China Develops Unmanned Sea Vessel
- China has developed a high-speed, intelligent unmanned 10.25-meter-long “SeaFly-01” sea vessel which can be used for a host of applications including submarine detection.
- The vessel completed a test at Nanhu Lake in Wuhan with maximum speed of 45 knots.
- It was built with carbon fibre material and is equipped with BeiDou communication navigation technology.
Japan Launch Advanced Weather Satellite
- Japan has launched a next-generation geostationary meteorological satellite “Himawari-9" to improve weather services in the Asia-Pacific region.
- Japan’s ninth geostationary weather observatory since the first satellite in the Himawari, or sunflower, series launched in 1977. Himawari 8 and 9 satellites were constructed by Mitsubishi Electric and Boeing.
China Launches First Heavy-Lift Rocket
- China has successfully launched its most powerful heavy-lift rocket which is expected to be used in future space programmes to propel the core module of China’s permanent space station as well as lunar and Mars missions.
- The Long March 5 rocket can carry up to 25 tons around the same weight as 16 cars into low earth orbit (LEO)
NASA successfully completed building the largest space telescope - James Webb Space Telescope
- NASA has successfully completed building the largest space telescope named James Webb Space Telescope, which is 100 times powerful than the successor for NASA’s iconic Hubble Space Telescope and is expected to launch in 2018 following the in-depth testing.
- James Webb Space Telescope has been a joint project of the NASA, the European Space Agency and the Canadian Space Agency and built at the cost of 8.8 billion US dollars
- NASA’s iconic Hubble Space Telescope that has been in service for last 26 years and has made innumerable discoveries since.
- The Webb telescope’s infrared cameras are so sensitive that it needs to be shielded from the rays of the Sun.
Google has tied up with Archaelogical Survey of India (ASI)
- Tech giant Google has tied up with Archaelogical Survey of India (ASI) for 360 degree virtual tour of 280-odd monuments across the country
- ASI had given the permission to Google for creating the virtual tour, which would be available in the maps.
- Some of the major monuments are Taj Mahal, Victoria Memorial and the ruins of Hampi, he said, adding eight were from Kolkata.
China developed stealth fighter Chengdu J-20 and shown publicly for the first time
- Chengdu J-20 newly developed stealth fighter developed by China that was shown publicly for the first time on 1 November 2016 at ‘Airshow China’, held in the southern city of Zhuhai.
- China has been refining designs for the J-20 so to narrowing a military technology gap with the United States.
- China is set to overtake the U.S. as the world’s top aviation market in the next decade.
DoPT Launch Employees Online Application
- The Department of Personnel & Training (DoPT) has launched Employees Online (EO) App.
- The mobile application aims to update on Appointments Committee of the Cabinet appointments and postings on real time basis and to bring transparency.
Union Cabinet approved the establishment of a National Academic Depository (NAD)
- The Union Cabinet on 27 October 2016 approved the establishment of a National Academic Depository (NAD) to make available all academic degrees, certificates and awards in the country for verification
- National Academic Depository (NAD) will be a digital depository of all academic awards in the country and will have mechanism to provide digital or a printed copy of the academic award with security features to the students or other authorised users.
- School learning certificates, degrees and higher education academic awards will be digitised by academic institutions, which would be responsible for the authenticity of data uploaded. NAD will thus effectively end the trend of fake degrees.
- NAD will verify academic awards online on the same day of request initiated by any authorised user and only recognised institutions would be asked to upload the degrees.
Air India Launches App for Bookings
- The launch of a mobile app is a part of the drive by the airline to increase direct consumer booking, domestically as well as internationally. Thus now Air India can improve customer experience of over 18 million of its passengers.
- The app intends to simplify booking, check-in and management of passenger journey using mobile device.
ECI Unveiled Three IT Based Systems
- The Election Commission of India (ECI) unveiled three IT-based systems – Samadhan, Suvidha and Sugam- for Punjab to ensure the election process is conducted smoothly.
- This includes an online grievance registration & redressal system.
