Nuclear-Capable Nirbhay Cruise Missile 17/04/2019 – Posted in: Daily News – Tags: , , , ,

India Test Fires Nuclear-Capable Nirbhay Cruise Missile

For: Preliminary; Mains: GS III

Topics covered: Strengthening Defence system, Science & Technology

News Flash

The Indian Ministry of Defense’s (MoD) Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO) conducted the sixth flight test of the nuclear-capable Nirbhay cruise missile from the Integrated Test Range (ITR) Abdul Kalam Island off the coast in Chandipur, Odisha.

  • Nirbhay (Dauntless/Fearless) is a long range, all-weather, subsonic cruise missile designed and developed in India by the Defence Research and Development Organisation.
  • Its objective to prove the repeatability of boost phase, cruise phase using way point navigation at low altitudes.

 

Features

  • The missile can be launched from multiple platforms and is capable of carrying conventional and nuclear warheads.
  • Nirbhay is a subsonic long-range land attack cruise missile that can be armed with a 200-300-kilogram warhead.
  • Missile can cruise at 0.7 Mach at altitude as low as 100 meters.
  • Sea-skimming capability
  • Top speeds of 0.6-0.7 Mach
  • It can strike land targets at a distance of up to 1,000 kilometers

 

GTRE is developing a new 4.25kN Thrust Turbofan engine called Manik Engine to power Nirbhay Cruise missile and future UAV, Long range AshM cruise missile systems. GTRE is working fast to add test capabilities and
infrastructure to test the Manik engine.

 

Gas Turbine Research Establishment

GTRE is a laboratory of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). Located in Bangalore, its primary function is research and development of aero gas-turbines for military aircraft. As a spin-off effect, GTRE has been developing marine gas-turbines also.

Source: The Diplomat

 

 

Hemophilia

For: Preliminary
Topics: Rare Disease, Causes and preventions

News Flash

April 17th, 2019, will mark the 29th World Hemophilia Day!

Despite improvement in the medical technologies, health experts believes that nearly 80 percent cases of hemophilia is still undiagnosed in India.

  • According to Hemophilia Foundation of India, the cause of hemophilia is the inability of the body to produce the anti-hemophilic factor (AHF) in the required quantity.
  • It is a lifelong bleeding disorder that prevents blood from clotting

 

Facts

  • 80 per cent of Indians with the serious blood disorder are not diagnosed due to the absence of proper diagnostic facilities in the remote areas.
  • India with nearly two lakh cases is estimated to have the second highest number of patients with hemophilia.
  • There is no known cure for this disorder.
  • If not diagnosed early, the repeated bleeding into joints, bones muscles may lead to synovitis, arthritis and permanent joint deformities.
  • The bleeding itself can lead to wasting and atrophy of muscles.
  • Currently only about 20,000 patients are registered with Hemophilia Federation of India while over 1.5 lakh are still not brought under the registry until diagnosed.
  • Over 80 per cent are undiagnosed.
  • Hemophilia is usually inherited and about one in every 5,000 males is born with the disorder.
  • About one third of new cases are caused by a new mutation of the gene in the mother or the child.
  • Women who have the hemophilia gene are called carriers, and they can pass it on to their children.

 

Tests for diagnosing Hemophilia

There are two types of tests:

(i) Activated Partial Thromboplastin Time (APTT) Test

(ii) Prothrombin Time (PT) Test

The PT and APTT screenings are blood tests that show if the blood is clotting properly.

 

Bleeding disorders

In people with bleeding disorders, the blood clotting process doesn’t work properly. As a result, people with bleeding disorders can bleed for longer than normal, and some may experience spontaneous bleeding into joints, muscles, or other parts of their bodies.

The most common bleeding disorder is Von Willebrand disease (VWD). It is generally less severe than other bleeding disorders. Many people with VWD may not know that they have the disorder because their bleeding symptoms are very mild.

Rare clotting factor deficiencies are disorders in which one of several clotting factors is missing or not working properly. Less is known about these disorders because they are diagnosed so rarely. In fact, many have only been discovered in the last 40 years.

Finally, inherited platelet disorders are conditions in which platelets don’t work the way they should, resulting in a tendency to bleed or bruise.

 

Hemophilia

Hemophilia is a bleeding disorder that affects approximately 1 in 10,000 people. People with hemophilia do not have enough clotting factor VIII or IX in their blood. People with hemophilia do not bleed any faster than normal, but they can bleed for a longer time.

  • Their blood does not have enough clotting factor. Clotting factor is a protein in blood that controls bleeding.

 

Types of hemophilia

(i) The most common type of hemophilia is called hemophilia A. This means the person does not have enough clotting factor VIII (factor eight).
(ii) Hemophilia B is less common. A person with hemophilia B does not have enough factor IX (factor nine). The result is the same for people with hemophilia A and B; that is, they bleed for a longer time than normal.

 

Hemophilia Foundation of India

Since 1983, Hemophilia Federation India (HFI) is the only national umbrella organization in India working for the welfare of the Person with Hemophilia (PwH) through a network of 92 chapters spread over four regions.
Its aim is to reach out to PwH and provide total quality care, education, make treatment available at affordable cost, psycho-social support, and economic rehabilitation and thus help them in improving the quality of life without disability and free of pain.

 

Way Ahead

There is a need for diagnostic centres that can help first of all in diagnosis and later make people aware about the seriousness of the health disorder.

 

Source: Indian Express

 

 

Lodhi Garden

For: Preliminary

News Flash

Lodhi Garden received two silk cotton trees, Indian Olive trees, Crescentia cujete trees and some Magnolia saplings as birthday (April 09) presents from the Horticulture department of the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC).

 

Lodhi Garden, New Delhi

  • Lodhi garden houses the tombs of Sayyid and Lodhi rulers. It is one of the historical gardens in Delhi.
  • Lodhi garden was set up in the middle of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries of years by the Sayyid and Lodhi rulers.
  • It has a tremendous park which simply does not have trees, plants, blooms and green yards, yet in addition is home to some chronicled landmarks and historical monuments.

 

Background

It was on April 9, 1936 that the garden was inaugurated and named Lady Willingdon Park, after Lady Willingdon, wife of the then governor-general of India, who landscaped it. After Independence, it was rechristened Lodhi Gardens.

 

Architecture

  • Lodhi garden has been re-designed by JA Stein and Garrett Eckbo in the year 1968 and that is the manner by which it got the present shape.
  • There is a Bara Gumbad and Sheesh Gumbad in the focal point of Lodhi Garden which talk about the compositional wonder of that period.
  • The previous includes a large rubber construct dome (substantial elastic develop vault), a three domed mosque and a living arrangement encompassing a central courtyard which contains the remaining parts of a water tank and opposite to this Bara Gumbad lies the Sheesh Gumbad which comprises of the remaining parts of an unknown family.
  • With four 15th Century monuments, a bridge built during Akbar’s era, three ponds, a Bonsai garden, a herbal garden and an expansive nursery.

Source: Indian Express

 

 

Industrial activity slows down

For: Preliminary ; Mains: GS III
Topics covered: Economic development, Industrial growth

News Flash

Industrial growth was just 0.1% in February from the year-earlier period, the slowest pace in 20 months. Industrial growth, as measured by the index of industrial production, has been slowing down considerably in recent months.

Manufacturing, which has a weight of almost 78% in the index, continues to be the biggest drag, with output contracting by 0.3% as compared with an 8.4% jump in the year-earlier period.

The largest contributor to the slowdown in February was the capital goods
sector, which shrank by close to 9%.

Various institutions such as the Reserve Bank of India and the International Monetary Fund have been lowering their expectations for India’s growth in the coming quarters. With other economic indicators such as the purchasing
managers’ index and high-frequency data like automobile sales also signalling weakening momentum, the overall scenario, when viewed along with the slowdown in industrial output, suggests that a turnaround in economic growth is not in sight.

Index of Industrial Production (IIP) is an index that indicates the performance of different industrial sectors of the Indian economy. The IIP is estimated and published on a monthly basis by the Central
Statistical Organisation (CSO) .

 

Importance of Index of Industrial Production

  • For policy purposes by different public agencies including the Government agencies/ departments including that in the Ministry of Finance, the Reserve Bank of India etc.
  • For estimation of Gross Value Added of Manufacturing sector on quarterly basis.
  • For analysts, financial intermediaries and private companies for various purposes.

 

Index of Industrial Production (IIP) – New series

The CSO brought a new IIP by incorporating certain new elements. This is needed to accommodate the changes happening in the financial sector. Latest changes were made on 12th May 2017.

Following are the main changes brought in the new series of IIP

  • Base year has been updated to 2011-12 by upgrading the item basket and weighting structure.
  • National Industrial Classification (NIC) 2008 has been adopted in the new series of IIP.
  • Number of item groups has increased from 399 to 407out of which 149 are new/ emerging items.
  • Electricity generation from renewable energy sources has been included under the ‘Electricity’ sector.
  • Weights are rationalised to appropriately to reflect the actual value addition of each sector incorporating effects of subsidies.
  • New use-based classification has been adopted with following categorisation: (i) Primary goods, (ii) Capital goods, (iii) Infrastructure/ construction goods, (iv) Intermediate goods, (v) Consumer durables, and (vi) Consumer non-durables.
  • A review mechanism has been introduced through a Technical Review Committee.

 

Components of IIP

The IIP is basically divided into three sectors though a use-based classification is also provided by the CSO.
Following are the three sectors of the IIP as per the revision based on 2011-12 series.
(i) Mining,
(ii) Manufacturing and
(iii) Electricity as in the old series.

Table: Sectors, number of item groups and weight as per the 2011-12 IIP series

Sector

 No. of item group Weight%

Mining

 1 14.373

Manufacturing

 405

77.633
Electricity 1

7.994
Total 407

100

 

Use-based classification of industries under Index of Industrial Production

The IIP is also prepared based on Use based classification. Here, the industries are divided into six use-based sectors:

  • Primary Goods
  • Capital Goods
  • Intermediate Goods
  • Infrastructure/ Construction goods
  • Consumer durables
  • Consumer nondurables

Table: Weights of the different sectors under the used based classification – 2011-12 series

 

Sector

 No. of  group Weights

Primary Goods

 15 34.05

Capital Goods

 67

8.22
Intermediate Goods 110

17.22

Infrastructure/ Construction goods

 29 12.34
Consumer durables 86

12.84
Consumer nondurables 100

15.33

 

Core industries in the IIP

The Eight Core Industries comprise 40.27 % of the weight of items included in the Index of Industrial Production (IIP). These industries are: Coal, Crude Oil, Natural Gas, Refinery Products, Fertilizers, Steel, Cement and Electricity.

Industry

Weight

Coal

 10.33
Crude Oil

8.98

Natural Gas

 6.88
Refinery Products

28.04

Fertilisers

 2.63
Steel

17.92

Cement

 5.37
Electricity

19.85

Total

100

Source: The Hindu

 

 

Cabinet nod for creation of post of Deputy CAG

For: Preliminary; Mains: GS II

News Flash

A meeting of the Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi approved the creation of the additional post of Deputy Comptroller and Auditor- General. There are five Deputy CAGs at present.

The Deputy CAG shall oversee

  • The coordination among State Audits
  • The audit of telecommunication
  • And coordinate the various Information Systems initiatives in the Indian Audit & Accounts Department.

 

Constitutional provisions about CAG

Under Article 148

  • Comptroller and Auditor-General of India shall be appointed by the President by warrant under his hand and seal and shall only be removed from office in like manner and on like grounds as a Judge of the Supreme
    Court.
  • Every person appointed to be the Comptroller and Auditor-General of India shall, before he enters upon his office, make and subscribe before the President or some person appointed in that behalf by him, an oath or affirmation according to the form set out for the purpose in the Third Schedule.
  • The salary and other conditions of service of the Comptroller and Auditor-General shall be such as may be determined by Parliament by law and, until they are so determined, shall be as specified in the Second Schedule
  • Neither the salary of a Comptroller and Auditor-General nor his rights in respect of leave of absence, pension or age of retirement shall be varied to his disadvantage after his appointment.
  • The Comptroller and Auditor-General shall not be eligible for further office either under the Government of India or under the Government of any State after he has ceased to hold his office.
  • Subject to the provisions of this Constitution and of any law made by parliament, the conditions of service of persons serving in the Indian Audit and Accounts Department and the administrative powers of the Comptroller and Auditor-General shall be such as may be prescribed by rules made by the President after consultation with the Comptroller and Auditor-General.
  • The administrative expenses of the office of the Comptroller and Auditor-General including all salaries, allowances and pensions payable to or in respect of persons serving in that office, shall be charged upon
    the Consolidated Fund of India.

Duties and powers are defined by the Comptroller and Auditor General’s (Duties, Powers and Conditions of Service) Amendment ACT, 1971 in accordance with the article 149 of the Indian constitution.

Source: The Hindu