PSLV-C44 successfully injected Microsat-R and Kalamsat-V2 satellites into their designated orbits.
Microsat-R is a 130-kg military imaging satellite.
It was put together by a handful of DRDO laboratories.
The Kalamsat is a 10cm cube communication nano-satellite weighing about 1.2kg designed by students.
Its life span is about two months and its cost is about Rs. 12 lakh.
The PSLV is a four-stage engine expendable rocket with alternating solid and liquid fuel.
In a normal launch vehicle, each stage falls off after fuel completes burn-off.
However, stage four, after releasing the payload, wanders around in space as junk.
The PSLV-DL, used for Kalamsat, will follow the same pattern, except that the fourth stage (PS4) won’t fall off.
It will serve as a platform for the satellite like deploying solar panels or other tools to aid the satellite.
It is the first satellite to use PS4 as an orbital platform, thus reducing space debris.
A 64-gram earlier version of the Kalamsat nicknamed "gulab jamun" was launched by NASA in 2017. But it never reached orbit.
PSLV-C44 is a new variant of PSLV called PSLV-DL (D standing for demonstration).
In its normal configuration, the rocket will have six strap-on motors in the first stage.
However, PSLVDL will have just two strap-on motors for the first time.
INS Kohassa
Naval Air Station (NAS) Shibpur was established in 2001 in Shibpur of North Andaman.
It has a 1,000 feet-long airfield that permitted short-range maritime reconnaissance (SRMR) aircrafts.
Many Indian aircrafts, which participated in the abortive search for the missing Flight 370, operated from NAS Shibpur.
It is now commissioned as INS Kohassa, a full-fledged naval base.
It is the fourth military airfield in the Andaman & Nicobar archipelago.
It has been named after a White-Bellied Sea Eagle, which is a large bird of prey endemic to A&N Islands.
It is set up as a Forward Operating Air Base (FOAB) for surveillance in North Andaman.
The station will function as a base for joint operation of both military and civil aircraft in keeping with the UDAN scheme of the government.
National Girl Child Day
The Women & Child Development Ministry celebrated National Girl Child Day (NGCD) on 24th January.
The theme of this NGCD is “Empowering Girls for a Brighter Tomorrow”.
It was celebrated with objectives of generating awareness on the issue of declining Child Sex Ratio (CSR) and thereby creating a positive environment around valuing the girl child.
The celebrations also marked the anniversary of Beti Bachao Beti Padhao (BBBP) Scheme.
National Girl Child Day celebration was started by the Women and Child Development Ministry since 2008 to celebrate as the national observance.
E-Court Service
Court case information of all computerized district and subordinate courts of the country was made available across all Common Service Centers in the country recently.
Court case information are judicial proceedings/decisions, case registration, cause list, case status, daily orders, and final judgments.
The Government of India had initiated second phase of the e-Courts project as one of the National e-Governance projects in 2015.
The e-Courts project has made significant progress under the guidance of e-Committee of Supreme Court of India in computerizing district and subordinate courts of the country.
It was done through installation of case information software, hardware and local area network in courts.
They are also being connected on Wide Area Network through a dedicated network offering bandwidth up to 100 Mbps.
E-Courts services have now been successfully rolled out through SMS, email, web, mobile app etc. benefiting millions of litigants and advocates.
Now the Department of Justice has decided to deliver e-Courts services to them through around 2 lakh Common Service Centers (CSCs) to bridge the digital divide among citizens.
CSCs are the access points for delivery of essential public utility services to citizens in rural and remote areas of the country.
Biojet fuel for Aircraft
IAF flew an An-32 aircraft in 'vic' formation, whose lead plane used a mix of Aviation Turbine Fuel blended with 10% biofuel.
The biofuel has been extracted from Jatropha plant seeds using a technology patented by the CSIR and the Indian Institute of Petroleum, Dehradun.
Following the clearance given by the Centre for Military Airworthiness and Certification IAF is expected to use biofuel for its transport fleet and helicopters.
The 'vic' formation comprises 3 or more aircraft flying in close formation with the leader at the apex and the rest to left and right, the whole resembling the letter 'V'.
