• Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways recently initiated the process of commencing operations of the Seaplane services, on the select routes, under a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) framework through prospective airline operators.

Sagarmala Seaplane Services (SSPS) 

• The project execution and implementation would be through Sagarmala Development Company Ltd (SDCL), which is under the administrative control of the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways.
• The proposed Origin-Destination pairs under Hub and Spoke model include various islands of Andaman & Nicobar and Lakshadweep, Guwahati Riverfront & Umranso Reservoir in Assam, Yamuna Riverfront / Delhi (as Hub) to Ayodhaya, Tehri, Srinagar(Uttrakhand), Chandigarh and many other tourist places of Punjab & HP; Mumbai (as Hub) to Shirdi, Lonavala, Ganpatipule; Surat (as Hub) to Dwarka, Mandvi & Kandla; Khindsi Dam, Nagpur & Erai Dam, Chandrapur (in Maharashtra) and/or any other Hub & Spoke suggested by the Operator.
• One such Seaplane Service is already in operation between Kevadia and Sabarmati Riverfront in Ahmedabad.

Sea Plane Services

• It will utilize the nearby water bodies for take-off and landing and thus connect those places in a much economical way as conventional airport infrastructure like a runway and terminal buildings are not required for seaplane operations.

• India has recently launched the 40th scientific expedition to Antarctica.
• The chartered ice-class vessel MV Vasiliy Golovnin will make this journey and will reach Antarctica in 30 days.

Indian Antarctic programme

• The Indian Antarctic expeditions began in 1981.
• The first trip comprised of a team of 21 scientists and support staff led by Dr SZ Qasim.
• After a humble beginning, the Indian Antarctic programme has credited to have built three permanent research base stations in Antarctica—named:

1. Maitri
2. Bharati
3. Dakshin Gangotri

• Dakshin Gangotri was decommissioned on 25 February 1990 and subsequently turned into a supply base.
• As of today, India has two operational research stations in Antarctica named Maitri and Bharati.
• The National Centre for Polar and Ocean Research (NCPOR), Goa, manages the entire Indian Antarctic program.

• Ministry of Defence (MoD) has recently signed a contract with Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) for procurement of 10 Lynx U2 Fire Control systems for frontline warships of Indian Navy.
• The Lynx system has been designed and developed indigenously that would further the ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ mission.

LYNX U2 GFCS

• It is a Naval Gun Fire Control System designed to acquire, track and engage targets amidst sea clutter which are disturbing radar-echoes of sea wave crests.
• It is capable of accurately tracking air/surface targets, generating required target data for predicting weapon aiming points and engaging target.
• The target engagement is carried out with the medium/short range gun mounts like Russian AK176, A190 and AK630 and the SRGM available onboard ships. 

• Samples of dead migratory water birds found at the Pong Dam Lake in Himachal Pradesh have tested positive for avian influenza or bird flu.
• It has now become the fifth state to report suspected cases of bird flu after Haryana, Rajasthan, Kerala and Madhya Pradesh.

Avian Influenza

• It is a highly infectious and severe respiratory disease in birds caused by the H5N1 influenza virus.
• It can occasionally infect humans as well, although human-to-human transmission is unusual, according to the World Health Organisation.

The Korea Superconducting Tokamak Advanced Research (KSTAR)

• It is South Korea’s magnetic fusion device.
• The KSTAR has often been referred to as South Korea’s “artificial sun”.
• It has recently set a new world record for fusion by reaching an ion temperature of over 100 million degrees Celsius for 20 seconds.
• The magnitude of the experiment can be understood from the fact that the Sun burns at 15 million degrees Celsius.
• By comparison, the KSTAR was able to achieve a temperature of over 6.6 times more than that of Sun’s.

Kolar Leaf-Nosed Bat

• It is found in only one cave in Hanumanahalli village in the Kolar district of Karnataka, and its population is less than 200 individuals.
• Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests and caves.
• It is currently evaluated as critically endangered by the IUCN.
• Recently Karnataka Forest Department, along with the Bat Conservation India Trust (BCIT), is on a war footing to save the Kolar Leaf-Nosed Bat from extinction.

Aurangabad

• Aurangzeb, who lived in Aurangabad until his death, tortured and killed Chhatrapati Sambahji, son of the Maratha warrior king Chhatrapati Shivaji.
• Following the historic incident there is a long standing demand for renaming Aurangabad city Sambahji Nagar, which has resurfaced recently.
• The district of Aurangbad is well known for UNESCO Heritage sites such as Ajanta Caves, Aurangabad Caves and Ellora Caves.

National Metrology Conclave

• National Metrology Conclave 2021 is being organised by CSIR - National Physical Laboratory, which is entering into its 75th year of inception.
• The theme of the conclave is Metrology for the Inclusive Growth of the Nation.
• During the conclave following initiatives are being inaugurated

1. National Atomic Timescale - The National Atomic Timescale generates Indian Standard Time with an accuracy of 2.8 nanosecond.
2. Bhartiya Nirdeshak Dravya - It is supporting testing and calibration of laboratories for quality assurance, at par with international standards.
3. National Environmental Standards Laboratory - will aid self-reliance in the certification of ambient air and industrial emission monitoring equipment.

Natural Gas

• Natural gas is used as a feedstock in the manufacture of fertilizers, plastics and other commercially important organic chemicals.
• A huge mass of India's natural gas production comes from the western offshore regions, particularly the Mumbai High complex.
• Gondwana is famous for coal fields nor natural gas, where Dharwar (Karnataka) has other minerals like iron, manganese not petrol.
• Union government has recently inaugurated Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) Regasification Terminal at Kochi (Kerala) which extends to Mangaluru (Dakshina Kannada district, Karnataka).
• The pipeline will supply environment-friendly and affordable fuel in the form of Piped Natural Gas (PNG) to households and Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) to the transportation sector.

Trans Fat

• Trans Fat is a food toxin which present in partially hydrogenated vegetable oils, baked and fried foods.
• Trans Fat or trans-fatty acids are a form of unsaturated fat which come in both natural and artificial forms.
• Trans Fats also contribute to insulin resistance and thus elevate the risk of developing type 2 diabetes.
• Recently, the Food Safety & Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has made an amendment to the Food Safety and Standards (Prohibition and Restriction on Sales) Regulations citing reduction in Trans fatty acid levels.
• The FSSAI’s revised regulation on trans-fat applies to edible refined oils, Vanaspati (partially hydrogenated oils), margarine, bakery shortenings, and other mediums of cooking such as vegetable fat spreads and mixed fat spreads.