hind will be a yearly event that will be conducted alternatively in India and Australia.
- This joint exercise will enable the two armies to share best practices in tactics, techniques and procedures for conducting tactical operations at company and platoon levels for neutralising hostile threats.
- The joint exercise includes the use of new-generation equipment and specialised weapons including snipers and deployment of surveillance and communication equipment to achieve a high degree of situational awareness apart from casualty management and evacuation and planning logistics at the battalion and company levels.
- During the exercise, participating contingents will engage in a variety of tasks ranging from joint planning, joint tactical drills, sharing basics of special arms skills and raiding a hostile target.
WHO confirms renaming monkeypox to 'MPOX'
GS Paper - 3 (Health and Diseases)
The World Health Organization announced on 28 November 2022 that monkeypox will be renamed MPOX in English to avoid the stigma associated with the current name. The virus that causes monkeypox was first discovered in 1958 in Danish research monkeys, hence the name "monkeypox," but the illness can affect a variety of animals, with rodents being the most commonly affected.
What
- Following a series of consultations with global experts, WHO will begin using a new preferred term 'MPOX' as a synonym for monkeypox.
- Both names will be used simultaneously for one year while 'monkeypox' is phased out, the UN health agency said.
- WHO will adopt the term MPOX in its communications, and encourage others to follow these recommendations, to minimise any ongoing negative impact of the current name and from adoption of the new name.
- The disease was first identified in humans in 1970 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and since then, human transmission has mainly been confined to a small number of endemic West and Central African nations.
- However, in May, cases of the illness, which causes fever, aches in the muscles, and large skin lesions that resemble boils, started to spread quickly throughout the world, mostly among men who have sex with other men.
- This year, 110 countries have reported 81,107 cases and 55 fatalities to the WHO.
Egypt’s President Guest at Republic Day Parade in 2023
GS Paper - 2 (Polity)
To strengthen the India-Egypt bilateral relations, after a gap of two years, there will be a chief guest for Republic Day celebrations in 2023. At the invitation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi is coming as the chief guest for the Republic Day celebrations on 26 January 2023. No foreign dignitary was invited as the Chief Guest in 2021 and 2022 due to the Covid-19 global pandemic. This is the first time that the President of the Arab Republic of Egypt will be the Chief Guest.
India & Egypt
- This year the two countries are celebrating 75th anniversary of establishment of diplomatic relations, and the Arab nation has also been invited as a `guest Country’ during India’s presidency of G20 from 2022-23.
Significance of this visit
- Indo-Egyptian relations are growing in multiple domains. Regular political and diplomatic engagements in recent times are based on a shared understanding on various important regional and international issues.
- Security and defence have emerged as one of the most important areas of bilateral relations with focus on counter-terrorism and defence trade.
- Egypt is a major buyers of weapons and is in the process of rapid military modernization, and India has in recent years put an effort on strengthening its defence manufacturing both for `atmnirbharta’ in meeting its needs and for enhancing defence exports.
- Egypt has also expressed interest in indigenous Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) `Tejas’ as well as the Light Combat Helicopter both from the state-owned Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (LCA).
- The two countries are keen on deepening maritime cooperation and Egypt is also looking at India for spare parts for its Russian platforms.
- In 2022 there have been several level military exchanges, including month-long joint exercises between the Air Forces of the two countries.
Bilateral Trade
- It has also been reported last month that Egyptian President el-Sisi had urged India to increase the turnover of trade between the two sides and had also stated that the present revenue was not enough.
- During the meeting between Minister Jaishankar and the Egyptian leader referring to the current bilateral trade turnover of around US$ 7.2 billion, said that new ways to increase the trade should be identified.
Wheat agreement
- Due to the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war, Egypt faced acute shortage of wheat as it was importing almost 80 percent from these countries.
- And it was earlier this year in April, ending a long standing non-tariff barrier that India was added to the list of accredited countries to supply wheat to Egypt.
- After a long gap or the first year ever Egypt reached out to India to buy wheat. Though no contract had been signed between the two sides, Egypt had agreed to buy around 500,000 tonnes of wheat from India.
