Current Affairs on Technology

Current affairs on 01 February 2017

Japan launched its first military communications satellite

Japan on 24 January 2017 launched its first military communications satellite Kirameki-2 through Mistubishi H-IIA rocket from southern-most islands of Japan, an area in which Tokyo and Beijing have clashed over the gas-rich East China Sea.
Satellite was launched to boost the broadband capacity of its armed forces with an aim to reinforce its presence at the southern edge of the East China Sea. Kirameki-2 is one of three planned X-band satellites that will allow communications across wider territory. It has a lifespan of 15 years.
It was built by DSN Corporation for the Japanese Ministry of Defence.
The Kirameki-1 satellite was damaged in 2016 during transportation to the launch site and is expected to be launched in March 2018.
Kirameki-3 is intended to be launched in 2021.

Kyocera introduces washable smartphone

Japan-based Kyocera has introduced a new “rafre” washable smartphone - successor to the orignal DIGNO rafre that features resistance to hot water and a touchscreen that be can be used even when the user’s hands are wet or when wearing gloves.
The product will be available from March 2017 in Japan.

Posted on: 31st January 2017 Read complete Article →

New material can switch betweeb hard & soft

Scientists from Researchers at University of Michigan have designed a novel meta material that can switch between being hard and soft without damaging or altering itself
They discovered a way to compose a metamaterial that can be easily manipulated to increase the stiffness of its surface by orders of magnitude

Posted on: 27th January 2017 Read complete Article →

Functional human skin

Scientists from Universidad Carlos III de Madrid & bio-engineering company BioDan Group have developed a new 3D bioprinter that can create totally functional human skin, which can be used for transplants.
The research makes human skin one of the first living organs created using bioprinting

Commerce Ministry launched RuBSIS

The Commerce Ministry launched an online system Rubber Soil Information System for rubber growers which would help them in reducing the cost of production and enhancing productivity.
Rubber Soil Information System (RubSIS) is an online system for recommending application of appropriate mix of fertilisers depending upon their soil nature.

Robot journalist made its debut in a Chinese daily newspaper

A robot journalist made its debut in a Chinese daily newspaper with a 300 characters long article written in just a second, scientists say.
The article was focused on the Spring Festival travel rush.
Its author, Xiao Nan, took only a second to finish writing the piece and is able to write both short stories and longer reports, according to Wan Xiaojun, a professor at Peking University who leads the team studying and developing such robots.
At present, robots are unable to conduct face-to-face interviews, cannot respond intuitively with follow-up questions and do not have the ability to select the news angle from an interview or conversation.

Posted on: 20th January 2017 Read complete Article →

India overtook Brazil and United States in App download

According to the data released by mobile analytics firm App Annie, during 2016 India overtook both the US and Brazil to become the nation that downloaded the most apps from Google Play Store.
Report also declared that China became the biggest source of revenue for Apple’s iOS App Store for the first time.
San Francisco-based App Annie’s research is widely used by app publishers and others involved in the digital industries.

Posted on: 19th January 2017 Read complete Article →

World's lightest high-performance mechanical watch developed

Scientists have developed the world's lightest high-performance mechanical watch made using the 'wonder material' graphene and weighing just 40 grammes.
The RM 50-03 watch was made using a unique composite incorporating graphene to manufacture a strong but lightweight new case to house the delicate watch mechanism.
The graphene composite known as Graph TPT weighs less than previous similar materials used in watchmaking.
Graphene is the world's first two-dimensional material at just one-atom thick. It was first isolated in 2004 and has the potential to revolutionise a large number of applications including high-performance composites for the automotive and aerospace industries, as well as flexible, bendable mobile phones and tablets and next-generation energy storage.

Posted on: 18th January 2017 Read complete Article →

Commerce Ministry Launches SEZ India App

The Union Ministry of Commerce and Industry (MOCI) has launched a mobile application named “SEZ India” that will help the SEZ Units and Developers to find information easily and track their transactions on Online System.
It will also facilitate them to file all their transactions digitally through SEZ Online system and track the status on the go through the SEZ India mobile app.

Posted on: 17th January 2017 Read complete Article →

Tamil Nadu Launches Mobile App Pinakin

Tamil Nadu government has launched a mobile application Pinakin to provide information of famous tourist destinations in the state and initially, it will cover world heritage tourist sites like Thanjavur Big Temple, Gangaikonda Cholapuram, Mamallapuram and Darasuram and soon include other places in the state.
The app will provide information on other major tourist destinations in Tamil Nadu.

Posted on: 17th January 2017 Read complete Article →