Uttarakhand Affairs
Uttarakhand to get the world’s longest road tunnel
Uttarakhand may get the worlds longest road tunnel approximately 30 km in the next few years. The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has invited bids for carrying out the feasibility study and preparing a detailed project report (DPR) for the tunnel, which would start from Jolly Grant Airport in Dehradun and end at Koti Colony near Tehri Dam in the poll-bound state.
Currently, the 24.5 km Laerdal tunnel in Norway is the longest road tunnel in the world.
The project will include a 7-10 km approach road at both ends.
Recently, Uttarakhand chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami had sought approval from the Centre for the construction of a double-lane tunnel from Dehradun to Tehri Lake. The central government decided to give this task to the NHAI.
National and International Affairs
Dhawan-1: Indias First Privately Built Cryogenic Rocket Engine
Indias first privately built cryogenic rocket engine called Dhawan-1 was test-fired privately by Skyroot Aerospace.
Highlights:
Skyroot Aerospace exhibited the upper stage of its Vikram-2 launch vehicle.
The cryogenic rocket engine is 3D printed and made in India.
It has been named after Satish Dhawan, the third chairman of ISRO, as he pioneered the development of advanced launch capabilities of India.
Vikram Rocket has been identified after Vikram Sarabhai, who started India’s space program and conducted advanced nuclear research.
The rocket uses a mixture of Liquid Natural Gas, more than 90 per cent methane and Liquid Oxygen.
It is called “Methalox”, in the combined state, which forms a cryogenic rocket fuel.
This provides high performance and a low cost. The fuel is environmentally friendly, which is dubbed “Fuel of the future”.
Dhawan-1
The Dhawan-1 engine includes a vacuum thrust of about 1.5kN. The engine was tested on a specially built testbed at Solar Industries in Nagpur.
The engine is the upper stage of the Vikram-2 launch vehicle that uses Environment-friendly compounds called LNG and LOX. It is entirely 3D printed.
Pixxel 1 satellite is set to be launched in 2022, the first private satellite in an Earth Observation constellation in low Earth orbit.
The UNESCO recently presented two Heritage Awards to the Nizamuddin Basti Project. The project was awarded for its conservation efforts. It was awarded with the Special Recognition for Sustainable Award and Award of Excellence.
The project restored more than 20 historic monuments located around 14thcentury Sufi Saint Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya.
The Nizamuddin area consists of and Batashewala Tomb and tomb of a 16thcentury poet Rahim (Khan I Khanan). These regions were segregated and damaged. They were also renewed by the Nizamuddin Basti Project.
The project was started in 2007 by the Aga Kahn Trust for Culture, Archaeological Survey of India, Delhi Urban Heritage Foundation and the Delhi Municipal Corporation.
The Nizamuddin Basti Project is an Urban Renewal Project. It successfully unified the segregated zones of the seven-century old settlement of the Nizamuddin Basti and its surrounding 70 acres.
It integrated socio Economic Development, conservation and environmental development objectives in these areas.
India International Science Festival – 7 Edition
Panaji, Goa will host the 7th India International Science Festival From 10 to 13 December.
Highlights
From December 10 to 13, 2021, the 7th edition of the four-day India International Science Festival (IISF) will be placed in Panaji, Goa.
“Celebrating Creativity in Science, Technology, and Innovation for a Prosperous India” is the festival theme for 2021. In 2015, the inaugural IISF was conducted in New Delhi.
The National Centre for Polar and Ocean Research (NCPOR) in Goa, which is part of the Ministry of Earth Sciences, is the organising body for IISF 2021.
Barbados Is The Worlds Newest Republic
Barbados is the Worlds newest republic, 400 years after it became a British colony.
Highlights
Barbados, the Caribbean Island nation, dismissed Queen Elizabeth II as the head of the state.
Dame Sandra Prunella Mason became President of Barbados and was selected to become the first president of Barbados in October 2021.
She was announced by Speaker of the House of Assembly, Arthur Holder.
The British made Barbados a slave Society when it first became an English colony in 1625. It gained its independence in 1966.