Uranus may have two more moons: Study

According to study conducted by researchers from University of Idaho, US Uranus may have two tiny, previously undiscovered moons orbiting near two of the planet’s rings. These two moons were detected by researchers after analysing decades-old images of Uranus’ icy rings taken by NASA’s Voyager 2 spacecraft which had flown by the planet 30 years ago. 

What researchers have found?

 Scientists have found that the pattern in Uranus’ rings was similar to moon-related structures in Saturn’s rings called moonlet wakes. They have estimate the hypothesised moonlets in Uranus’ rings may be four to 14 kilometres in diameter. It means they are as small as some identified moons of Saturn. 

How researchers discovered these moons? 

They had analysed decades-old images of Uranus’ icy rings taken by NASA’s Voyager 2 spacecraft which had flown by the planet 30 years ago. During their analysis they had noticed the amount of ring material on the edge of the alpha ring – one of the brightest of Uranus’ multiple rings – varied periodically. They also had found similar, even more promising pattern occurred in the same part of the neighbouring beta ring. They also had analysed radio occultations – made when Voyager 2 sent radio waves through the rings to be detected back on Earth. They also had analysed stellar occultations made when spacecraft measured light of background stars shining through the rings, which helped to show how much material they contain. 

What is significance of this research? 

Uranian moons are especially hard to spot because their surfaces are covered in dark material. These findings could help explain some characteristics of Uranus’ rings, which are strangely narrow compared to Saturn’s moons. It will also help to explain that if moonlets exist, they may be acting as “shepherd” moons, helping to keep the rings from spreading out. Two of Uranus’ 27 known moons, Cordelia and Ophelia act as shepherds to Uranus’ epsilon ring. 

About Uranus

 Uranus is the seventh planet from the Sun. It has the third-largest planetary radius and fourth-largest planetary mass in the Solar System. Uranus is similar in composition to Neptune and are classified as “ice giants” to distinguish them from the gas giants. Its primary composition of hydrogen and helium, but it also contains more ices such as water, ammonia, and methane, along with traces of other hydrocarbons Every planet in our solar system except for Venus and Uranus rotates counter-clockwise as seen from above the North Pole; that is from west to east.

Uttarakhand High court bans sale of whitener

The Uttarakhand High Court ordered state government to completely ban on the sale of whitener in the state following the death of a teenager from sniffing an excess of it. The High Court issued the order by taking suo motu cognisance of the death of the 14-year-old boy due to sniffing excess whitener for a kick. Besides, the high court also ordered that items such as Feviquick, Iodex should not be sold to children below 18 years of age in view of prevalent abuse of these among teenagers.

 What are whiteners?

 Whiteners are mainly used for erasing ink on paper and as shoe whitener. It contains volatile aliphatic petroleum hydrocarbons such toluene and trychloroethane which are intoxicating chemicals. 

What is whitener-inhalation addiction? 

In whitener-inhalation addiction, people inhale the whitener i.e. intoxicating chemicals present in it. By doing this for some time, it makes the sniffer dizzy, high and disconnected. It has a hallucinatory effect on the sniffer. Thus, it is the first step to drug addiction or alcoholism. The whitener abuse is generally seen among the youths. The problem has been compounded by its easy procurement, negligible cost and its lack of odour. 

What are side-effects of whitener-inhalation addiction on health?

 Whiteners contain hydrocarbons which is deadly solvents that can infuse easily with the blood and can affect the central nervous system of a person. Some of the reported symptoms of solvent addiction are uncharacteristic behaviours such as mood swings and insomnia and it may results in kidney, liver and lung damage 

What measures need to be taken to stop it? 

Government should completely ban the sale of products that contain intoxicating chemicals, like the whitener.

Union Government forms panel to resolve telecom penalty row

The Union Telecom Ministry has formed a committee to look into the regulator TRAI’s recommendation of a Rs. 3,050 crore penalty on top three telcos — Airtel, Vodafone and Idea. The committee has been asked to give a report on the recommendations soon likely to be before 15 November 2016. 

What is the case? 

Earlier TRAI had recommended Department of Telecom to impose penalty on these three incumbents telecom companies for denying interconnection points to Reliance Jio. According to TRAI, these three companies have violated licence norms by denying adequate interconnection points to Reliance Jio Infocomm. Their actions also have stifled the competition and are seen as anti-consumer and against public interest. The Reliance Jio had alleged that due to inadequate interconnection points its subscribers were unable to make calls to other networks. TRAI had recommended fine for Airtel and Vodafone to Rs.1,050 crore for 21 service areas (all, expect Jammu and Kashmir) and for Idea the penalty was pegged at Rs 950 crore for 19 service areas (all, except for Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and Northeastern States).

ISRO starts landing tests for Chandrayaan-2 mission

The Indian Space Research Organsiation (ISRO) has started a series of ground and aerial tests linked to the critical Moon landing of Chandrayaan-2. These tests were started as ISRO’s new site at Challakere in Chitradurga district, 400 km from Bengaluru. This site has simulated craters. ISRO Satellite Centre (ISAC) is the lead centre for the second Moon mission. It has artificially created close to ten craters to simulate the lunar terrain and test the Lander’s sensors. ISAC will conduct many tests including on avionics and electronics, testing the Lander’s legs, followed by a combined full test. 

About Chandrayaan-2 mission 

Chandrayaan-2 mission is tentatively set for late 2017 or early 2018. The mission includes an Orbiter, a Lander and a Rover. The Orbiter spacecraft will be launched from Sriharikota will travel to the Moon and release the Lander, which will in turn deploy a tiny Rover to roam the lunar surface. The mission includes soft-landing on Moon and moving a rover on its surface. All three project components will be sending data and pictures to Earth. 

Some facts about Chandrayaan-1 mission

 Chandrayaan-1 was India’s first lunar probe. It was launched by the ISRO in October 2008 and operated until August 2009. The spacecraft was launched by PSLV-C11 from Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh. It had completed 312 days in orbit. It made more than 3,400 orbits around the moon. The vehicle was successfully inserted into lunar orbit on 8 November 2008. The probe had impacted near Shackleton Crater ejecting underground soil that could be analysed for the presence of water or ice. It had sent more than 70,000 images of the lunar surface which provided breathtaking views of lunar mountains and craters, especially craters in the permanently shadowed areas of the Moon’s polar region.

CO2 level reaches record high in 2016: WMO

According to the World Meteorological Organization’s (WMO) annual Greenhouse Gas Bulletin level of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions in the atmosphere has reached a record high. The globally averaged concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere reached to 400 parts per million (ppm) for the first time in 2015. It is expected to surge again to new records in 2016 on the back of the very powerful El Niño event. 

Key Facts 

This is for the first time CO2 levels have reached the 400 ppm barrier on a global average basis for the entire year. Besides, longest-established GHGs monitoring station at Mauna Loa, Hawaii predicts that CO2 concentrations will stay above 400 ppm for whole of 2016 and not dip below that level for many generations. There was a 37% increase in radiative forcing (the warming effect on our climate) because of long-lived GHGs such as CO2, methane and nitrous oxide (N2O) released from industrial, agricultural and domestic activities between 1990 and 2015. 

What is relation between CO2 emissions and El Niño event?

According to WMO, the growth spurt in CO2 was fuelled by the El Niño event, which started in 2015 and had a strong impact well into 2016. The El Niño event had triggered droughts in tropical regions and reduced the capacity of “sinks” like forests, vegetation and the oceans to absorb CO2. These sinks currently absorb about half of CO2 emissions but now there is a risk that they may become saturated. Once these sinks become saturated it will increase the fraction of emitted CO2 which stays in the atmosphere. 

About World Meteorological Organization (WMO) 

WMO is an intergovernmental organization and specialised agency of the UN for meteorology (weather and climate), operational hydrology and related geophysical sciences. It is a member of the United Nations Development Group.

Established: It had originated from the International Meteorological Organization (IMO), which was founded in 1873. 

Membership: 191 Member States and Territories. Headquarters: Geneva, Switzerland.

ECI amends election rules to allow e-transfer of postal ballot

The Election Commission of India (ECI) has amended the Conduct of Election Rules, 1961 to facilitate the e-transfer of postal ballot. The new rules empower a returning officer in any constituency to send postal ballots to an eligible voter by electronic means as specified by the ECI. In India, postal ballots have played a critical role in extending the electoral process to voters who are unable to exercise their franchise due to either the nature of their job or geographical location of their posting.

 How the e-transfer of postal ballot will work? 

Under it, the returning officer can send ballot through a web portal with a ‘One Time Password (OTP)’ to voters. The voter needs to download the ballot for voting. The voter after voting will physically return the ballot through post. It should be noted that two-way e-voting has not been recommended by the Election Commission, citing security and secrecy concerns. 

What is significance of the new rule?

 The e-transfer of postal ballot will replace existing system in which postal ballots were sent through the Department of Posts. It will ease the logistical issues involved in ensuring that the ballot paper of the constituency, where a voter is eligible to vote, is sent in time. Thus, it will cut time in transmission of the ballot paper and help the EC overcome logistical problems.

PM Narendra Modi launches Urja Ganga in Varanasi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has laid the foundation stone of Urja Ganga, the highly ambitious gas pipeline project in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh. The gas pipeline project aims to provide piped cooking (PNG) gas to residents of the eastern region of the country and CNG gas for the vehicles. 

Key Facts 

The project is being implemented by state-run gas utility GAIL. It envisages laying a 2,050-km pipeline connecting Jagdishpur (UP) to Haldia (West Bengal) by 2018. From Varanasi’s perspective, 50,000 households and 20,000 vehicles will get cleaner and cheaper fuel PNGand CNG gas respectively. The project is considered as a major step towards collective growth and development of the Eastern region of India. Under it, overall 20 lakh households will get PNG connections. The Urja Ganga project also augments existing GAIL’s network of trunk pipelines covering the length of around 11,000 km by 2540 km. Besides, under this project work on 2540-km long Jagdishpur-Haldia and Bokaro-Dhamra Natural Gas pipeline project will begin and will be completed between 2018 and 2020. Seven East India cities Varanasi, Jamshedpur, Patna, Ranchi, Kolkata, Bhubaneswar, Cuttack – will be the major beneficiary of this network development. Besides, LNG terminal at Dhamra will provide clean fuel to the Industrial Development of the Eastern states of Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Bihar, West Bengal and Odisha. 25 industrial clusters in these 5 states will be developed using gas from this pipeline. Besides, 40 districts and 2600 villages will benefit from this project. It will also help in revival of defunct fertilizer plants in Barauni in Bihar, Gorakhpur in UP, Sindri in Jharkhand and Durgapur in West Bengal by supplying gas.