Science and Technology

July 23, 2020

China successfully launched its first Mars Probe named ‘Tianwen 1’from the Wenchchang Spacecraft launch site. The Spacecraft was carried by the biggest and powerful rocket of China, Long March 5.
Its Objective is a comprehensive observation and investigation of the soil, atmosphere, environment and water on Mars.

July 21, 2020

Union Environment and Information & Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar hailed the KURMA mobile application as a unique tool for tracking and reporting Indian turtles.
The Mobile Application, KURMA, was launched on 23rd May this year on the occasion of World Turtle Day. The citizen science initiative aims at the conservation of turtles and tortoises.

July 20, 2020

New Android malware has been discovered that steals data such as credit card details, password from 337 applications.
The malware is being distributed using fake Google update packages offered on third party websites.
The malware is based on the leaked source code of another malware Xerxes. Again, Xerxes is based on the strains of other malwares.
The Malware asks for credit card details and login credentials before the user enters the app. It asks for the phone’s accessibility feature. It then uses Android DPC to access the admin.

July 20, 2020

A mobile Application of Prime Minister Street Vendor’s AtmaNirbhar Nidhi (PM SVANidhi) was virtually launched by Durga Shanker Mishra, Secretary, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) from New Delhi, in order to bring paper-less Microcredit facility for street vendors at their doorsteps and also to give force to the implementation strategy of the Scheme.
The aim of the app is to ease the sourcing and processing of loan applications of street vendors under the Scheme by providing a user-friendly digital interface for Lending Institutions (LIs) and their field functionaries like Banking Correspondents (BCs) and Agents of Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs)/ Micro-Finance Institutions (MFIs).

July 20, 2020

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has launched its first mission to Mars on 20th July 2020. The UAE is striving to develop its scientific and technological capabilities and move away from its dependence on oil.
The Hope Probe was launched from Japan’s Tanegashima Space Center on 20 July for a seven-month journey to Mars. The satellite will orbit around Mars and send back data about the atmosphere.
The total cost of the Emirates Mars Mission is $200 million.

July 18, 2020

Indian Institute of Management Kozhikode (IIMK) based start-up has developed a unique user-friendly wearable band named ‘Veli Band’ that alarms proximity for helping implement social distancing norms.
This wearable device has been developed by Qual5 India Pvt. Ltd, a startup co-founded by a woman entrepreneur, mentored and funded by IIMK’s business incubator and entrepreneurship development center.
Veli Band helps implement social distancing and location/contact tracing which can help organizations comply with social distancing norms during the current pandemic situation. It will notify wearers that another band is within 3 feet (1 meter), reminding them of the need to maintain social distance.

July 18, 2020

International Advanced Research Centre for Powder Metallurgy and New Materials (ARCI), Hyderabad, and Vehant Technologies, Noida has jointly developed KritiScan UV Baggage Disinfection System.
The device has been designed to control the spread of infection through baggage.
Kritiscan UV advanced baggage disinfecting system has a specially designed motorized conveyor to guide the baggage into the disinfection tunnel, which uses UVC light (254 nm) with appropriate irradiance to inactivate microbes and viruses.

July 16, 2020

China successfully sent a commercial telecommunication satellite, known as APSTAR-6D, into a planned orbit from the southwestern Xichang Satellite Launch Center.
The APSTAR-6D telecommunication satellite was launched by a Long March-3B carrier rocket. It was developed by the China Academy of Space Technology (CAST), a subsidiary of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation.
The geostationary satellite, APSTAR-6D is the first satellite of China’s global, high-throughput broadband satellite communication system that will form a space-wide Internet communication network covering the whole world, similar to GPS.

July 15, 2020

IIT Kanpur has developed an Ultraviolet (UV) sanitizing device named Smartphone operated Handy Ultraviolet Disinfection Helper (SHUDH). This device has 6 UV lights of 15 Watts each that can be individually monitored from a distance. Initial testing has proved that the device at its full operation can disinfect a 10×10 squared feet room in about 15 minutes.
SHUDH can assist in killing the spread of coronavirus at the highly prone places such as hospitals, hotels, malls, offices and schools. The on/off, speed, and location of the product can be controlled remotely using your available smartphone while installing an android application

July 13, 2020

The Atal Innovation Mission (AIM) of NITI Aayog has launched the ATL App Development Module for school children across the country, in line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of AtmaNirbhar Bharat.The ATL App is an online course by AIM and is completely Free.
The innovative course will have six project-based learning modules and online mentoring sessions to enable the young innovators learn how to build mobile apps in various Indian languages and showcase their talent.
The course has been jointly developed by AIM and Indian startup, Plezmo

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