ENGLISH QUIZ 07.07.2020

1.Consider the following statements related to Drug Discovery Hackathon 2020:

1.Union HRD Minister launches “Drug Discovery Hackathon 2020”.

2.It will primarily focus on computational aspects of drug discovery and will have Four Tracks.

Which of the above statement/statements are correct?

A. 1 only

B. 2 only

C. Both 1 and 2

D. Neither 1 nor 2

2.Consider the following statements:

1.MoD approves 33 new fighter jets for IAF in deals worth ₹38,900 crore.

2.This includes procurement of 21 MiG-29 fighter jets for the Indian Air Force (IAF), upgrade of 69             of them and acquirement of 12 Su-30 MKI aircraft.

3.It is a Defence Ministry’s highest decision-making body for capital acquisition proposals forwarded            by the Indian armed forces.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

A. 1 and 2 are correct

B. 1 and 3 are correct

C. 2 and 3 are correct

D. All of the above

3.Consider the following statements:

1.ISRO’s Orbiter Mission captures image of Mars’ biggest moon.

2.Phobos is the closest and biggest moon of Mars.

Which of the above statement/statements are correct?

A. 1 only

B. 2 only

C. Both 1 and 2

D. Neither 1 nor 2

ANSWERS:-

Answer: 1)A      

Explanation

Drug Discovery Hackathon” has been launched by the Union Minister for Human Resource Development Shri Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ and Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare and Ministry of Science and Technology Dr. Harsh Vardhan. The hackathon is a joint initiative of MHRD, AICTE and CSIR, and supported by partners such as CDAC, MyGov, Schrodinger and ChemAxon. DDH2020 is a joint initiative of the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD), All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) and the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) and supported by partners like Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (CDAC), MyGov and private players.Researchers/Faculty across the world, students studying in India and abroad.

What is Drug Discovery Hackathon?

• This hackathon is the first national initiative of its kind to help in the drug discovery process.
• There will be participation of professionals, teachers, researchers and students from various fields like computer science, chemistry, pharmacy, medical science, basic science and biotechnology.

In-Silico Drug Discovery

• In-Silico is an expression used to mean “performed on computer or via computer simulation.”
• In-Silico drug discovery process is thus the identification of the drug target molecule by employing bioinformatics tools.
  • Drug target molecules generally include DNA, RNA and proteins such as receptors, enzymes etc.
  • Identification of drug target molecules help in knowing their pharmacological relevance to the disease under investigation.
• Bioinformatics is the application of computational technology (such as Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning) to handle the rapidly growing repository of information related to molecular biology.

It will primarily focus on computational aspects of drug discovery and will have three Tracks.

Track-1 will deal with computational modelling for drug design or identifying ‘lead’ compounds from existing databases that may have the potential to inhibit SARS-CoV-2.

Track-2 will encourage participants to develop new tools and algorithms using data analytics and AI/ML approach for predicting drug-like compounds with minimal toxicity and maximal specificity and selectivity.

Track 3 will only deal with novel and out-of-the-box ideas in this field.

Participants will submit their ideas online after which the CSIR and other labs will work towards executing them.

Answer: 2)B

Explanation

Amid the ongoing tensions on the border with China, the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC), chaired by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, on Thursday approved deals worth ₹38,900 crore. This includes procurement of 21 MiG-29 fighter jets for the Indian Air Force (IAF), upgrade of 59 of them and acquirement of 12 Su-30 MKI aircraft.

Defence Acquisition Council

• It is a Defence Ministry’s highest decision-making body for capital acquisition proposals forwarded by the Indian armed forces.
• The Minister of Defence is the Chairman of the Council.
• It was formed, after the Group of Minister’s recommendations on ‘Reforming the National Security System’, in 2001, post-Kargil War (1999).
• It approves the long-term integrated perspective plan for the forces, accords acceptance of necessity (AON) to begin acquisition proposals, and the grant is its approval to all significant deals through all their critical phases.
• It also has the power to approve any deviations in the acquisition. It recommends all big capital defence purchases for approval of the Cabinet committee on security (CCS) headed by Prime Minister.

Astra missile for navy and air force

• Beyond visual range air-to-air missiles (BVRAAM) will be procured domestically for the Navy and Air Force.

Astra missile

• The weapon is an air-to-air missile beyond the visual range.
• The weapon missile system is designed to be deployed on fighter aircraft.
• This missile system is capable of destroying supersonic aircraft.
• Astra Mk-I (ASTRA Mk-I) weapon system is being integrated into the Indian Air Force (Indian Air Force- IAF) by integrating it with SU-30 Mk-I aircraft.
• It can be launched in an autonomous and compatible mode with features of Lock-on-before launch (LOBL) and lock-on after launch (LOAL).

MiG-29 for the Air Force

• DAC has approved the purchase of 21 MIG-29 from Russia.
• India’s existing 59 MiG-29 aircraft will also be upgraded by Russia.
• The total cost of the deal is Rs 7,418 crore.

MiG-29

• is an updated / upgraded version of the two-engine based, multirole fighter jet developed by the Soviet Union.

SU-30 MKI fighter jet for the Air Force

• Government will buy 12 Sukhoi Su-30 MKI jet aircraft from Hindustan Aeronautics Limited with an estimated cost of Rs 12,000 crore.

SU-30 MKI

• It is a long-range foil jet manufactured in collaboration with Sukhoi of Russia and Hindustan Aeronautics Limited of India.
• 3000 km in one flight. Can cover a distance of up to and fuel in it can be filled.

Long-range land invasion based cruise missile system

• To increase the firing range capability of BrahMos missile by 1000 km.
• Developing a completely indigenously built long-range cruise missile system.

LRLACM

• LRLACM will be an improved version of the Nirbhay cruise missile, which will be modified as required.

Answer: 3)C      

Explanation

The Mars Colour Camera (MCC) onboard ISRO’s Mars Orbiter Mission has captured the image of Phobos, the closest and biggest moon of Mars.The image was taken  when MOM was about 7,200 km from Mars and 4,200 km from Phobos.

Phobos

• It is the closest and biggest moon of Mars.
• Phobos is the innermost and larger of the two natural satellites of Mars, the other being Deimos.
• Both moons were discovered in 1877 by American astronomer Asaph Hall.
• Phobos is a small, irregularly shaped object with a mean radius of 11 km (7 mi) and is seven times as massive as the outer moon, Deimos.
• Phobos orbits 6,000 km (3,700 mi) from the Martian surface, closer to its primary body than any other known planetary moon.
• It is so close that it orbits Mars much faster than Mars rotates, and completes an orbit in just 7 hours and 39 minutes.
• Phobos is one of the least reflective bodies in the Solar System.

ISRO’s Mars Orbiter Mission

• The Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM), also called is a space probe orbiting Mars since 24 September 2014.
• It was launched on 5 November 2013 by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).
• It is India’s first interplanetary mission and it made it the fourth space agency to reach Mars, after Roscosmos, NASA, and the European Space Agency.
• It made India the first Asian nation to reach Martian orbit and the first nation in the world to do so on its maiden attempt.
• The Mars Orbiter has five scientific instruments – Lyman Alpha Photometer (LAP), Methane Sensor for Mars (MSM), Mars Exospheric Neutral Composition Analyser (MENCA), Mars Colour Camera (MCC) and Thermal Infrared Imaging Spectrometer.

Mission cost 450 crores

• ISRO launched this on 05 November 2013 from Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh via PSLV rocket.
• It cost Rs 450 crore.
• The purpose of this mission is to study the surface of Mars and the composition of minerals there.
• Not only this, it also aims to investigate the presence of methane in the atmosphere there.
• The presence of methane on Mars indicates life.

Mission objective

• On 24 September 2014, ISRO had successfully placed Mangalyaan into Mars orbit in space under the Mars Orbiter Mission.
• The mission was initially intended for six months, but later ISRO said that it has enough fuel to serve for many years.
• ISRO placed Mangalyaan in the orbit of Mars in its first attempt.

Five scientific instruments

• The Mars Orbiter has five scientific instruments – Lyman Alpha Photometer, Methane Sensor for Mars, Mars Exospheric Neutral Composition Analyzer, Mars Color Camera and Thermal Infrared Imaging Spectrometer.