Current Events

General

• Traces of water found on Moon. The Chandrayaan 1 probe had found traces of water across the surface of the moon. It now challenges the long-held view that the Earth’s natural satellite is bone dry. The spacecraft also found indications that water is being produced that water is being produced I the lunar soil through interactions with charged particles streaming out from the Sun.

• The Moon Monerology Mapper (M3) was a U.S supplied instrument. It flew on the Chandrayan-1 and examined the intensity of different colours of Sunlight bouncing off the lunar surface. American and Indian scientists reported (published on line in Science) that the instrument found a distinctive signature of water and hydroxyl emanating from the moon.

• The difference between hydroxyl and a water molecule:  A water molecule is made up of one oxygen atom linked to two hydrogen atoms, whereas hydroxyl has the oxygen atom attached to just one hydrogen atom.

• OceanSat-2:  OceanSat-2 and six nano satellite were put in orbit on 23rd September’09 from the Sriharikota Seaport. The event took place after the Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV). This was the 15th successful flight of the launch vehicle in a row. The First PSLV flight took place on 20 September 1993.

• The PSLV-C14 had a four stage flight. At the end of 18 minutes of flight, the PSLV’s fourth stage injected Oxensat-2 into orbit at a velocity of 25,000 Km an hour at an altitude of about 728 Km. Thereafter, spring-loaded action mechanisms catapulted four nano satellites called Cubesat 1, 2, 3 and 4 into orbit one after the other. The other two nano satellites, Rubinsat 9.1 and 9.2 remained attached to the fourth stage, It implies that the fourth stage went into orbit. OceanSat-2 has three payloads, two designed developed by the Space Applications Centre (SAC) Ahmedabad and one came from Italy. According to SAC Director R.R. Navalgund, the Satellite would provide data about plant life in the oceans, locates schools of fish and monitor algal blooms that are harmful to fish life.

• Legendary Playback Singer Manna Dey, the immortal voice behind songs like ‘Poochho Nakaise’ and ‘Zindagi Kaisi Hei Paheli’ became the recipient of the Prestigious Dada Saheb Phalke Award for 2007. President Pratibha Patil honoured him with the title on October 21 during the National Film Awards function. The Award carries a cash prize of Rs. 10 lakh, a swaran kamal and a shawl. The 90-year-old singer from Bengal has more than 3,500 songs to his credit. He had been named for the honour for his outstanding contribution to the field of cinema.

• Vijender is now would No.1: Olympic and World Championship bronze medalist Vijender Singh had achieved another first for Indian boxing by becoming the World’s top-ranked pugilist in the middleweight (75 kg) category. The 23-year-old Bhiwani boxer, who won India’s maiden World Championship medal in Milan in September, has 2700 points and is ranked 600 points higher than the reigning champion Abbos Atoev of Uzbekistan. Interestingly, Vijender lost to Atoev in the World Semifinals. Emilio Correa Bayeux stands second with 2500 points and in the third position is Atoev.