Context: The Election Commission of India has given the nod to the government, after the Model Code of Conduct came, to notify revised wages under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act for the next financial year, effective April 1.
About wage rates for MGNREGS workers:
The Ministry of Rural Development fixes state-wise wage rates for MGNREGS workers under sub-section (1) of section 6 of the MGNREGA, 2005.
The wage rates are fixed according to changes in the CPI-AL (Consumer Price Index-Agriculture Labourer) which reflects the increase in inflation in rural areas.
The CPI-(AL) is published by Labour Bureau, with 2010-11 as the base year.
These rates are revised every year.
MGNREGA wages are determined according to the amount of work completed, following a piece-rate system.
The actual payment is based on the productivity of the worker, which is measured against each state's specific Schedule of Rates.
These rates vary from state to state and serve as the basis for calculating wages for MGNREGA participants.
About Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act:
Introduced in: 2005.
Nodal ministry: Ministry of Rural Development (MRD).
Aim: For improving the purchasing power of the people living in rural areas. Primarily semi or unskilled work was given to people living below the poverty line in rural India. Also aims to guarantee the 'right to work' (Article 41).
Mandate: To provide at least 100 days of guaranteed employment in a financial year to every rural household whose adult members volunteer to do unskilled manual work at the statutory minimum wage.
Key features of the act:
It is a demand-driven wage employment programme and resource transfer from the Centre to the states is based on the demand for employment in each state.
Adult members of rural households submit their name, age and address with a photo to the Gram Panchayat, for job card.
The registered person can submit an application for work in writing (for at least fourteen days of continuous work) either to Panchayat or to Programme Officer.
If work is not provided within 15 days of applying, applicants are entitled to an unemployment allowance.
The employment will be provided within a radius of 5-km. And if it is beyond 5-km, extra wage will be paid.
Women are guaranteed one third of the jobs made available under the MGNREGA.
The people in coordination with local administration conduct the social audits, whose objective is to ensure public accountability.
Context: Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas has dedicated to the nation India’s first small scale liquified natural gas (SSLNG) unit at GAIL (India) Ltd.’s Vijaipur complex in Madhya Pradesh.
Need for Small Scale LNG
Government Ambition: Government aims to increase the share of Natural gas in its primary energy mix to 15% by 2030 from a little more than 6% at present.
Reduction in Pollution: Natural gas is far less polluting than conventional hydrocarbons like coal and oil.
Reduce import burden: Natural gas is cheaper than oil (85% of oil requirement comes from imports). Replacing a major chunk of diesel consumption by LNG could lead to substantial foreign exchange savings.
Transition fuel: Natural gas is seen as a key transition fuel in India’s journey towards green energy and future fuels.
For scaling up consumption: Large scale pipeline projects that are in the works will take years to be completed; even so, last mile delivery challenges may persist in many parts of the country.
More mileage: LNG offers a slightly longer range to vehicles with similar sized fuel tanks.
What is Small Scale LNG?
It refers to the liquefaction of natural gas and its transportation using unconventional means in a significantly smaller scale operation than the usual large-scale liquefaction, regasification, and the transportation infrastructure and processes.
Simply put, LNG-gas in its liquid and super chilled form is supplied in specialized trucks and small vessels to industrial and commercial consumers in regions that are not connected by pipelines.
In a relatively traditional use case, such as supplying compressed natural gas (CNG) for vehicles and piped gas for households and manufacturing units, the buyer would regasify the LNG using small vaporizers and then supply to end users.
Where the fuel is to be used directly in its liquid form, it would be supplied to end users without regasification.
The SSLNG chain can start from a large-scale LNG import terminal from where the LNG, instead of being regasified and supplied through pipelines, can be transported to consumers by cryogenic road tankers or small vessels.
The chain can also start at locations with ample natural gas supply or production, where small liquefaction plants can be set up.
Working of SSLNG
There are two treatment skids:
Zeolite pre-treatment skids: It is used to process natural gas at a pressure of 15 bar to remove non desirable components such as nitrogen, water, Sulphur, and Carbon di oxide.
Liquefaction skids: known as cryo box for converting natural gas to LNG at pressure of around 260 bar.
The gas is cooled by a propane based external refrigeration system to minus 60-70 degrees Celsius, and then subjected to expansion, such that the temperature falls below minus 140 degrees Celsius allowing it to liquify.
The LNG will then be dispatched by cryogenic tankers to nearby areas for use in city gas distribution networks as CNG and piped gas, and in LPG filling stations for medium and heavy vehicles.
The SSLNG unit is controlled by an automated, web based supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) system, a mechanism that is typically used to monitor large industrial devices and processes.
Challenges for India
Lack of easy availability of LNG powered vehicles.
High initial cost of LNG based vehicles as compared to diesel and petroleum-based vehicles.
Absence of an LNG vehicle financing system.
The nonexistence of LNG retail network.
Efforts taken
Petronet has collaborated with commercial vehicle manufacturers and other public sector oil and gas companies for trials and pilot projects for LNG- fueled trucks and buses.
Petronet has established a few LNG dispensing stations along highways.
GAIL is looking to build LNG dispensing stations along major highways.
Context: The Ram Temple at Ayodhya was formally inaugurated on 22nd January 2024. This was a after large scale social movement leading to the demolition of Babri Mosque at the disputed site on 6th December 1992. Following the demolition there was a long legal battle to ascertain the claims of the various groups on the disputed site. The judgement came in the favour of Hindu groups and the site was handed over to build a temple to commemorate the Ram Temple. The judgement emphasised on the following historical sources to ascertain the presence of Ram Temple and the tradition of worship of Ram at the site.
Babri mosque was built in 1528 AD on the instructions of Mughal Emperor Babur by Mir Baqi, who was the commander of Babur’s forces. However, a section of historians also say that the Babri Mosque was constructed by Aurangzeb.
Historical Sources quoted by Ayodhya Judgement
1. Janma Sakhies of Sikhism: Various Janma Sakhies have recorded the description of visit of Guru Nanak Devji to Ayodhya, where he had darshan of birthplace of Lord Ram. The accounts presented in the Janmasakhis depicts that pilgrim visited Ayodhya even before 1528 AD (when Babur is claimed to constructed the Babri Mosque).
Janma Sakhies are legendary biographies of Guru Nanak (1469-1539), founder of Sikhism. These are hagiographical accounts of the life of Guru Nanak written after the death of Guru Nanak, particularly noting the miracles and travels known as Udasis pursued by Guru Nanak. Largest of the JanmaSakhis is known as Guru Nanak Prakash, written by Kavi Santokh Singh.
2. Ain-i-Akbari by Abul Fazl: Ain-i-Akbari has section on Ramavatara or Ram-incarnation and Ayodhya. Ayodhya is noted as one of the largest cities of India and as one of the holiest cities. Around the city, earth was filtered for gold.
3. Account of William Finch: William Finch arrived in India in August 1608 at Surat with Captain Hawkins. He was an English Merchant in the service of East India Company. He travelled along with Captain Hawkins during the reign of Mughal emperor Akbar and Jehangir. He explored various Indian cities like Delhi, Ambala, Sultanpur, Ayodhya and Lahore.
His account is preserved in a book edited by William Foster called ‘Early Travels in India (1583-1619)’ which has accounts by Ralph Fitch, John Mildenhall, William Hawkins, William Finch, Nicholas Withington, Thomas Coriyat and Edward Terry.
William Finch arrived in India in 1608 at Surat with Captain Hawkins.
He visited Ayodhya between 1608-11. He did not find any building of Islamic origin in Ayodhya.
He noted the mount known as Ramkot or fort of Lord Rama.
4. Account of Niccolao Manucci: Manucci was Italian traveller who visited India during the reign of Shah Jahan and Aurangzeb. Manucci is famous for his account of his travels in Mughal India which is known as ‘Storia do Mogor’. Storia do Mogor presents a first-hand account of Shah Jahan, Aurangzeb, Shivaji, Dara Shikoh, Shah Alam I and Jai Singh I. He also provides a detailed account of folk beliefs and customs of the period. Manucci has listed the chief temples destroyed by Auranbzeb. Some of them are:
(a) Maisa (Mayapur)
(b) Matura (Mathura)
(c) Caxis (Kashi)
(d) Hajudia (Ajudhya)
5. Account of Joseph Tieffenthaler: Tieffenthaler was a Jesuit Missionary who visited India in 1740 (three decades after the death of Aurangzeb). His travel account is known as ‘Description Historiqueet Geographique Del’inde’ written in Latin. Tieffenthaler was reportedly proficient in Arabic, Persian and Sanskrit.
Tieffenthaler visited Ayodhya which is described in the text. He gives the following account:
Refers to Ayodhya as Adjudea.
Contains a reference to the belief of Hindus that Lord Rama is the human incarnation of Lord Vishnu (Described as Beschan in the account). Lord Rama was born at the site, the symbol it being the ‘Bedi’ or ‘cradle’.
Presence of Sita Rasoi which is a table like place worshipped as the kitchen of Sita.
Emperor Aurangzeb demolished the fortress called Ramcot and got a Muslim Mosque with triple domes, constructed at the same place.
Contains a reference to the use of fourteen black stone pillars which had existed at the site of erstwhile fortress.
His noted that despite the demolition by Aurangzeb there still existed a cult that continues to worship at the site and of large gatherings to mark and celebrate the birthday of Lord Rama.
6. Account of Robert Montgomery Martin: Montgomery Martin was an Anglo-Irish author and civil servant. He authored his account of 10 years of stay in medical practice in Shillong and working as a journalist in Calcutta where he established the ‘Bengal Herald’ newspaper. He wrote the ‘History, Antiquities, Topography and Statistics of Eastern India’ in three volumes based on his stay in India during the 1840s. He was one of the founding members of East India Association which was a London based organisation (1866) for raising matters concerning India with membership from Indians and retired British officials. (Note: Dadabhai Naoroji was the founder of East India Association).
He infers that the mosque was built by Mughal Emperor Babur and was the most modern in architecture.
However, Martin notes the destruction of Hindu places of worship by Aurangzeb.
He also noted the presence of pillars in the Mosque made of black stones.
7. Edward Thornton’s Gazetteer: Edward Thornton authored ‘Gazetteer of territories under the Government of East India Company and the Native States on the Continent of India’.
Context: NVIDIA has unveiled Blackwell AI Chip which are said to be the most powerful Artificial Intelligence enabled microchips in the world.
What is GPU? Graphic Processing Unit
A Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) is a specialized circuit that accelerates image and video processing. GPUs have evolved into powerful parallel processors with applications beyond visual computing.
GPU Meaning and Usage: A GPU handles graphics and images in computers and phones, enhancing visuals in gaming and other applications.
Difference between CPU and GPU
Central Processing Unit (CPU): The brain of a computer system, consisting of the arithmetic logic unit (ALU) for calculations and the control unit (CU) for instruction sequencing and branching. It interacts with memory, input, and output components.
Graphics Processing Unit (GPU): A specialized processor for rendering images and graphics, particularly in computer games. GPUs are faster than CPUs and emphasize high throughput. They contain more ALU units than CPUs and share RAM with electronic equipment.
CPU focuses on low latency, while GPU focuses on high throughput.
CPU consumes more memory than GPU.
GPU is faster than CPU.
CPU has fewer, more powerful cores, while GPU has more, weaker cores.
CPU is suitable for serial instruction processing, while GPU is suitable for parallel instruction processing.
Technology behind GPUs
GPUs function by offloading parallelizable tasks from the CPU, leveraging data parallelism, APIs, shaders, and general-purpose computing capabilities.
Streaming Multiprocessors (SMs): SMs are the core processing units in GPUs, comprising multiple cores that operate concurrently to execute tasks in parallel.
Memory Hierarchy: GPUs have a dedicated memory hierarchy, including global memory, shared memory, and registers, to optimize data storage and access for enhanced performance.
Parallel Processing: GPUs excel in parallel processing, executing multiple operations simultaneously through the presence of multiple cores within SMs.
GPUs and Artificial Intelligence
GPUs have been called a rare-earth or even gold for Artificial Intelligence. This is due to the following reasons:
GPUs employ parallel processing.
GPU systems scale up to supercomputing heights.
The GPU software stack for AI is broad and deep.
GPUs perform technical calculations faster and with greater energy efficiency than CPUs.
Diverse Applications of GPUs
Gaming: GPUs provide realistic graphics and smooth animations for an immersive gaming experience.
Deep Learning and AI: GPUs accelerate matrix calculations essential for training and running deep neural networks.
Scientific Computing: GPUs expedite complex computations in simulations and calculations across various scientific domains.
Medical Imaging: GPU acceleration enables real-time rendering and analysis of medical imaging data.
Cryptocurrency Mining: GPUs efficiently handle the complex calculations required for validating cryptocurrency transactions.
GPU Applications Beyond Graphics
Data Science and Machine Learning: GPUs accelerate training and running complex machine learning models.
Cryptocurrency Mining: GPUs efficiently parallelize calculations for validating cryptocurrency transactions.
Computational Biology and Drug Discovery: GPUs accelerate simulations and analyses in biology and drug discovery.
Financial Modeling and Simulation: GPUs boost processing speed for complex financial models and simulations.
Autonomous Vehicles and Robotics: GPUs contribute to real-time object detection and decision-making in autonomous systems.
Challenges and Future Trends in GPU Technology
GPUs face challenges related to energy efficiency, ray tracing, quantum computing, and edge computing. Ongoing developments aim to address these challenges and shape the future of GPU technology.
Context: Airport Economic Regulatory Authority in India has snubbed the revenue projections from non-aeronautical services of Adani-controlled Thiruvananthapuram airport in Kerala as a very miniscule amount.
About Airports Economic Regulatory Authority (AERA)
AERA is a statutory body constituted under the Airports Economic Regulatory Authority of India Act, 2008 based on the recommendation of Naresh Chandra Committee.
Function:
The AERA regulates tariffs and other charges (development fee and passenger service fee) for aeronautical services (air traffic management, landing, and parking of aircraft, ground handling services) at major airports.
Major airports: Airports with annual passenger traffic of at least 35 lakhs.
Note: For remaining airports, it is regulated by the respective airport operators with guidance from AERA.
To monitor the set performance standards relating to quality, continuity and reliability of the services as may be specified by the Central Government or any authority authorized by it in his behalf.
To determine the tariff once in five years and can amend the same in public interest, during the said period of five years.
Reason for setting up AERA:
In 1997, Government of India formulated Airport Infrastructure Policy, which provided for private sector’s participation for improving quality, efficiency and increasing competition.
As a result of this initiative, Greenfield airports in Public-Private Partnership came up in Bangalore and Hyderabad. This trend indicated growing competition and a requirement of level playing field amongst different categories of airports in future.
The Airports Authority of India then performed the role of airports operator as well as the regulator, which resulted in conflict of interest.
Thereafter the Government of India set up Naresh Chandra Committee to prepare the road map for civil aviation sector. The Committee recommended for setting up of an independent regulatory authority.
Accordingly, the Airports Economic Regulatory Authority Act, 2008 established AERA.
Context: RBI has issued guidelines for lending and borrowing in Government securities. This move is expected to add depth and liquidity to Government Securities market aiding in better price discovery for Government securities.
Salient Features of Framework for Lending & Borrowing of G-Secs
Government Securities Lending Transaction (GSL-Transaction):
Refers to dealing in Government securities involving lending of eligible Government securities for a fee, by the owner of those securities (lender) to a borrower, on the collateral of other Government securities.
The GSL Transaction should be for a specified period of time with an agreement that the borrower shall return to the lender the security and lender shall return the securities received as collateral to the borrower at the end of the agreed period.
Government Security Lending Fee is the feed paid by the borrower to the lender of Government Security as mutually agreed between them for undertaking the transaction. (RBI will not mandate the fee).
Eligible securities for lending/borrowing:
All Government Securities issued by the Central Government (excluding Treasury Bills) would be eligible for lending/borrowing under a Government Security Lending (GSL) transaction.
Securities obtained under a repo transaction, including through RBI's Liquidity Adjustment Facility or borrowed under another GSL transaction will also be eligible for lending under GSL transaction.
Collateral for lending/borrowing:
G-Secs issued by Central Government (including Treasury Bills) and State Government Bonds would be eligible for placing as collateral under a GSL transaction.
Also securities obtained under a repo transaction, including through RBI's Liquidity Adjustment Facility, or borrowed under another GSL transaction are also eligible to be placed under a GSL transaction.
Eligible participants:
Eligible entities for lending of securities for GSL Transaction:
Eligible entities for borrowing of securities for GSL Transaction: Scheduled Commercial Banks, Primary Dealers, Urban Cooperative Banks.
Pricing of securities/collateral: In a GSL transaction, the securities should be lent (placed as collateral) in the first leg at market related prices and received in the second leg at the same prices. The second leg would involve a consideration amount viz. the GSL fee to be paid by the borrower to the lender of the security.
Computation of Statutory Liquidity Ratio (SLR)
SLR eligible securities borrowed under a GSL Transaction to counted as SLR by the borrower. Such securities lent under a GSL transaction to be not accounted for SLR by the lender. (Similarly for the collateral).
Maturity of GSL Transactions: Minimum tenor of a GSL transaction shall be one day and maximum tenor shall be maximum tenor shall be maximum period prescribed to cover short sells.
Lending/borrowing process:
GSL Transactions may be contracted using any mutually agreed process/platform, including but not limited to, bilateral or multilateral, quote driven or order driven process, anonymous or otherwise.
Settlement of all GSL Transactions will be on a Delivery versus Delivery basis and shall settle through Clearing Corporation of India limited or any other central counterparty or clearing arrangement approved by RBI.
About Indian Astronomical Observatory/ Hanle Dark Sky Reserve:
The Indian Astronomical Observatory (IAO) or Hanle Observatory is a high-altitude astronomical observatory located in Hanle valley, UT Ladakh, India.
It is operated by the Indian Institute of Astrophysics.
Located atop Mt. Saraswati in the Nilamkhul Plain, at an altitude of 4500 metres, it is one of the highest and best sites in the world for optical, infrared and gamma-ray telescopes.
The observatory holds the title of India's first dark-sky reserve, due to the minimal light pollution, reduced atmospheric interference, low atmospheric water vapour and exceptionally clear (cloudless) skies in the region. This makes it a prime location for astronomers to study the universe (galaxies, nebulae, stars gazing etc.)
Dark Sky Reserves:
A Dark Sky Reserve is a designated area that aims to preserve and protect the quality of its night skies by minimising light pollution orrestricting artificial light pollution. These reserves are recognised for their exceptional natural darkness and starry skies, and are specifically protected for scientific, natural, educational, and cultural purposes, primarily to advance astronomy.
International Dark-Sky Association (IDA) is a U.S.-based non-profit organisation that designates places as International Dark Sky Places, Parks, Sanctuaries and Reserves, depending on the criteria they meet.
Why does Dark Sky preservation matter?
Light pollution not only obscures our view of the stars but also disrupts ecosystems and affects human health. With over 80% of the world's population living under light-polluted skies, the need to preserve our night sky heritage has never been more urgent. Initiatives like the Hanle Dark Sky Reserve in Ladakh, India, underscore the importance of combating light pollution and promoting awareness about the significance of dark skies.
Key Fact:
In January 2024, The Pench Tiger Reserve (PTR) in Maharashtra was certified as India’s first-ever Dark Sky Park (DSP) for protecting the night sky and preventing light pollution, making the facility ideal for astronomy enthusiasts.
Context: Greater focus on forest and forest like areas in Urban settings have increased interest in Arboriculture.
About Arboriculture
Arboriculture is a branch of horticulture involved in cultivating and managing and maintaining trees, shrubs and other woody plants in urban and suburban settings.
Arboriculture differs from urban forestry in the sense that urban forestry deals with the management of forests as systems (or groups of trees) in an urban setting.
Arboriculture deals with the planting of trees, management through mulching, thinning and tending, ‘training’, fertilizer application, irrigation, pruning, and disease and pest management.
Arboriculture also means assessing existing trees and vegetation to ensure protection to the valued in this category. Valuable trees within an urban area cannot be lost. Very often older trees may need careful pruning and tending to.
Amenity Trees: The main focus of Arboriculture is on so-called ‘Amenity Trees’. Amenity trees are maintained primarily for landscape purposes for the benefit of human beings Amenity Trees are found those found in private gardens, public parks and open spaces, schools, churchyards, playgrounds, urban woodlands and nature reserves and alongside roads, railway lines and routes for utilities like electricity pylons.
Significance of Arboriculture
Environment
Trees and shrubs are very effective in urban settings, for sequestering carbon and accumulating it in the form of biomass in the soil.
Healthy trees and shrubs act as a hedge against disproportionate heating of the urban landscape (Heat Island).
Preserving Habitats
Trees are home to a host of species. Trees and plants offer shelter and food to insects, birds, squirrels and more.
Aesthetics
An urban landscape dotted with healthy plants and shrubs adds to the aesthetics of the locality. It also acts as a catalyst for overall wellbeing of the residents.
Challenges
According to present-day thinking, planting trees cannot be an unplanned activity to meet green targets.
Planting wrong trees at the wrong place can affect the soil, water flows, biodiversity, and air quality.
Valuable trees within an urban area cannot be lost. Very often older trees may need careful pruning and tending too. However more focus is given to new plantation.
Context: The Union Cabinet approved the proposal of the Ministry of Commerce andIndustry, Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade for Uttar Poorva Transformative Industrialization Scheme, 2024 (UNNATI – 2024) for a period of 10 years.
About UNNATI SCHEME:
Launched in: 2024
Till: 2034
Corpus: 10,037 crore
Type of scheme: Central sector scheme
Aim: To generate gainful employment and development of Industries in the states of Northeast Region, will lead to the area’s overall socio-economic development.
Implementing agency: Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade.
Target: Direct employment opportunities of about 83,000 and significant number of indirect employments.
Key features: All eligible Industrial Units to commence their production or operation within 4 years from the grant of registration.
Districts are categorized in two zones: Zone A (Industrially Advanced Districts) & Zone B (Industrially Backward Districts)
60% of the outlay of Part A has been earmarked to 8 NE states and 40% on a First-In-First-Out (FIFO) basis.
All new Industrial units and Expanding units would be eligible for the respective incentives.
Context: Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) has commissioned India's largest Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) project in Rajnandgaon, Chhattisgarh.
About the project
The Solar Battery Project is a 40 MW/120 MWh Battery Energy Storage System with an installed capacity of 152.35-megawatt hour and a dispatchable capacity of 100 MW AC.
The project has deployed bifacial modules which reflect the light from the ground. This helps in generating more electricity than monofacial modules.
The energy generated from the plant would be purchased by the state of Chhattisgarh for meeting the peak energy demand of the state using green electrons and towards its renewable purchase obligations.
The project will ensure overall power stability and reliability by ensuring an efficient evacuation of power.
Funding of the project: This project has been financed by the Clean Technology Fund of the World Bank and other long-term finances.
One of the limitations of Solar energy is that it produced only in the daytime. This problem could be addressed by storing solar energy into battery systems.
The energy used in the battery systems can be used later when there is peak demand (often in the evenings).
Bifacial solar modules
Bifacial solar modules produce solar power from both sides of the panel. In contract, monofacial solar cells produces electric energy only when photons impinge on their front side.
Bifacial solar cells can make use of albedo radiation from the bottom and using diffused sunlight to be used.
Bifacial solar cells come with advantages such as higher energy output and lower installation costs.
Bifacial solar cells have greater durability as both sides are resistant to ultra-violet light and potential-induced degradation is also reduced when the bifacial module is frameless.
Clean Technology Fund
Clean Technology Fund provides large-scale financial resource for investing in clean technology projects in low and middle-income countries.
They contribute to the demonstration, deployment and transfer of low-carbon technologies with significant potential for reducing long-term greenhouse gas emissions.
This is a fund under Climate Investment Fund.
Clean Investment Fund has also established Clean Technology Fund Parallel Fund (CTFPF) which has been established in 2022. This is a parallel and associated fund of the CTF. This fund is used to accept new loan contributions in support of CTF activities in accordance with allocations made by CTF Trust Fund Committee.
Climate Investment Funds (CIF)
CIF is one of the largest multilateral climate funds in the world to mobilise finance for low-carbon, climate-resilient development at scale in developing countries.
Climate Investment Fund comprises of two funds – (i) Clean Technology Fund (ii) Strategic Climate Fund.
Funds under Strategic Climate Fund are:
Pilot Program for Climate Resilient (PPCR)
Scaling Up Renewable Energy Program in Low Income Countries (SREP)
Context: Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC), the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) facility at Thumba in Thiruvananthapuram, has developed the multi-purpose app SAKHI that will help astronauts on Gaganyaan space flight mission carry out a range of tasks.
About SAKHI App:
The Space-borne Assistant and Knowledge Hub for Crew Interaction (SAKHI) is a digital platform integrated to the space suits of astronauts that will assist the astronauts as follows:
Looking up vital technical information: Give assistance to the astronauts regarding technical documents and training manuals digitally at short notice, thereby, preventing the need to carry manual documents.
Monitor the health of the astronauts: SAKHI will also keep a close watch on their physical condition/ vitals by providing information on key parameters like blood pressure, heart rate and oxygen saturation and alert them about their dietary schedules, hydration level, sleep patterns throughout their mission.
Maintain mission log: Astronauts can use the app to maintain a log on the mission in multiple formats including voice records, texts and images.
Help them stay connected with Earth: SAKHI will keep the crew connected with the onboard computer and ground-based stations, guaranteeing a seamless communication link.
Gaganyaan Human Spaceflight Mission:
Gaganyaan mission envisages demonstration of human spaceflight capability by launching a crew of 3 members to a Low earth Orbit of 400 km for a 3 days mission and bring them back safely to earth, by landing in Indian sea waters. ISRO is hoping to launch the Gaganyaan human spaceflight mission in 2025.
The crewed flight is planned on the Human Rated Launch Vehicle Mark 3 (LVM3) as the launch vehicle. It comprises solid, liquid and cryogenic stages.
Human Space Flight Centre will coordinate the Indian Human Spaceflight Programme. The agency will be responsible for implementation of the Gaganyaan project.
ISRO has already performed a Crew Module Atmospheric Re-entry Experiment and a Pad Abort Test for the mission. The project will cost less than Rs. 10,000 crore.
India has revealed the identities of the four astronaut-designates, all IAF test pilots at the VSSC in February 2024. The final crew for the mission will be picked from among the four.
If completed on schedule, India will become the world's fourth nation to conduct independent human spaceflight after the Soviet Union/Russia, United States and People's Republic of China.
Context: Apple has recently launched the PQ3 encryption model for its messaging app.
About PQ3:
It is a post-quantum cryptographic model to encrypt the messages.
It is designed to protect classical operating systems against quantum enabled cyber-attacks.
Classical cryptography
Classical computers employ classical cryptography strategies such as RSA, Elliptic Curve signatures, Diffie-Hellman key exchange to establish secure end-to-end encrypted connections between devices.
These algorithms are based on difficult mathematical problems which are difficult to crack by classical computers. However, the rise of quantum computers can solve these mathematical problems.
To mitigate these risks to information security from future quantum computers, researchers have been developing post-quantum cryptography.
What is Post-Quantum Cryptography
Post-quantum cryptography, also known as quantum encryption, is the development of cryptographic systems for classical computers that can prevent attacks launched by quantum computers.
These are new public key algorithms that provide building blocks for quantum-secure protocols but don’t require a quantum computer to run.
It is different from quantum key distribution (QKD) in the sense that QKD allows a secret cryptographic key to be shared between two remote parties in such a way that key interception can be easily detected.
Shor's Algorithm, named after mathematician Peter Shor, is a quantum algorithm designed to efficiently factorize large composite numbers. It's one of the most famous and impactful algorithms in quantum computing, as it provides an exponential speedup over the best-known classical algorithms for factoring.
Shor's Algorithm can factor a composite number in polynomial time, compared to the exponential time required by classical algorithms.
Shor's Algorithm represents a landmark achievement in quantum computing, showcasing the potential of quantum algorithms to solve problems previously considered intractable. Its discovery has had a profound impact on both the theoretical and practical aspects of quantum computing and cryptography, inspiring further research into quantum algorithms, complexity theory, and the development of quantum-resistant cryptographic protocols.
