 NASA Astronaut Christina Koch has created a record for the longest single spaceflight by a woman. She has surpassed the earlier record of 288 days in space which was previously established by NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson in 2017. She would return to Earth in February 2020. Till then, she would have spent more than 300 days in the space. She is onboard the International Space Station since 14th March 2019. The world record for the single longest mission by any space explorer whether man or woman, is held by cosmonaut Valery Polyakov, who spent 438 consecutive days on board Russia’s former space station Mir from January 1994 to March 1995. |
| Source: The News On AIR |
 Russia’s 1st missile unit equipped with Avangard Hypersonic glide vehicle enters into service. Russia’s defence ministry stated that a new hypersonic weapon with latest strategic missiles of intercontinental range has became operational. The nuclear-capable missiles can travel more than 20 times the speed of sound. They have a “glide system” that affords great manoeuvrability and could make them impossible to defend against. The Avangard can carry a nuclear weapon of up to 2 megatons. Avangard is designed using new composite materials to withstand temperatures of up to 2,000 Celsius resulting from a flight through the atmosphere at hypersonic speeds. |
| Source: The BBC News |
 China has successfully launched its largest carrier rocket “Long March-5“. The rocket was launched from Wenchang Space Launch Center in south China’s Hainan Province. The rocket is also known as CZ-5. It was China’s third attempt to launch the rocket. The Chinese rocket carried the Shijian-20 satellite, a communication satellite and placed it into its designated orbit. The Shijian-20 satellite will lay the foundation for the development of highly sensitive space probes. It is China’s heaviest and most advanced communications satellite in geosynchronous orbit. |
| Source: The Business Standard |
 Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg has stepped down as the company is facing tough period following two fatal crashes. He will be replaced by Chairman David Calhoun effective January 13, 2020. He became the CEO of the world’s largest aerospace company in July 2015. The company’s best selling commercial jet was grounded worldwide in March 2019 after two fatal crashes killed 346 people. |
| Source: The Times of India |
 The Pakistan Government decided to import Polio markers from India recently. The Government had suspended the trade with New Delhi for months after abrogation of Article 370. |
| Highlights There are three countries in the world where Polio is still endemic. It includes Pakistan, Nigeria and Afghanistan. As of December 2019, there have been 111 documented cases of wild polio virus in Pakistan. In 2014, Pakistan had the highest number of polio cases in the world. The country has recently decided to import polio markers from India. The cabinet has provided one-time permission for the import. The polio markers are used to mark the fingers of the children after they are vaccinated with vaccines that are approved by the WHO. |
| Polio The disease is caused by Poliovirus. In 1995, India launched Global Polio Eradication initiative of WHO that aims at 100% coverage. With the programme successfully implemented, India has completely eradicated Polio. The last case of Polio was reported in 2011 in India. |
 Union Cabinet has given its approval for signing of Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Republic of India and Federative Republic of Brazil on Bioenergy Cooperation. |
| Background In 2016, during the meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President of Brazil in India, the two sides agreed to cooperate on research and development (R&D) of renewable energies, and in field of 2nd-generation biofuels. Therefore, in this regard, an MoU was also signed between two sides to provides a framework to cooperate as well as to promote investment in biofuel, bioelectricity and biogas supply-chains including industrial conversion, feedstock, distribution and end use sectors. |
| India-Brazil Energy Demand Brazil is one of the most important trading partners of India in entire Latin America and Caribbean (LAC) region. Both countries are also major consumers of energy in world. Brazil is currently world’s 2nd largest producer and consumer of biofuels. Moreover, biofuels and bioelectricity accounts for 18% of Brazil’s energy mix. India having strong focus in area of bio-fuels, has set a target to achieve 20% blending of ethanol in petrol and 5% blending of biodiesel in diesel by 2030. For this purpose India has also announced new policy on Biofuels in 2018. |
 Ecuador has activated the emergency protocols in the Galapagos Islands. The emergency protocol was activated to contain the environmental impact of a fuel spill in the Galapagos Islands. The step was taken after a barge carrying 600 gallons of diesel fuel sank. The accident occurred in a port on San Cristobal Island when a crane collapsed while loading a container onto the barge. The falling container destabilized the ship, causing it to sink. The Galapagos archipelago is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and home to one of the most fragile ecosystems on the planet. |
| Source: The Hindu |
 Health officials in Eastern Congo recently documented the first relapse of current Ebola epidemic. The Ebola outbreak in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has so far infected more than 3,300 people and killed more than 2,200 since the middle of 2018, making it the second-worst on record. According to World Health Organisation (WHO), this recent relapse happened in Aloya district where a motorcycle taxi operator is said to have come into contact with 33 people is potentially the cause of 11 new confirmed Ebola cases in past week. |
| What is Ebola? Ebola is a rare but deadly virus which was first identified in 1976 by researchers sent to investigate an ailment that was killing victims in a remote part of Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The researchers team named the condition after the local Ebola river. Ebola causes Ebola Virus Disease (EVD), a rare and deadly disease in people and nonhuman primates. Ebola is triggered by a virus- probably picked up from an infected bat or non-human primate – that causes blood vessels to leak and can end in organ failure and death. Ebola has killed more than 11,000 people between 2013 and 2016. |
 Eight West African countries have agreed to change the name of their common currency to Eco and severed their earlier currency CFA Franc’s links to former colonial ruler France. Benin, Burkina Faso, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Mali, Niger, Senegal and Togo currently use the currency. All the countries are former French colonies with the exception of Guinea-Bissau. The CFA franc, created in 1945, was seen by many as a sign of French interference in its former African colonies even after the countries became independent. |
| Source: The News on AIR |
 Describing space as the world’s newest war-fighting domain, US President Donald Trump officially launched US military ‘Space Force’ at an army base near Washington. Trump highlighted that the Space Force will help to deter aggression and control ultimate high ground. |
| What is Space Force? It is United States’ first new military service in more than 70 years, since Air Force was spun off from US Army in 1947. While Space Force is not designed or intended to put combat troops in space, it will be the provider of forces and will build on work of US Space Command (SpaceCom). SpaceCom was created in August 2019 as the overseer of US military’s space operations. Space Force would comprise around 16,000 Air Force and civilian personnel and will be funded by an initial US $40million for its first year. Instead of being its own military department, like US Navy, US Army and US Air Force, the Space Force will be administered by Secretary of Air Force. |
| What will the Space Force actually do? It is not intended to put troops into orbit, but will protect US assets like hundreds of satellites used for communication and surveillance. This space mission comes as US military chiefs see China and Russia making advancements in military final frontier. The space mission is part of a broader vision of achieving American dominance in space as amid grave threats to US national security. |
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