Cheapest solar powered eToilet for schools unveiled

Eram Scientific, Thiruvananthapuram (Kerala) based private company has come out with a new unmanned, self-cleaning e-toilet named as 'e-Lite14' for schools, which it claims is the cheapest in the market. 

Eram Scientific's, eToilet is India's First Electronic Public Toilet. 

The product, 'e-Lite14' of Eram Scientific has an in-built solar panel and metallic platform.

This model is designed for schools, has automated self-cleaning and washing mechanisms and automatic floor wash system. 

The company claimed their product comes in the wake of the 'Clean India Campaign' launched by the government and even it perfectly matches with the 'Make in India' campaign.

Eram Scientific has deployed over 600 e-toilets in 11 states in the country, out of which more than 200 are in schools.

Key Features of eToilet

• Innovative Design to fit busy Indian towns and cities.
• State-of-the-art Technology to address public sanitation challenges.
• Modular, Sleek and Appealing Aesthetics.
• Mild Steel/ Stainless Steel built.
• Compact and User-Friendly access and interfaces.
• Hygienic and Easy to maintain components and accessories.
• Durable and Vandal-Resistant enclosure.
• Easy to Install & Relocation, if required.

Functionalities of eToilet:

• User Guides- Display Boards & Audio Instructions.                                
• Sensor based resource Conservation.
• Unmanned Operation.
• Automated Access Control.
• Automated Cleaning mechanism.
• Remote Diagnosis & Remote Management.
• Customer Support Facility.
• Transparency through Web Reports .                             
• Online Mapping.
• Waste processing through STP.                       
• Easy to Clean.
• Corrosion Resistant Models .
• Installation in 2-4 hours’ time.
• GPRS enabled units for real-time up gradations.
• Solar powered

How dose eToilet works?

• eToilet incorporates full cycle approach in sustainable sanitation by integrating convergence of electronics, mechanical, web-mobile technologies thereby controlling entry, usage, cleaning, exit, and remote monitoring capabilities with multiple revenue options. 
• The insertion of a coin opens the door of the eToilet for the user, switches on a light—thus saving energy and even directs the person with audio commands.
• The toilets are programmed to flush 1.5 liters of water after 3 minutes of usage or 4.5 liters if usage is longer.
• It can also be programmed to clean the platform with a complete wash down after every 5 or 10 persons use the toilet.

What are advantages of eToilet?

• It will in addressing public sanitation by developing a product that is portable, hygienically maintained, and eco-friendly.
• This low cost infrastructure will help modernizing highways, railways, telecom, ports, and power.
• It will help to create a better quality of life for citizens and tourists alike: The creation of an urban sanitation infrastructure.

Climate change will exacerbate the threat of Megadroughts: Scientists

Scientists have warned that Climate change will exacerbate the threat of Megadroughts in report titled Assessing the risk of persistent drought using climate model simulations and paleoclimate data.

This report was published in September 2014 issue of American Meterological Society’s Journal of Climate.

The report is considered as the first to scientifically establish that climate change exacerbates the threat of Megadroughts. This report has taken into consideration of North and South America for its research.

Highlights of report:

• Megadroughts will become considerably more frequent as global warming increases temperatures and reduces rainfall in regions already susceptible. It will lead to severe than the prolonged water shortage.
• Without climate change, there would be a 5 to 15 per cent risk of a megadrought in the south-west of the US this century. But due to climate change, the probability of megadrought jumps to between 20 per cent and 50 per cent, with the southernmost part of the country particularly at risk.
• The threat megadroughts poses is so great that it could decimate the world’s economy and food supply, inflicting a humanitarian crisis.
• Megadroughts have occurred periodically around the world in the past few thousand years. In some cases it had caused civilisations to collapse, such as the ancient Puebloan native-American tribes in the south-west of the US. They abandoned their homes during a megadrought in the late 13th century and the Khmer empire of Cambodia in the 14th century.
• The fallout from future megadroughts will be even more severe because the global population is larger and the strain on water supplies is greater.
• Global warming will make droughts evermore severe and devastating in the future. 
  The south-west of the US, southern Europe, much of Africa, India, Australia and much of Central and South America could all have a drought that lasts decades.
• Scientists warned that the continued global warming could lead to multiple regions experiencing a hot megadroughts at the same time in the future. This could lead to global economic, food and humanitarian shocks.

What is Megadrought?

The term megadrought is generally used to describe the length of a drought.

In scientific literature it is considered as the decades-long droughts or multi-decadal droughts.

Megadroughts historically have been associated with prolonged La Nina conditions, which create cooler than normal water temperatures in the tropical eastern Pacific Ocean.

This reduces evaporation and, in turn, the amount of rainfall.

La Nina, cyclic counterpart to El Nino, consisting of a cooling of surface waters of the Pacific 

Ocean along the western coast of South America.

While its local effects on weather and climate are generally the opposite of those associated with El Nino, its global effects can be more complex.

La Nina events often follow El Nino events, which occur at irregular intervals of about two to seven years.

Indian space programme created history as Mangalyaan entered Mars orbit successfully

On 24th September 2014, India’s Mars Orbiter Mission, Manglayaan successfully entered the Martian orbit.

To insert the spacecraft into the Mars orbit the operation, Liquid Apogee Motor (LAM) was fired for 24 minutes 16 seconds on scheduled time 07:17:32 am. 

After the entry of MOM in Mars orbit, India created the history of becoming the first country to insert the spacecraft of the mission around the Mars in first attempt.

Apart from this, India also came one step closer to its cherished dream of landing on Mars and this success of Mars orbiter Mission in the very first shot will boost India's global standing in Space.

Earlier on 22 September 2014, ISRO test-fired the crucial Liquid Apogee Motor (LAM) of the Mission’s main engine successfully.

Till date various countries has sent 51 missions to Mars of which only 21 were successful. India’s leading space agency ISRO has become the fourth space research organisation in the world and first in Asia to reach Mars after after the Soviet space program, NASA, and the European Space Agency.

Mangalyaan is primarily a technological mission and it has been configured to carry out observation of physical features and the atmosphere of Mars. 

On 5 November 2013, MOM was launched from Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh.

The mission was executed within 15 months at the cost of 450 crore ($74 million) after the Union 

Government gave its approval for the mission.

Liquid Apogee Motor (LAM)

Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on 22^nd September 2014 successfully conducted the crucial test fire of Liquid Apogee Motor (LAM) of Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) or Mangalyaan.

The test was conducted at the ISRO's Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network in Bangalore.

On 21^st September 2014, ISRO team conducted the crucial Trajectory Correction Manoeuver (TCM) as the LAM had not been used for nearly 300 days after the initial orbit raising manoeuvers and Trans Mars Insertion process conducted on 1 December 2013.

Team of scientists had a perfect burn for 4 seconds using 0.5 kg of fuel to slow the spacecraft down by 2.4 metres per second so as to correct the trajectory of MOM.

The Liquid Engine (LM) on the MOM, also called the 440-Newton Liquid Engine, is a modified version of the Liquid Apogee Motor (LAM) used on earlier missions that required orbit rising, such as Chandrayaan.

ISRO's first liquid rocket motor, developed in the early eighties, was 50 kg powered by red fuming nitric acid (oxidizer) and hydrazine (fuel).

Pressurized gas was used to push the propellants from their tanks into the combustion chamber.

The need for a more powerful liquid rocket motor arose with the Insat-2 program, the first operational communication satellites to be designed and built within the country. (Insat-1 satellites were built and launched by the US).

LAM develops 45-kg thrust and uses monomethyl hydrazine and a nitrogen tetroxide as propellants and pressurized helium gas is used to force the propellants into the combustion chamber.

The LAM-thruster combination was also adopted for the Chandrayaan-1 lunar orbiter mission and its upgraded version LM (Liquid Engine) is used for Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM). 

During the Chandrayaan-1 mission, the LAM was operated ten times in the course of three weeks to take the spacecraft from Earth orbit to its operational path around the Moon.

MoEF gave CRZ clearance for Bay of Bengal Gateway Submarine Cable System

On 24^th September 2014, Expert Appraisal Committee (EAC) under the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) granted Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) clearance for Bay of Bengal Gateway Submarine Cable System.

The EAC cleared the Indian part of the 100 Gigabit-per-second (100Gps) Bay of Bengal Gateway submarine cable system project at Mumbai and Chennai.

However, the EAC asked the proponents of the project to follow the strict compliance of CRZ (Coastal Regulation Zone) clearance conditions.

Vodafone Group has already under taken the work at the cable landing point in Mumbai while, Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Company- Infotel Telecom Ltd,  is carrying out the works at Santhome 

Beach, Chennai.

What is Bay of Bengal Gateway Submarine Cable System (BBGCS)

The Bay of Bengal Gateway cable system (BBGCS) is expected to enhance robustness and reliability of international connectivity in the six countries via landing points in Barka (Oman), Fujairah (UAE), Mumbai and Chennai (India), Ratmalana (Sri Lanka), Penang (Malaysia) and Singapore.

BBGCS navigate’s over 8000 km. This project started in May 2013 and is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2014.

The project is being carried out by a conglomerate that includes Alcatel-Lucent, a Euronext and NYSE-listed company, Vodafone Group, Omantel, Emirates Telecommunications Corporation, 

Reliance Infocom, Dialog and Telekom Malaysia.

The Cable system will create a high-speed bridge between Europe, Middle East, Central Asia and the 

Far East, with Singapore being a major cable hub with connection into to the Far East and Barka in Oman with submarine and terrestrial connections to Europe, Africa and the GCC.

Daily Current Affairs- 11 September 2014

Strategic Force Command of India successfully test-fired Agni-1 missile

On 11  September 2014, Strategic Force Command (SFC) of India  successfully test-fired nuclear weapons capable ballistic missile Agni-1. 

The missile was launched from the Integrated Test Range (ITR) at Wheeler Island, off the Odisha Coast. 

Agni-1, having the range capability of over 700-km, was propelled by a solid rocket propellant system. 

Features of Agni-1 missile

• The Agni-1 missile was developed by DRDO in a short span of 15 months after the Kargil conflict to meet the requirements of the armed forces for such a class of missile.
• Agni-I was first tested at the Interim Test Range in Chandipur in 1989. 
• It is capable of carrying a conventional payload of 1000 kg or a nuclear warhead.
• The recent user trials involved the test firing of upgraded version of Agni-I with better re-entry technology and manoeuvrability.
• This surface-to-surface missile carrying a total payload mass of 1100 kg zeroed in on the pre-designated target  with two-digit accuracy.

What is Strategic Forces Command?

The Indian Strategic Forces Command (SFC), sometimes called Strategic Nuclear Command, forms part of India's Nuclear Command Authority (NCA). It is responsible for the management and administration of the country's tactical and strategic nuclear weapons stockpile.

It was created on January 4, 2003 by the Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee Government.

Air Marshal Teja Mohan Asthana became its first commander-in-chief.

Responsibility of Strategic Forces Command (SFC):

• To operationalize the directives of the NCA under the leadership of a Commander-in-Chief who is a three-star rank officer.
• Sole responsibility of initiating the process of delivering nuclear weapons and warheads, after acquiring explicit approval from the NCA.
• Exact selection of the target area shall be decided by the SFC through a calibrated, cumulative process involving various levels of decision-making, and with formal approval by the NCA.
• The SFC manages and administers all strategic forces by exercising complete command and control over nuclear assets, and producing all contingency plans as needed to fulfill the required tasks.
• Since its inception, the SFC’s command, control and communication systems have been firmly established, and the command has attained a high state of operational readiness.

Assets of Strategic Forces Command (SFC):

The Agni-I and Agni-II ballistic missiles are operational under the SFC, while the Agni-III missile is being inducted.

In September 2012 that Agni-III missiles were operational under the Strategic Forces Command and a user test of rail mobile Agni-III was carried out 21 September 2012.

The SFC carried out the second user trial of rail mobile Agni-III missile on 23 December 2013.

The Prithvi missile inducted into India’s Strategic Forces Command in 2003, the first missile to be developed under 

India’s prestigious IGMDP strengthens India’s nuclear deterrence A missile unit of the elite Strategic Forces Command (SFC) successfully launched a Prithvi missile on 07-January-2014 from the test range at Chandipur.

On 12 September 2010 that to increase its lethal power, India's tri-services strike force is planning to acquire 40 fighter planes capable of delivering nuclear weapons.

The SFC has submitted a proposal to the Defence Ministry for setting up two dedicated squadrons of fighter aircraft which will act as a mini-Air Force.

This will be the first time that the SFC, which at present depends on the Indian Air Force for delivering nuclear weapons under its command, will have its own aerial assets.

India and Bangladesh signed MoU in the field of traditional medicines

On 9 September 2014, India and Bangladesh signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in the field of traditional medicines and homeopathy.

The MoU aims to enhance cooperation between the two countries in the health sector.

The MoU was signed between the two countries on the sidelines of South-East Asia regional conference of the World Health Organisation (WHO) in Dhaka where the traditional medicine was one of the major issues of discussion.

The MoU was signed by Nilanjan Sanyal, Secretary, Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturapathy Unani, Siddhi and Homeopathy (AYUSH) on India’s behalf and M M Neazuddin, Health Secretary of Bangladesh.

Key features of this MoU:

• Both nations agreed to exchange all kinds of traditional medicines alongside the experts and physicians for conducting training.
• In both the countries, recognised institutions of will provide scholarships to each other in addition to setting up an academic chair.

This MOU will benefit Bangladesh in the field of education and research of traditional systems of medicine as India is known for its rich ancient system of medicine called ayurveda.

Solar power technology Electrodialysis unveiled in India to desalinate water

On 8 September 2014, a new solar power technology Electrodialysis was unveiled in that can turn undrinkable salty water into clean and filtered drinking water.

This technology was unveiled by the researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

The same technology can also be used for disaster relief and for military use in remote locations.

What is Electrodialysis technique?

• Electrodialysis process works by passing a stream of water between two electrodes with opposite charges.
• The electrodes pull the ions out of dissolved salt d from in water as it consists of positive and negative ions.  
• It leaves fresher water at the center of the flow. 
• A series of membranes separate the freshwater stream from salty water.
• Unlike reverse-osmosis technology, the use of membranes in Electrodialysis is exposed to lower pressures and can be cleared of salt by simply reversing the electrical polarity.

Application of Electrodialysis in India

Approximately 60 percent of India water reserves contain salty water.

These reserves are located in the area which is not served by an electric grid that could help run conventional reverse-osmosis desalination plants.

If implemented in coastal villages, Small scale Electrodialysis systems with a small set of solar panels, will help to meet needs of a village comprising 2000 to 5000 people for their fresh water demeand.