(General Awareness For Bank's Exams) Science-and-tech Junly - 2014

(General Awareness For Bank's Exams)

The government proposes to adopt radiation technology developed by the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) for improving the shelf-life of fruits and vegetables especially onions, potatoes and tomatoes to address the issue of supply side shortage that often results in price rise.
Radioactive technology had been available in the country for some time and already in use in Maharashtra, though on a small scale, Safety concerns should be taken care of as existing norms do not permit radiation above a permissible limit.
Food irradiation is a physical process in which food and farm commodities, in pre-packed form or in bulk, are exposed to controlled radiation energy to prevent sprouting, delay ripening, kill insects, pests, pathogenic and spoilage micro-organisms.

The British government has confirmed that the two black boxes from Malaysian airlines Flight MH 17 that crashed in eastern Ukraine killing 298 on board have been handed over to British investigators.
Boxes will contain recordings of all cockpit conversations prior to the crash, The AAIB can now analyse hours of conversation and the contents of the flight data recorder for clues on why and how the plane went down.
The boxes were handed over by a joint technical protocol signed by representatives of the Netherlands, Malaysia, Ukraine and the United Nations’ International Civil Aviation Organisation.
The AAIB is responsible for the investigation of civil aircraft accidents and serious incidents within the U.K.

The Genetic Engineering Approval Committee (GEAC) has given the green signal for field trials of genetically modified (GM) rice, mustard, cotton, chickpea and brinjal.
While the GEAC has approved the commercial release of Bt brinjal it has been stayed by the Ministry of Environment and Mr. Pande said the government would have to take a decision on this.
The only genetically modified crop approved for release in India is cotton.
Three companies - Bayer Bio Sciences, Monsanto and BASF have been allowed to import the Soyabean oil, which is genetically modified. The last time Central Food Technological Research Institute (CFTRI), gave a clean chit to imported samples.

Astronomers have used a new type of telescope made by stitching together telephoto lenses to discover seven new dwarf galaxies.
Their Dragonfly Telephoto Array uses eight telephoto lenses with special coatings that suppress internally scattered light, This makes the telescope uniquely adept at detecting the very diffuse, low surface brightness
The previously unseen galaxies may yield important insights into dark matter and galaxy evolution
These are the same kind of lenses that are used in sporting events like the World Cup.

Exactly 75 days from Saturday, India’s Mars spacecraft is scheduled for a rendezvous with the red planet, Mars Orbiter Spacecraft has travelled 525 million km on its heliocentric arc.
In the last crucial milestone on June 11, ISRO performed the second Trajectory Correction Manoeuvre (TCM—2) on the orbiter as a mid-course correction to keep the spacecraft on course.
The ambitious Mars mission under a Rs 450 crore project was launched from Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh onboard the Pollar Satellite Launch Vehicle on November 5 2013.

INS Kamorta, the first in series of anti-submarine corvettes indigenously built by Kolkata based Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers Ltd. (GRSE), was handed over to Indian Navy.
It is first Indian Naval warship ever built in the country with almost 90 per cent of indigenous content.
The Indian Navy has got its largest-ever destroyer after the addition of the 163 metre-long vessel Kolkata (D63).
Kolkata (D63) is India’s first domestically built guided missile destroyer to feature a Western-style air search radar and stealth technology.
Kolkata has an all-round capability against enemy submarines, surface warships, anti-ship missiles and fighter aircraft.
It incorporates modern weapons and sensors having advanced information warfare suite, an auxiliary control system with sophisticated power distribution architecture and modular crew quarters.