Prashant Mavani, is an expert in current affairs analysis and holds a MSc in Management from University of Surrey (U.K.). Above all he is a passionate teacher.

Vice President's Secretariat

• The Vice President of India, Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu has said that the remarkable team work and output shown by Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) over the years is a model for other departments andinstitutions.

• World Space Week: A week long celebrations at Satish Dhawan Space Centreor Sriharikota High Altitude Range located in Andhra Pradesh.

• VP said that from the first sounding rocket launched from Thumba Equatorial Rocket Launch Station (TERLS) in 1963 and the first Satellite, Aryabhata in 1975, India has made giant strides.

• India has emerged today as one of the leading space faring nations.

Cryogenic engine

• A cryogenic engine/ cryogenic stage is the last stage of space launch vehicles which makes use of Cryogenics.

• Cryogenics is the study of the production and behaviour of materials at extremely low temperatures (below -150 degree Centigrade) to lift and place the heavier objects in space.

• Cryogenic engine makes use of Liquid Oxygen (LOX) and Liquid Hydrogen(LH2) as propellants which liquefy at -183 deg C and -253 deg C respectively.

• The successful launch of India's heaviest rocket, GSLV Mk III-D1 on June 5, 2017, ushered a new era for the Indian space agency, enabling it to launch heavier payload satellites.

• It is perhaps the most crucial mission in the last three decades for ISRO who has been working on this project since 2002.

• The GSAT-19 satellite - powered with indigenously-made Lithium-ion batteries -will open lot of vistas in internetcommunication.• It is the heaviest satellite made and launched

from our own soil till date.

• The Scramjet engine designed by ISRO uses Hydrogen as fuel and the Oxygenfrom the atmospheric air as the oxidiser.

Prime Minister's Office

• The Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has bowed to Indian revolutionary freedom fighter ShyamjiKrishna Varma, on his birth anniversary.

• He founded the Indian Home Rule Society, India House and The Indian Sociologist in London.

• The monthly Indian Sociologist became an outlet for nationalist ideas and through the Indian Home Rule Society, he criticised the British rule in India.

• Varma, who became the first President of Bombay Arya Samaj, was an admirer of DayanandSaraswati, and he inspired Veer Savarkar who was a member of India House in London.

• Verma also served as the Divan of a number of states in India.

• Born in 1857 in modern-day Gujarat, Varma completed his education in India, before moving on to teach Sanskrit at the Oxford University.

• Varma was a barrister in London, when in 1905 he was barred from practising law by the Inner Temple following charges of sedition for writing against the colonial government.

• The move was significant as the Honourable Society of the Inner Temple is one of the four professional associations for barristers and judges in London.

• Varma was posthumously reinstated by the Inner Temple in 2015 after the Inn’s governing council noted that Varma “did not receive an entirely fair hearing”.

• In the face of criticism by the British, Varma, shifted his base from England to Paris and continued his movement.

• After the outbreak of the Second World War, however, he moved to Geneva in Switzerland and spent the rest of his life there.

• He died on March 30, 1930.

Ministry of Water Resources

• Turtle Sanctuary to be set up in Allahabad.

• To protect the rich aquatic biodiversity of river Ganga.

• The sustenance of more than 2000 aquatic species including threatened gharials, dolphins and turtles in river Ganga exemplifies the rich biodiversity of this lifeline to over 40 per cent of the country’s population.

• Rivers Ganga and Yamuna at Allahabad are home to some of the most endangered fauna like

• Turtles (Batagur kachuga, Batagur dhongoka, Nilssonia gangetica, Chitra indica, Hardella thurjii etc.)

• National Aquatic Animal - Gangetic dolphin (Platanista gangetica)

• Gharial (Gavialis gangeticus) and numerous migratory and resident birds.

Cabinet Decisions

• Cabinet approved MoU between India and Switzerland on Technical Cooperation in Rail Sector. • The MoU will enable technical cooperation in the traction rolling stock, EMU and train sets. • It will also cover railway electrification equipment, train scheduling and operation improvement,

railway station modernization, multimodal transport and tunnelling technology.

• In a meeting chaired by Prime Minister, the Cabinet also provided ex-post facto approval to the MoU between India and Myanmar on upgradation of the Women’s Police Training Centre at Yamethin, Myanmar.

• Cabinet has provided its approval for the ratification of the Extradition Treaty between India and Lithuania. • The Treaty would provide a legal framework for seeking extradition of terrorists, economic

offenders and other criminals from and to Lithuania. • It would help in extradition of fugitive criminals including terrorists for criminal prosecutions

from Lithuania who may have committed crimes against India.

• Cabinet also gave ex-post facto approval to the renaming of Kandla Port as Deendayal Port.

Questions1. Considering space technology, briefly explain its role in

A. Diplomacy (relation/s between India and other country/ies)

B. Economic Development

C. Disaster Management

D. Science and Technology Development

2. List the countries that share a border with the country of Lithuania.

• Need lecture notes? Get it from www.studyiq.com or Telegram: https://t.me/Studyiqeducation

• Subscribe• Share• Like

• Comment• Jai Hind