Current Affairs Mar 1 – GES Reporter

One District One Focus Product

Why in News?

The Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare in consultation with the Ministry of Food Processing Industries has finalized the products for One District One Focus Product (ODOFP).
The products have been identified from agricultural, horticultural, animal, poultry, milk, fisheries and aquaculture, marine sectors for 728 districts across the country.
These products will be promoted in a cluster approach through convergence of the Government of India schemes, to increase the value of the products and with the ultimate aim of increasing the income of the farmers.
These identified products will be supported under the PM-FME scheme of the Ministry of Food Processing Industries which provides incentives to promoter and micro-enterprises.
The Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare will support ODOFP from its ongoing centrally sponsored schemes such as MIDH, NFSM, RKVY, PKVY.
The implementation of ODOFP by State Governments will benefit farmers and provide support for realizing the expectations of value addition and subsequently enhancing agricultural exports.

PIB

National Science Day

National Science Day is celebrated every year on February 28.
This day recalls the notable invention “Raman Effect” by India’s greatest scientist C V Raman. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for this discovery.

When was the day declared as National Science Day?

In 1986, the National Council for Science and Technology Communication (NCSTC) asked the Government of India to designate 28 February as National Science Day which the then Govt. of India accepted and declared the day as National Science Day in 1986. The first National Science Day was celebrated on February 28, 1987.

What is Raman Effect?

Raman Effect is a phenomenon in spectroscopy discovered by the eminent physicist Sir Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman in 1928.
After two years in 1930, he got Nobel Prize for this remarkable discovery and this was the first Nobel Prize for India in the field of Science.
Raman Effect is a change in the wavelength of light that occurs when a light beam is deflected by molecules.
When a beam of light traverses a dust-free, transparent sample of a chemical compound, a small fraction of the light emerges in directions other than that of the incident (incoming) beam.
Most of this scattered light is of unchanged wavelength. A small part, however, has wavelengths different from that of the incident light; its presence is a result of the Raman Effect.

INDIA TODAY

96% people faced drop in earnings

Why in News?

Nearly 96% of the people surveyed under a food rights campaign in Maharashtra faced a drop in their earnings during the novel coronavirus-induced lockdown last year.
Job losses and non-availability of casual work were the key reasons for this, and every fifth respondent was forced to go hungry because of no money to buy food.
On nutritional aspects, the survey showed lower consumption of cereals (63%), vegetables (76%), pulses (71%), and non-vegetarian food (82%).

THE HINDU

Ethanol-blended petrol

Why in News?

Recently, fuel outlets began placing banners stating that the petrol they sell contains ethanol, which is a bio-fuel obtained primarily from sugarcane.
Some are even printing on their bills that the petrol has been blended with 10% ethanol.
This blending is being done by the oil marketing companies in their terminals and is not something new and is being used the world-over.

What is ethanol?

It is the organic compound Ethyl Alcohol which is produced from biomass. It is also an ingredient in alcoholic beverages.
It has a higher octane number than gasoline, hence improves the petrol octane number. Ethanol has insignificant amount of water in it.

Will blending ethanol with petrol have any effect on the vehicle’s pick up?

It will not have any effect. Since ethanol contains oxygen, it is supposed to help in complete combustion of fuel, resulting in lower emissions.

What is the percentage of ethanol that is blended?

From April 2020 – January 2021, the blending percentage in Tamil Nadu has been 1.91% per litre. It increased to 6.73% in January 2021, as against the target of 10% per litre.

THE HINDU

1 crore more free LPG connections in 2 years

Why in News?

The free LPG connection scheme is one structural reform of the Current government that has been internationally acclaimed for ridding indoor household pollution and improving women’s health.
And now, the government plans to give one crore more free LPG connections to the needy over the next two years and make it easier to access cooking gas to achieve near 100 % penetration of the clean fuel in the country.
Consumers would soon get a choice of getting a refill cylinder from three dealers in his or her neighbourhood instead of being tied to just one distributor, who may not be able to provide LPG on demand due to availability or other reasons.
The Union Budget earlier this month announced a plan to give out one crore more free cooking gas connections under the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala (PMUY) scheme.
Prime Minister Ujjwala scheme for providing a free cooking gas connection to the poor had been lauded by the WHO in 2018 and by the International Energy Agency (IEA) in the following year as one that reduced indoor household pollution by helping families switch to cleaner energy sources and improving the environment and health of women.
The carbon footprint of LPG is 50 % lower than coal. LPG helps reduce carbon dioxide and black carbon emissions, which are the second-largest contributors to global warming.
Before Ujjwala, India was the second-largest contributor to global mortality due to household and ambient air pollution.

About Ujjwala Yojana

The Ujjwala Yojana was launched in May 2016 with a target to give free LPG connections to 5 crore mostly rural women members of below the poverty line (BPL) households.
The list was later expanded to include all SC/ST households and forest dwellers, among others.
In 2018, the scheme was extended to all poor households and the target raised to 8 crore connections.
Under the scheme, the government provides a subsidy of ₹ 1,600 to state-owned fuel retailers for every free LPG gas connection that they give to poor households.
This subsidy is intended to cover the security fee for the cylinder and the fitting charges.
The beneficiary has to buy her own cooking stove. To reduce the burden, the scheme allows beneficiaries to pay for the stove and the first refill in monthly instalments.
However, the cost of all subsequent refills has to be borne by the beneficiary household.

THE HINDU

Nanosheets

Mass spectrometry

Mass spectrometry is an important tool and has helped win several Nobel Prizes.
It provides valuable information about the composition and structure of molecules and has found applications from drug testing to carbon dating.
Using this, researchers can ionise or break down the compound into simple ions and then identify the molecules based on their masses.
The current process of ionisation requires electrical potential of a few kilo volts, heat or high energy ultraviolet lasers (UV-lasers).
But now, researchers have developed a new method of soft ionisation using nanosheets which eliminates the need for external energy sources completely.

Sheet-like structures

The team used a simple filter paper as a support material and coated this with 2D molybdenum disulphide (MoS2).
The 2D materials are sheet-like structures and graphene is a perfect example.
Similarly, this molybdenum disulphide was created as a thin sheet and spread on a paper. This modified paper produces an electric current when liquids flow over it.
The team observed that a flow of pure methanol over the nanosheet generates a record-high current of 1.3 microampere. The sample to be tested can be mixed with this methanol, and the induced current helps make ions of the compound to be tested.
The team then tested the device to measure uric acid. By simply flowing raw urine (about 5 microlitre) over the nanostructured surface and measuring the corresponding current (with no other stimulus), the team detected the uric acid in the urine of a healthy individual.
They also demonstrated that the device can be used as a self-energised disposable sensor for breath alcohol detection.
The device was modified in such a way that the breath of a drunken person can interact directly with the flowing liquid on the MoS2-coated surface.
A volunteer who had consumed 650 mL of beer containing 9% (v/v) alcohol blew over the paper, and the corresponding current was measured.
While standard breath analysers detect breath alcohol concentration above 5%, this device could detect even less than 3%.

Many applications

The device can find many more applications: check glucose in blood, toxic chemicals in any liquid, pesticide or any contaminants in drinking water.
The main plus point is that it can even detect very low levels.

THE HINDU

ISRO’s PSLV-C51 launch

Why in News?

ISRO successfully launched Brazil’s optical earth observation satellite, Amazonia-1, and 18 co-passenger satellites from India [5] and the U.S.A. [13] from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SHAR) at Sriharikota.
The satellites were carried on board the PSLV-C51, the 53rd flight of India’s workhorse launch vehicle and the first dedicated mission for New Space India Ltd (NSIL), the commercial arm of ISRO. The mission was undertaken under a commercial arrangement with Spaceflight Inc., USA.

DRDO pay-load

Of the 13 satellites from the U.S., one was a technology demonstration satellite and the remaining for 2-way communications and data relay. Among the five Indian satellites, one belongs to DRDO.
Five satellites belong to India including the Satish Dhawan SAT (SDSAT) built by Space Kidz India, a nano-satellite intended to study the radiation levels, space weather and demonstrate long range communication technologies, and the UNITYsat, a combination of three satellites intended for providing radio relay services. The other satellite belongs to DRDO.
The SDSAT developed by SpaceKids India has an engraving of Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the top panel of the satellite to show solidarity and gratitude for the atmanirbhar initiative and space privatisation.
The Bhagavad Gita was also sent on-board an SD card to give the scripture, which teaches oneness as the highest form of humanity, the highest honour.
The UNITYsat was designed and built as a joint development by the Jeppiar Institute of Technology, Sriperumbudur, G.H. Raisoni College of Engineering, Nagpur and Sri Shakthi Institute of Engineering and Technology, Coimbatore.

Brazil and India

Brazil and India first signed an MoU between the Department of Space and AEB in March 2002, followed by a Framework Agreement in 2004, that is reviewed by a Joint Working Group (JWG). In 2007 they inked a special arrangement which allows Indian scientist’s access to Brazilian ground stations to remote sensing data from the Indian satellites.
In 2018, two officials from the Brazilian Space Agency (AEB) joined an 8-week long training programme on nanosatellite building at ISRO, and in 2020, when President Bolsonaro visited India as the Republic Day guest, he and Mr. Modi agreed to intensify space cooperation as a priority area.
Apart from bilateral space cooperation, an official note said both countries are part of BRICS (Brazil-Russia-China-India-South Africa) cooperation on building a ‘Virtual Constellation of Remote Sensing Satellites’ to share remote sensing satellite data.

THE HINDU

Single Celled Algae

Scientists have made a pivotal breakthrough in the quest to understand how single-cell green algae are able to keep track of the light as they swim.
The tiny alga, which is found abundantly in fresh-water ponds across the world, swims by beating its two flagella, hair-like structures that adopt a whip-like movement to move the cell. These flagella beat in much the same way as the cilia in the human respiratory system.
Chlamydomonas cells are able to sense light through a red eye spot and can react to it, known as phototaxis.
The cell rotates steadily as it propels itself forwards using a sort of breaststroke, at a rate of about once or twice a second, so that its single eye can scan the local environment.
The researchers discovered that the flagella were able to move the Chlamydomonas in a clockwise fashion with each power stroke, and then anticlockwise on the reverse stroke—akin to how a swimmer rocks back and forth when switching from one arm to another. Except here the cell feels no inertia.

Phys.org

Radioactivity in Meteorites

A team of international researchers went back to the formation of the solar system 4.6 billion years ago to gain new insights into the cosmic origin of the heaviest elements on the period-ic table.
Heavy elements, like iron and silver, did not exist at the beginning of the universe, 13.7 billion years ago. They were created in time through nuclear reactions called nucleosynthesis that combined atoms together.
In particular, iodine, gold, platinum, uranium, plutonium, and curium, some of the heaviest elements, were created by a specific type of nucleosynthesis called the rapid neutron capture process, or r process.
The question of which astronomical events can produce the heaviest elements has been a mystery for decades.
Today, it is thought that the r process can occur during violent collisions between two neutron stars, between a neutron star and a black hole, or during rare explosions following the death of massive stars. Such highly energetic events occur very rarely in the universe.
When they do, neutrons are incorporated in the nucleus of atoms, then converted into protons. Since elements in the periodic table are defined by the number of protons in their nucleus, the r process builds up heavier nuclei as more neutrons are captured.
Some of the nuclei produced by the r process are radioactive and take millions of years to decay into stable nuclei. Iodine-129 and curium-247 are two of such nuclei that were pro-duced before the formation of the sun.
They were incorporated into solids that eventually fell on the earth’s surface as meteorites. Inside these meteorites, the radioactive decay generat-ed an excess of stable nuclei.
Today, this excess can be measured in laboratories in order to figure out the amount of iodine-129 and curium-247 that were present in the solar system just before its formation.
Iodine, with its 53 protons, is more easily created than curium with its 96 protons. This is because it takes more neutron capture reactions to reach curium’s higher number of protons.
As a consequence, the iodine-129 to curium-247 ratio highly depends on the amount of neutrons that were available during their creation.

Phys.org

Using Neutron Scattering To Better Understand Milk Composition

Neutron scattering is a technique commonly used in physics and biology to understand the composition of complex multicomponent mixtures and is increasingly being used to study applied materials such as food.
A better understanding of the structure of casein in milk can help better understand dairy products.
Neutron scattering can be used to investigate fluids by swapping the water solvent within them with heavy water—water where hydrogen is replaced with deuterium, an isotope of hydrogen possessing a nucleus with a proton and a neutron rather than just a proton.

Phys.org

Using Deep-sea Fiber Optic Cables To Detect Earthquakes

Seismologists have developed a method to use existing underwater telecommunication cables to detect earthquakes.
The technique could lead to improved earthquake and tsunami warning systems around the world.
A vast network of more than a million kilometers of fiber optic cable lies at the bottom of Earth’s oceans.
In the 1980s, telecommunication companies and governments began laying these cables, each of which can span thousands of kilometers.
Today, the global network is considered the backbone of international telecommunications.
Previous efforts to use optical fibers to study seismicity have relied on the addition of sophisticated scientific instruments and/or the use of so-called “dark fibers,” fiber optic cables that are not actively being used.
Scientist have come up with a way to analyze the light traveling through “lit” fibers—in other words, existing and functioning submarine cables—to detect earthquakes and ocean waves without the need for any additional equipment.
The cable networks work through the use of lasers that send pulses of information through glass fibers bundled within the cables to deliver data at rates faster than 200,000 kilometers per second to receivers at the other end.
To make optimal use of the cables—that is, to transfer as much information as possible across them—one of the things operators monitor is the polarization of the light that travels within the fibers.
Like other light that passes through a polarizing filter, laser light is polarized—meaning, its electric field oscillates in just one direction rather than any which way.
Controlling the direction of the electric field can allow multiple signals to travel through the same fiber simultaneously.
At the receiving end, devices check the state of polarization of each signal to see how it has changed along the path of the cable to make sure that the signals are not getting mixed.
In their work, the researchers focused on the Curie Cable, a submarine fiber optic cable that stretches more than 10,000 kilometers along the eastern edge of the Pacific Ocean from Los Angeles to Valparaiso, Chile.
On land, all sorts of disturbances, such as changes in temperature and even lightning strikes, can change the polarization of light traveling through fiber optic cables.
Because the temperature in the deep ocean remains nearly constant and because there are so few disturbances there, the change in polarization from one end of the Curie Cable to the other remains quite stable over time.
However, during earthquakes and when storms produce large ocean waves, the polarization changes suddenly and dramatically, allowing the researchers to easily identify such events in the data.
Currently, when earthquakes occur miles offshore, it can take minutes for the seismic waves to reach land-based seismometers and even longer for any tsunami waves to be verified.
Using the new technique, the entire length of a submarine cable acts as a single sensor in a hard-to-monitor location. Polarization can be measured as often as 20 times per second.
That means that if an earthquake strikes close to a particular area, a warning could be delivered to the potentially affected areas within a matter of seconds.

Phys.org