gk update for October 6, 2014

ISRO to launch M3M satellite of Canada  

 October 6, 2014

Canada’s M3M (Maritime Monitoring and Messaging Micro-Satellite)  is set to be launched by India’s PSLV rocket. The agreement for the same was signed by India’s Antriux Corp. and Canada’s COM DEV Intl. The satellite is due to be launched in July 2015. The satellite was built for the Canadian Department of National Defence, and is a communications satellite. The satellite was built at a cost of $21 mn by COM DEV Intl.

Initially, the satellite was to have been launched on a Soyuz rocket in Russia. However, in light of the international restrictions

on trade with Russia due to the Crimea and Ukraine crisis, Canada decided not to go ahead with the arrangement.

3 Win Medicine Nobel for Discovering Brain GPS |

October 6, 2014

 File photo of Nobel prize. (Associated Press)

Stockholm:  U.S.-British scientist John O'Keefe and Norwegian married couple May-Britt Moser and Edvard Moser won the Nobel Prize in medicine on Monday for discovering the brain's positioning system.
This "inner GPS" helps explain how the brain creates "a map of the space surrounding us and how we can navigate our way through a complex environment," the Nobel Assembly said.
O'Keefe, of University College London, discovered the first component of this positioning system in 1971 when he found that a certain type of nerve cell was always activated when a rat was at a certain place in a room.
Thirty-four years later May-Britt and Edvard Moser, of the Norwegian University of Science and Technology in Trondheim, identified another type of nerve cell that generates a coordinate system for precise path-finding, the assembly said.
It said that knowledge about the brain's positioning system may "help us understand the mechamism underpinning the devastating spatial memory loss" that affects people with Alzheimer's disease.
The Nobel awards in physics, chemistry, literature and peace will be announced later this week. The economics prize will be announced next Monday.

China test fires long range missile Dongfeng-31B

October 6, 2014

China test fired a new variant in its Dongfeng-31 missile range on September 25

Dongfeng-31A

It is a 10,000 km long range missile that is capable of targeting Europe and the West Coast of USA. It can strike with three warheads, including nuclear warheads.

Dongfeng-31B

This is latest variant, and an advanced form of Dongfeng-31A. This is also a long range missile with a reach of 10,000 km. However, it can carry multiple nuclear warheads, unlike Dongfeng-31A which is restricted to three.

 Dongfeng-41

China is also working on developing a Dongfeng-41 missile. Dongfeng-41 is expected to have a range of 12,000 km which will enable it to target all the parts of USA.

October 6, 2014.

Chennai Super Kings clinches Champions League Twenty-20

In the Champions League Twenty-20 final match, Chennai Super Kings defeated Kolkata Knight Riders by 8 wickets to win the Champions League Trophy.

 Player of the Match

P.Negi of the Chennai Super Kings was named the Player of the Match.

 Past Performance

This is the second Champions League win for the Chennai Super Kings, who won earlier in 2010.

 Champions League Twenty-20

This is an international Twenty-20 cricket competition played between major domestic teams from cricketing nations. It has been an annual event from 2009. The League is jointly owned by BCCI, Cricket Australia and Cricket South Africa.

4th National Level Exhibition and Project Competitions (NLEPC) Begins    

 October 6, 2014

Shri Ajit Kumar Seth, IAS, Cabinet Secretary to Govt. of India today formally inaugurated the  4th National Level Exhibition and Project Competitions (NLEPC ) here at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi. He visited the various stalls and saw the Science models brought by the children from different parts of the country and appreciated their amazing innovatives. Shri Seth was accompanied by Prof. K.Vijay Raghavan, Secretary, Department of Science & Technology, Former Secretary DST Dr. T.Ramasami, Smt. Rita Menon and other senior Scientists and officers from the M/o Science & Technology. 

 The basic objective of INSPIRE is to communicate to the youth of the country the excitement of creative pursuit of science, attract talent to the study of science at an early age and thus build the required critical human resource pool for strengthening and expanding the science and technology system and R&D base.  The programme was launched on 13th December 2008.  The implementation

started during 2009-10.