Roll of honour (GS Paper 3, Defence)
Why in news?
- In April 2023, five lady cadets, who completed their training in the prestigious Officers Training Academy (OTA) in Chennai, made history by getting inducted into the Army’s Regiment of Artillery.
- Though women have been commissioned as officers into supporting arms of the Army since 1992, this is the first time they are entering into the Artillery, a fighting arm.
Details:
- In January 2023, Army Chief General formally announced that the Army has decided to commission women officers into the artillery arm and that a proposal was sent to the Union government in this regard.
- Having been commissioned as officers into the Artillery, these young women are expected to join their respective units that handle Bofor, Dhanush and M-777 howitzers, K-9 Vajra self-propelled guns and others.
Background:
- The OTA in Chennai has been admitting lady cadets for training along with gentlemen cadets since the early 1990s by imparting military knowledge and leadership skills.
- This time, 121 gentlemen cadets and 36 lady cadets completed their training and were commissioned as officers into various arms and services of the Army.
New material converts simple mechanical vibrations into electricity
(GS Paper 3, Science and Technology)
Why in news?
- In a world hungry for clean energy, engineers have created a new material that converts the simple mechanical vibrations all around into electricity to power sensors in everything from pacemakers to spacecraft.
- The first of its kind, by researchers at the University of Waterloo and the University of Toronto, the novel generating system is compact, reliable, low-cost and very, very green.
Piezoelectric effect:
- The system is based on the piezoelectric effect, which generates an electrical current by applying pressure to an appropriate substance.
- The effect was discovered in 1880, and since then, a limited number of piezoelectric materials, such as quartz and Rochelle salts, have been used in technologies ranging from sonar and ultrasonic imaging to microwave devices.
- The problem is that until now, traditional piezoelectric materials used in commercial devices have had limited capacity for generating electricity.
Edabco copper:
- They started by growing a large single crystal of a molecular metal-halide compound called edabco copper chloride using the Jahn-Teller effect, a well-known chemistry concept related to spontaneous geometrical distortion of a crystal field.
- The highly piezoelectric material was then used to fabricate nanogenerators with a record power density that can harvest tiny mechanical vibrations in any dynamic circumstances, from human motion to automotive vehicles in a process requiring neither lead nor non-renewable energy.
- The nanogenerator is tiny, 2.5 centimetres square and about the thickness of a business card and could be conveniently used in countless situations.
Way Forward:
- It has the potential to power sensors in a vast array of electronic devices, including billions needed for the Internet of Things.
- In future, an aircraft's vibrations could power its sensory monitoring systems, or a person's heartbeat could keep their battery-free pacemaker running.
INS Magar decommissioned after 36 years service to the country
(GS Paper 3, Defence)
Why in news?
- INS Magar, the oldest landing ship of the Indian Navy was decommissioned recently after a prestigious service to the country for 36 years.
About INS Magar:
- INS Magar was launched on November 16, 1984 by Meera Tahiliani and commissioned on July 18, 1987 at Garden Reach Shipyard and Engineers Limited, Kolkata by late Admiral R H Tahiliani.
Services highlight:
- During her service, she participated in numerous operations, amphibious exercises and humanitarian missions and operations including Samudra Setu wherein more than 4,000 Indian nationals were repatriated from various corners of the world, during the COVID-19 pandemic.
- The ship was also instrumental in evacuation of over 1,300 survivors post Tsunami in 2004 and had been part of several joint military exercises with the Indian Army.
- In 2018, the vessel was converted into a training ship and joined the First Training Squadron at Kochi.
