What are Bharat Small Reactors?

As part of India’s plan to improve its nuclear energy powers, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced a plan to build Bharat Small Reactors (BSRs) in her Budget 2024 speech. In a big change to India’s nuclear strategy, this effort is to work together with the private sector.

Definition
Bharat Small Reactors are small nuclear reactors that are meant to make energy on a smaller scale than regular big nuclear power plants. India’s well-known 220-megawatt pressurized Heavy Water Reactor (PHWR) technology will be used.

Significance of Private Sector Involvement

India’s nuclear energy landscape has changed forever with the government’s promise to work with the business sector. The Atomic Energy Act of 1962 used to make it hard for private people to get involved, but this new plan wanted to increase funding and help nuclear power grow.

Why Bharat Small Reactors are Needed
BSRs provide several advantages:

•    Flexibility in siting and deployment
•    Faster construction timelines
•    Potential cost-effectiveness

These reactors are ideal for energizing remote areas and serving large industries, aligning with global trends toward small modular reactors (SMRs).

Research and Development of Bharat Small Modular Reactors
Sitharaman also highlighted plans for research into Bharat Small Modular Reactors (BSMRs) at the Bhabha Atomic Research Center. This initiative signifies India’s intention to explore advanced nuclear technology. The emphasis on BSRs is part of India’s broader objective to diversify its energy sources and transition to cleaner options. Nuclear energy is viewed as a critical alternative to thermal power for a stable electricity supply amid rising energy demands.

Clean Energy Transition
India wants to switch to cleaner energy sources and get more energy from different sources, which is why it is focusing on BSRs. People see nuclear energy as an important option to thermal power for keeping the power on when the demand for energy goes up. It could take years for BSRs to be connected to the power grid because new rules and laws need to be made. India’s nuclear energy initiative still needs to address safety issues, deal with nuclear waste, and make sure it fits with the country’s energy goals.

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NASA Discovers Six New Exoplanets

NASA has made big strides in its study of exoplanets by confirming six new ones, bringing the total number of them to 5,502. This is an important step toward knowing the universe and the possibility of life beyond Earth. Poltergeist and Phobetor, the first exoplanets found orbiting the pulsar PSR B1257+12 in 1992, marked the start of the trip. By March 2022, the number of finds had sped past 5,000, showing how quickly the field was progressing.

New Exoplanets OverviewHD 36384 b: A super Jupiter circling a M giant star that is a lot bigger than our Sun.
TOI-198b: It might be rocky and is on the edge of the habitable zone of its star.
TOI-2095b and c are hot super-Earths that circle the same M dwarf star.
TOI-4860b is a “hot Jupiter” with a short orbital period of 1.52 days.
MWC 758c is a big protoplanet that is orbiting a young star and has a protoplanetary ring around it. It shows how planets are formed.

Detection Techniques

Several ways are used to find exoplanets:Radial Velocity: Looks at how stars wobble because of planets circling them. Transit Method: It measures how much sunlight dims as planets move across the path of their stars. Direct imaging was used to identify the MWC 758c.

Role of TESS and Other Telescopes

Since it was launched in 2018, NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) has helped find many possible exoplanets. Spitzer, Hubble, and the James Webb Space Telescope are some of the other telescopes that have made important contributions to the study of exoplanets. NASA plans to launch the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope in May 2027. This telescope will have a coronagraph device for direct imaging. This technology could make it possible for projects like the Habitable Worlds Observatory, which would look for signs of life beyond Earth.

More About exoplanets

There are over 5,000 confirmed exoplanets, which are worlds outside of our solar system. 51 Pegasi b, the first proven exoplanet, was found in 1995. The transit method is used to find most extrasolar planets by watching a star’s light dim as a planet moves across it. The Kepler Space Telescope found a huge number of possible planets. Circumbinary planets are exoplanets that go around two stars. Hot Jupiters, which are gas giants close to their stars, test ideas about how planets grow. Radial velocity and gravitational microlensing are two of the methods used in the study. TRAPPIST-1 has seven planets about the size of Earth. The idea goes back to ancient times when philosophers thought about places beyond our own.

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New High-Efficacy Malaria Vaccine Launched in Cote d’Ivoire

The introduction of the R21/Matrix-M vaccine in Cote d’Ivoire was a big step forward in the fight against malaria around the world. The World Health Organization (WHO) approved the vaccine last year, and this is the first time it has been given to everyone in the country.

Development and Approvals

Novavax contributed its Matrix-M adjuvant technology to the R21/Matrix-M vaccine, which was made by the University of Oxford and the Serum Institute of India (SII). It was put through strict WHO regulatory and clinical tests that proved it worked and was safe.

Manufacturing and Distribution

The vaccine is highly effective and only needs a small dose, which makes it possible to make a lot of them quickly. Already, 25 million doses have been made, and plans are in place to make that number 100 million doses a year. Also worth mentioning is how cheap it is—each dose costs less than USD 4.

Rollout and Impact

Cote d’Ivoire was the first country to use R21/Matrix-M. The goal is to vaccinate about 250,000 children ages 0 to 23 months in 16 areas. According to recent sources, malaria kills about four people a day in the country, mostly young children. This could cut that number down by a huge amount. Aside from Côte d’Ivoire, the vaccine has also been approved in Ghana, Nigeria, Burkina Faso, and the Central African Republic. The release of R21/Matrix-M and another vaccine called RTS,S is projected to save tens of thousands of lives every year. With help from Gavi, 15 African countries plan to use this vaccine by 2024. This will protect about 6.6 million children over two years.

About Serum Institute of IndiaThe Serum Institute of India, founded in 1966 by Cyrus Poonawalla, is the world’s largest vaccine manufacturer by number of doses produced. It is headquartered in Pune, India, and was originally set up to manufacture immunobiologicals. The company played a pivotal role during the COVID-19 pandemic by mass-producing the Covishield vaccine, a version of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine. Notably, Serum Institute also produces vaccines for polio, diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, BCG, r-Hepatitis B, measles, mumps, and rubella. Its facility in Pune is the world’s largest vaccine factory in terms of doses produced and sold globally.

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What is an Extreme Solar Particle Event?

 

Recent studies have shown that “extreme solar particle events,” which are very rare but can have big effects on Earth, could be dangerous. Protons are thrown out into space by the sun in these events, which happen about once every thousand years. The most recent one was recorded in 993 AD. When they reach Earth, they pose a major threat.

Understanding Extreme Solar Particle Events

When the sun sends many protons into space, this is called an extreme solar particle event or a solar storm. These solar events are stronger and could damage Earth more than regular solar flares.

Impact on the Ozone Layer

One of the biggest risks is the damage that solar particle events could do to Earth’s ozone layer. This layer works as a shield to protect you by blocking and absorbing most of the sun’s harmful ultraviolet radiation. More UV light would hit the Earth’s surface if the ozone layer got damaged.

Potential Human Health Risks

Getting more UV rays can be very bad for your health. Due to a hole in the ozone layer, experts Alan Cooper and Pavle Arsenovic say that higher UV levels make skin cancer and other DNA damage more likely. Depending on how bad the solar event was and the state of Earth’s magnetic field, these conditions may last for a long time, which could make the effects worse.

Long-Term Effects and Global Impact

The research shows that if a very strong solar particle event happens when Earth’s magnetic field is weak, the effects could be very bad and last a long time. UV exposure could increase by up to 25%, and DNA damage caused by the sun could 

increase by 50%. These effects could last for up to six years.

Who conducted the study on the impact of these events?

Alan Cooper from Charles Sturt University and Pavle Arsenovic from the University of Natural Resources and Life Science (BOKU) did the new study. By studying these solar events and their effects, scientists keep stressing how important it is to keep an eye on solar activity to effectively protect the world from possible dangers.

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James Webb Telescope Captures Quasar’s Einstein Ring

A fascinating picture of a “bejeweled” cloud of light around a quasar was recently taken by the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). This picture has sparked a lot of interest in the astronomy community. This picture shows an “Einstein ring,” which is made up of four bright spots around the halo of quasar RX J1131-1231, which is about 6 billion light-years away in the constellation Crater.

Understanding the Quasar RX J1131-1231

A quasar is basically a supermassive black hole in the middle of a young galaxy. It is busy consuming huge amounts of matter, which releases strong energy jets into space. Astronomers have already found this kind of quasar, and JWST has now taken a very clear picture of it. A strange effect in space called gravitational lensing is what makes the quasar in this picture look so different.

Gravitational Lensing Explained

When light from a faraway celestial object, like a galaxy or quasar, passes close to a massive object, the space-time around the massive object curves, which bends the direction of the light. This is called gravitational lensing. It looks like the light is wrapping around the huge item because of this curve. The lensing object in the case of RX J1131-1231 is an unknown galaxy that lies between the quasar and Earth. It bends the quasar’s light into the shape that was seen.

The Phenomenon of Bright Spot Duplication

The JWST picture of RX J1131-1231 also shows four bright spots that stand out within the glowing loop. At first glance, these might look like they represent several different celestial things. The lensing effect, on the other hand, makes them look like mirror copies of the same bright spot from the quasar. Duplications like these happen when the viewer, the faraway object, and the object that is lensing the object are almost perfectly lined up. This lets multiple images of the same object show up.

Significance and Implications

Not only does this discovery by the JWST help us understand RX J1131-1231 and gravitational lensing better, but it also makes it possible to study and look at faraway, dim celestial bodies that we wouldn’t be able to see with current telescopes. Astronomers can improve their ideas about the structure and history of the universe by taking detailed pictures of these things.

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Air India Welcomes First A320 Neo Aircraft

Air India, which is owned by the Tata Group, just bought its first narrow-body plane with a new uniform. The color code for this Airbus A320 Neo is VT-RTN, and it got to Indira Gandhi International Airport on July 7 from Toulouse, France. This is an important step in Air India’s continued process of change.Tata Group-owned Air India welcomed its first narrow-body aircraft in new livery. The Airbus A320 Neo, registered VT-RTN, landed at Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi from the Airbus facility in Toulouse, France, on July 7.The company said that the addition of the new aircraft is a significant milestone in its transformation journey. This addition to the Air India fleet features a three-class configuration, including luxury business class seats, 24 premium economy seats with extra legroom, and 132 comfortable economy class seats.


Notably, this introduction marks the first time Air India is offering premium economy on its narrow-body aircraft. The A320 Neo is expected to enter service in August 2024, primarily operating on domestic short-haul routes. Currently, three A320 Neo aircraft with three-class configurations in the old Air India livery have already commenced operations within the domestic network.Starting early next year, Air India plans to enhance the flying experience for its guests by deploying new, upgraded, and refurbished aircraft across both its narrow-body and wide-body fleets.

Founded by the legendary J.R.D. Tata, Air India has a rich history in the aviation sector. Its inaugural flight took off on October 15, 1932. Since then, Air India has built an extensive domestic network and operates non-stop flights to major cities around the world, including destinations in the USA, Canada, U.K., Europe, the Far East, Southeast Asia, Australia, and the Gulf.

After 69 years as a government-owned enterprise, Air India and its low-cost subsidiary Air India Express were welcomed back into the Tata Group in January 2022. The airline is currently navigating through a significant five-year transformation roadmap under the aegis of Vihaan.AI, with an ambition to become a world-class airline with an Indian heart. The first phase of this transformation, known as the Taxi phase, recently concluded.

It focused on addressing the basics, including returning many long-grounded aircraft to service, recruiting additional talent across flying and ground functions, upgrading technology, and enhancing customer care initiatives. Air India is a member of Star Alliance, the world's largest global airline consortium, which enables it to offer extensive connectivity and facilitate travel for passengers worldwide.

Air India’s Fleet Enhancement
The Airbus A320 Neo, which was just released, has three classes. This plan has 132 comfortable economy class seats, 24 premium economy seats with extra legroom, and luxury business class seats. This is the first time that Air India has offered a premium economy class on a narrow-body plane. It is planned that the plane will start flying short-haul domestic flights in August 2024.


Current and Future Plans
Air India currently runs three A320 Neo planes in its internal network. These planes have similar three-class layouts but wear older liveries. Starting in early 2019, the airline will add new, upgraded, and refurbished narrow-body and wide-body planes to its fleets to make the customer experience even better.


Historical Overview of Air India
Air India was started by J.R.D. Tata and had its first flight on October 15, 1932. Since then, it has built a large network of flights both in India and other countries. The airline had been owned by the government for 69 years before it was bought back by the Tata Group in January 2022.


Transformation Journey
Air India wants to become a world-class airline while still keeping its Indian roots through a project called Vihaan.AI. In the first phase, called the “Taxi” phase, basic changes were made, like putting long-idled planes back into service, adding more people, upgrading technology, and starting to improve customer service.


Global Partnerships
As a member of the Star Alliance, Air India has access to a global network that makes it easier to get to major places around the world. This makes it easier for passengers to connect and travel. Tata’s strategic plans helped Air India add this plane to its fleet. It’s a big step forward in the airline’s commitment to great service and operational excellence.

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Indian Navy Joins World’s Largest Naval Exercise RIMPAC

The harbour phase of the exercise is taking place from June 27 to July 7. The sea phase of RIMPAC is divided into three sub-phases which will witness ships undertaking various exercises. The exercise will witness the participation of an aircraft carrier battle group, submarines, maritime reconnaissance aircraft, unmanned aerial vehicles, remotely piloted surface ships and also an amphibious force landing operations, Commander Madhwal said.

The RIMPAC exercise will run till August 1. "The Rim of the Pacific exercise has grown over the years to be the world's largest and premier joint combined maritime training opportunity," said Vice Admiral John Wade, commander, the US 3rd Fleet.

"The exercise's purpose is to build relationships, to enhance interoperability and proficiency and, ultimately, contribute to the peace and stability in the vitally-important Indo-Pacific region," he said. Wade is also serving as RIMPAC 2024 Combined Task Force (CTF) commander. The theme of RIMPAC 2024 is "Partners: Integrated and Prepared." "INS Shivalik's participation in RIMPAC-24, 9000 Nautical Miles away from Indian coast Stands testimony to the Indian Navy's capability to operate in any part of the world," Commander Madhwal said.

INS Shivalik is an indigenously designed and built 6000 tonnes guided missile stealth frigate. As a participant in the Rim of the Pacific Exercise (RIMPAC) 2024, the Indian Navy has made a strong statement in the world of military exercises. This exercise is the world’s biggest international maritime warfare exercise, and it takes place in Hawaii with a huge group of troops from around the world.

In 2024, the exercise had over 150 planes, 40 surface ships, 3 submarines, people from over 29 countries, and a total of over 25,000 people. The Hawaiian Islands are the focus of this huge show of military power and cooperation, which runs until August 01. The Indian Navy sent the INS Shivalik, a cutting-edge multi-role stealth frigate, to this important military gathering.

INS Shivalik’s Deployment
The INS Shivalik, a guided missile stealth frigate that was planned and built in India, shows how technically advanced and flexible the Indian Navy is. The frigate was sent to Pearl Harbor to take part in different parts of RIMPAC 2024. It had been sent to key areas like the South China Sea and the North Pacific Ocean before. That the ship traveled 9000 Nautical Miles to take part in the drill shows how far the Indian Navy can go.

Phases of RIMPAC 2024
RIMP began with a phase in the harbor that lasted from June 27 to July 7. This was followed by a carefully planned phase at sea. The last phase is split into three smaller phases. During these phases, the naval forces that are taking part will carry out some complicated maritime activities. An aircraft carrier battle group, submarines, maritime reconnaissance planes, and remotely piloted surface ships will all be moving around, and amphibious force landing operations will also be shown.

Objective and Significance
Commander of the US 3rd Fleet and the RIMPAC 2024 Combined Task Force, Vice Admiral John Wade, talked about the exercise’s two goals: to strengthen ties between countries and make it easier for allied forces to work together. The main objective is to improve everyone’s skills in maritime operations, which will help keep the Indo-Pacific area peaceful and stable. In a nutshell, this is what this year’s RIMPAC theme, “Partners: Integrated and Prepared,” means.

About Rim of the Pacific Exercise (RIMPAC)Largest Maritime Warfare Exercise: The Rim of the Pacific Exercise (RIMPAC) is the world’s largest international maritime warfare exercise, initiated in 1971 and led by the U.S. Navy’s Pacific Fleet. It is held biennially in the waters around the Hawaiian Islands and Southern California.

Extensive International Participation: RIMPAC began with five nations and has grown to include participants from 26 countries, including non-NATO members like China and India. This expansion improves international maritime relations and stability across the Pacific Rim.
Diverse Activities and Innovation: The exercise encompasses various activities such as gunnery, missile, anti-submarine, and air defense exercises, along with humanitarian and counter-piracy operations. Additionally, RIMPAC is unique for its live innovation fair, where new technologies are tested and demonstrated.

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Researchers Develop Anti-Insecticide Fabric That Neutralizes Pesticides

Researchers at the Institute for Stem Cell Science and Regenerative Medicine (inStem), in Bengaluru have developed an anti-insecticide fabric that effectively neutralises organophosphate-based pesticides. In an earlier work published about six years ago, the team had developed a gel for topical dermal application to deactivate the pesticides. But considering that compliance might be poor, the researchers looked at another alternative that is as effective in deactivating the insecticide but at the same time does not reduce compliance.

When esters present in organophosphate-based pesticides enter the body they bind and inhibit an enzyme (acetylcholinesterase or AChE) critical for neuromuscular function from working. Therefore, inhibition of this important enzyme is implicated in learning deficits, suffocation, paralysis, muscle weakness among others.

The Institute for Stem Cell Science and Regenerative Medicine (inStem) in Bengaluru has come up with a revolutionary solution, a fabric that kills insects. Pesticides that are based on organophosphates are neutralized by this cloth. This makes it safer for everyone to use, especially farmers who are often exposed to these chemicals.

Background of the Research

Integrative stem cell researchers first tried to neutralize organophosphate pesticides by making a gel that could be put on the skin and stop these dangerous chemicals from working. The team looked into more realistic options, though, because of problems with consistent use and following the rules. With this new focus, a special cloth was made that is better at solving the same problem.

Scientific Foundation of the Anti-Insecticide Fabric

Acetylcholinesterase (AChE) is an important enzyme for neuromuscular processes that organophosphate-based pesticides stop working. This can have very bad health effects, like suffocation, paralysis, and muscle weakness. A group of scientists lead by Dr. Praveen Kumar Vemula created a fabric that has small molecules on it that can break down pesticides in water before they can hurt the skin. The cellulose in the cotton fabric is covalently linked to these molecules. This makes the fabric not only good at killing pests but also resistant to wear and tear.

Advancements in Fabric Technology

Because the small molecules that stop the pesticides from working are directly attached to the fabric’s threads, the protective properties stay the same through up to 150 wash cycles, this fabric is one of a kind. Because it lasts longer and is easier to use, this new idea, which was created with the help of Sepio Health Pvt Ltd, is a big step up from previous options like the topical gel. This is mostly because users are more likely to stick with it.

Effectiveness and Practical Application

Tests on rats in the lab showed that the fabric did work. Different from rats that were exposed to regular fabric, rats that were protected by the anti-insecticide fabric kept their normal amounts of AChE after being exposed to the pesticide. That the carefully coated fabric protected rats from the harmful effects of the pesticides and saved their lives, as shown by the fact that all the rats that were wearing the fabric survived while those that weren’t didn’t.

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