1) GSLV-F05 lobs advanced weather satellite INSAT-3DR into orbit.
- The Indian Space Research Organisation`s GSLV-F05 rocket successfully placed INSAT-3DR advanced weather satellite lifts off from Sriharikota.
- INSAT-3DR, with a designed mission life of ten years, will provide service continuity to earlier meteorological missions and further augment the capability to provide various meteorological, search and rescue services.
- GSLV-F05 also marked a hat-trick of success for the indigenously developed complex cryogenic upper stage (CUS) after GSLV-D5 (January 2014) and D6 (August 2015) missions, which had launched GSAT-14 and GSAT-6 satellites into precise orbit.
2) Integration of DigiLocker with Driving Licenses & Vehicle Registration Certificates launched.
- Shri Nitin Gadkari, Minister of Road Transport & Highways and Shipping and Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad, Minister of Electronics & Information Technology and Law & Justice jointly launched a new service - integration of DigiLocker with Driving Licenses (DL) & Vehicle Registration Certificates (RC) in New Delhi.
- With this integration people will no longer need to carry around physical copies of their Driving Licences and RCs.
- These digital copies also can be shared with other government departments as identity and address proof.
- They can also be used for on the spot verification through the citizen’s mobile, by various law enforcement authorities like the Traffic Police.
- The integration of VRCs and DLs with DigiLocker will bring a major shift in the vision of paperless governance.
3) NASA launches OSIRIS-REx spacecraft to collect samples from Bennu asteroid.
- The US space agency NASA has launched OSIRIS-REx spacecraft to retrieve a rock sample from a 500m-wide asteroid called Bennu. Scientists hope the material will reveal details about the formation of the planets.
- The spacecraft was launched onboard a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.
- OSIRIS-Rex stands for Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security-Regolith Explorer.
- OSIRIS-Rex will travel for two years on a journey to Bennu, a near-Earth asteroid about the size of a small mountain.
4) North Korea Claims Success in Nuclear Test.
- North Korea has launched its largest ever nuclear test, generating global alarm with claims it is now able to mount atomic weapons on missiles for international strikes.
- The test confirmed the explosive power and other characteristics of a ``nuclear warhead that has been standardized to be able to be mounted on`` its ballistic missiles.
- The explosive yield was equivalent to 10 kilotons of TNT, the most powerful detonation unleashed in a North Korean nuclear test so far.
5) China tests quantum radar capable of beating stealth technology.
- A Chinese firm has developed and tested a radar system that uses quantum entanglement to beat the stealth technology of modern military craft.
- This first Chinese quantum radar was developed by the Intelligent Perception Technology Laboratory.
- Quantum radar is a device that uses quantum entanglement photons to provide better detection capabilities than conventional radar systems.
- The radar system is able to detect a target at a range of 100 kilometers in a real-world environment.
6) Kaspersky Lab Presents the First Cybersecurity Index.
- Moscow based Security Company Kaspersky Lab has launched the Kaspersky Cybersecurity Index to measure the current cyberthreat levels that internet users face.
- The Kaspersky Cybersecurity Index is based on this data, collected from thousands of users across the globe.
- The index shows that although 29% of users have experienced some form of cybercrime, only 60% have installed security solutions on all devices they use for internet access.
- The index will combine three indicators which will be measured every six months to assess the level of risk. The `concerned` indicator shows the percentage of people who believe they may be targeted by a cyberattack.