UPSC QUIZ 28.03.2024

Explanation:

• Ministry of Commerce and Industry has notified the Patents Amendment Rules, 2024 making significant changes to Indian patent practice and procedure.

Key Changes Introduced Under Patents (Amendment) Rules, 2024

• Reduced timeline for filing a Request for Examination (RFE): The timeline for filing the RFE is now reduced from 48 months to 31 months from the priority date.The reduced timeline for filing a Request for Examination (RFE) will accelerate the patent examination process.
• Simplified Submission of Form 3: Applicants can simply file a single updated Form 3 after receiving the First Examination Report (FER).The Patent office issues an examination report to the applicant which is generally known as FER.

Explanation:

• Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) successfully test fired the country's first reusable launch vehicle (RLV) LEX -02 Pushpak.

Key points

• It was tested at the Aeronautical Test Range in Chitradurga, Karnataka.
• This is ISRO's second series of RLV landing experiments.
• This vehicle is capable of using the high speed landing conditions of RLV.
• In this, all the flight systems used in (RLV) LEX -01 were reused in (RLV) LEX -02 after proper certification/clearance.
• This mission was accomplished by Vikram Sarabhai Space Center (VSSC) in collaboration with Liquid Propulsion System Center (LPSC) and ISRO Inertial Systems Unit (IISU).

Explanation:

• An international team of astronomers has discovered 49 new gas-rich galaxies using the MeerKAT radio telescope in South Africa.
• This discovery has been published in the monthly journal of the Royal Astronomical Society.
• This research/discovery has been done by the International Center for Radio Astronomy Research (ICRAR) center of Western Australia.
• The objective of this research/discovery is to study the star forming gases in a single radio galaxy.
• The new galaxies have been informally nicknamed “49ers.”The nickname is derived from a reference to the California Gold Rush miners of the year 1849.Many of these galaxies are located in clusters close to each other.Three of these galaxies are highly active in star formation.

Explanation:

• Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has achieved another milestone with the successful re-entry of the PSLV Orbital Experimental Module-3 (POEM-3) into the Earth’s atmosphere, leaving no debris in orbit.The PSLV-C58/XPoSat mission, which took place on January 1, 2024, has demonstrated ISRO’s commitment to responsible space operations and debris mitigation.

POEM-3 Mission Objectives and Payloads

• POEM-3 was equipped with nine different experimental payloads to conduct technology demonstrations and scientific experiments on newly developed indigenous systems.
• Six of these payloads were delivered by Non-Government Entities (NGEs) through IN-SPACe.
• The mission objectives of these payloads were successfully met within a month of the launch.

Explanation:

• An asteroid has been named 'Jayantmurthy' after Indian professor and eminent scientist Jayant Murthy.
• He is known for his work in space missions, ultraviolet astronomy, and the interstellar medium.
• Previously cataloged as 2005 EX296, the asteroid is now designated as (215884) Jayantimurthy.
• The announcement was made by the Working Group of the International Astronomical Union (IAU), which is in charge of assigning names to small objects in the Solar System.
• In 2005, the Asteroid (215884) Jayantimurthy was discovered by MW Buie at Kitt Peak National Observatory in Arizona, United States.
• It completes a full orbit around the Sun between Mars and Jupiter every 3.3 years.
• In 2021, Professor Murthy retired from the Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA). Since then, he has served as Honorary Professor.
• He was also the acting director of IIA from July 2018 to October 2019.