Indias Radar Imaging Satellite crashes in Indian Ocean (GS Paper 3, Science and Tech)
Why in news?
- Recently, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said that the Radar Imaging Satellite (Risat-2) has made a re-entry into Earth’s atmosphere.
- The spacecraft crashed over the Indian Ocean near Jakarta.
Risat-2:
- The 300 kilogram probe was launched in 2009.
- Risat-2 carried 30 kg of fuel for an initial designed life of four years and clarified that on re-entry, there was no fuel left in the satellite and hence no contamination or explosion by fuel is expected.
Performance of Risat-2:
- With the proper maintenance of orbit and mission planning by the spacecraft operations team in ISRO and by economical usage of fuel, Risat-2 provided very useful payload data for 13 years.
- Since its injection, Risat-2’s radar payload services were provided for various space applications.
Re-entry:
- The pieces generated due to aero-thermal fragmentation would not have survived reentry heating and hence no fragments would have impacted on Earth.
- The re-entry was monitored by the Indian System for Safe and Sustainable Space Operations Management (IS4OM) facility with analysis carried out by VSSC and ISTRAC teams through its in-house developed analysis software and tracking the object utilising Multi Object Tracking Radar (MOTR) at SDSC, Sriharikota.
Significance:
- Risat-2 is a clear example of ISRO’s capability to carry out spacecraft orbital operations in an efficient and optimal way.
- As Risat-2 re-entered within 13.5 years, it complied with all necessary international mitigation guidelines for Space Debris, showing ISRO’s commitment towards long term sustainability of Outer Space as well.
A gold-mushroom combo to ease drug delivery
(GS Paper 3, Science and Tech)
Context:
- Medicines may soon have traces of ultramicroscopic gold powered by a super mushroom for greater efficacy.
Details:
- Cordy gold nanoparticles (Cor-AuNPs), the outcome of a collaborative experiment by scientists from four Indian institutions, has earned an international patent from Germany.
- These nanoparticles, derived from the synthesis of the extracts of Cordyceps militaris and gold salts, could make drug delivery in the human body faster and surer.
- Cordyceps militaris is a high value parasitic fungus, lab-grown at the Department of Biotechnology’s Technology Incubation Centre (TIC) in Bodoland University.
- Gold salts are ionic chemical compounds of gold generally used in medicine.
Wild Cordyceps:
- Wild Cordyceps mushroom found in the eastern Himalayan belt.
- Over eight years, they standardised the cultivation of this mushroom with antimicrobial, antidiabetic and antioxidant properties.
- The collaborative study has validated its medicinal and nutraceutical properties.
Key Findings:
- Penetration in the cells is more when the drug particles are smaller.
- Cordyceps militaris, called super mushroom because of its tremendous medicinal properties, adds bioactive components to the synthesis of gold nanoparticles for better penetration.
Way Forward:
- Biosynthesised nanogold particles indicate a new application of nanoparticles in the development of therapeutic drugs which can be delivered as ointments, tablets, capsules, and in other forms.
Ministry of Education releases Report on Performance Grading Index for States/UTs for the year 2020-21
(GS Paper 2, Social Justice)
Why in news?
- Recently, the Department of School Education and Literacy(DoSE&L), Ministry of Education released the Performance Grading Index (PGI) for States/UTs for 2020-21, a unique index for evidence based comprehensive analysis of school education system across State/UTs.
Objective:
- DoSE&L devised PGI for States/UTs to provide insights and data driven mechanism on the performance and achievements of on the success of school education across all States/UTs.
- The prime objective of PGI is to promote evidence-based policy making and highlight course correction to ensure quality education for all.
- So far, DoSE&L has released PGI report for the year 2017-18, 2018-19 and 2019-20. The present report is for the year 2020-21.
Indicators:
- The PGI structure comprises of 1000 points across 70 indicatorsgrouped into 2 categories viz., Outcomes, Governance Management (GM).
- These categories are further divided into 5 domains, viz., Learning Outcomes (LO), Access (A), Infrastructure& Facilities (IF), Equity (E) & Governance Process (GP).
- PGI 2020-21 classified the States/UTs into ten grades viz., highest achievable Grade is Level 1, which is for State/UT scoring more than 950 points out of total of 1000 points. The lowest grade is Level 10 which is for score below 551.
- The ultimate aim of PGI is to propel States & UTs towards undertaking multi-pronged interventions that will bring about the much-desired optimal education outcomes covering all dimensions.
Key Highlights:
- A total of 7 States and UTs, Viz., Kerala, Punjab, Chandigarh, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan, and Andhra Pradesh have attained Level II (score 901-950) in 2020-21 as compared to none in 2017-18 and 4 in 2019-20.
- Gujarat, Rajasthan and Andhra Pradesh are the new entrants to highest achieved level of any State so far.
- The newly formed UT viz., Ladakh has made significant improvement in PGI from Level 8 to Level 4 in 2020-21 or improved its score by 299 points in 2020-21 as compared to 2019-20 resulting into highest ever improvement in a single year.
Way Forward:
- The PGI is expected to help States and UTs to pinpoint the gaps and accordingly prioritize areas for intervention to ensure that the school education system is robust at every level.
Decline in pre-primary enrolments continued in 2021-22, says govt. report
(GS Paper 2, Social Issues)
Why in news?
- Recently, the Ministry of Education released the ‘Unified District Information System for Education Plus report’ on school education.
Key Highlights:
- The number of children entering pre-primary classes in 2021-2022 saw a further decline, resulting in 30% fewer students in this school section as compared to pre-Covid, according to a report released by the Ministry of Education.
Pre-primary classes:
- A total of 94.95 lakh students entered pre-primary classes in 2021-2022, registering a drop of 10% as compared to the previous year when 1.06 crore children enrolled in these classes.
- However, in 2020-2021, there was already a decline of 21% enrolment in pre-primary classes as compared to 1.35 crore the year before due to school closures and classrooms moving online.
Primary classes:
- Enrolment in primary classes, which include classes 1 to 5, also saw a drop for the first time, falling from 12.20 lakh in 2020-2021 to 12.18 lakh in 2021-2022. However, the total number of students from primary to higher secondary increased by 19 lakh to 25.57 crore.
- Also for the first time since the pandemic, the report records a decline in number of schools due to closures as well as a lack of teachers. There were 20,000 fewer schools in 2021-2022 as the total number of schools dropped from 15.09 lakh to 14.89 lakh.
- There were also 1.89 lakh or 1.98% fewer teachers as their number reduced from 96.96 lakh in 2020-2021 to 95.07 lakh in 2021-2022.
Computers & internet facility:
- Computer facilities were available in 44.75% of schools, while Internet access was available only in 33.9% of schools.
- However, their availability has improved as compared to pre-Covid when only 38.5% of schools had computers and 22.3% had Internet facilities.
Conclusion:
- It shows that younger students with less access to remote learning continue to bear the biggest brunt of learning loss during the pandemic.
Nagaland to celebrate avian diversity, undertake census
(GS Paper 1, Culture)
Why in news?
- Nagaland is undertaking the first avian documentation exercise going beyond the Amur falcons, the migratory raptor that put the State on the world birding map.
TokhüEmong Bird Count (TEBC):
- The four-day TokhüEmong Bird Count (TEBC) has been timed with the post-harvest TokhüEmong festival of the Lothas, the Naga community that dominates Wokha district.
- Wokha district is arguably the most preferred stopover of the Amur falcons while travelling from East Asia to southern Africa.
- The event is a collaboration among the Wokha Forest Division, the Divisional Management Unit of the Nagaland Forest Management Project (NFMP) and Bird Count India.
Significance:
- Nagaland is a State with diverse festivals and diverse birdlife. The TEBC is the first of initiatives where the community is encouraged to celebrate the festival with birds.
- TEBC are particularly important for the northeast, where rich bird diversity is threatened by habitat loss and hunting.
What’s next?
The exercise entails watching and counting birds on any or all days from November 4-7 from anywhere in Nagaland for at least 15 minutes and uploading the avian names on eBird, the bird recording platform.
