5th MARCH 2025 ENGLISH TNPSC CURRENT AFFAIRS PDF TNPSC SHOUTERS
Tejas Light Combat Aircraft Life Support System Successfully Tested
- The Defence Bio-Engineering and Electro-Medical Laboratory (DEBEL), a research institute under the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), Bengaluru, on March 4 successfully conducted a high-altitude flight test of the integrated life support system based on the indigenous On-Board Oxygen Generating System (OBOGS) for the Tejas Light Combat Aircraft.
- The oxygen generators are a sophisticated system designed to generate and regulate the oxygen required for the pilots to breathe during flight. It has been developed to avoid dependence on liquid oxygen cylinder-based systems.
- The devices were subjected to rigorous testing on a prototype aircraft of the Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA) Light Combat Aircraft by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited. The tests were conducted at altitudes of up to 50,000 feet above sea level and the performance of these devices has met the set targets.
- Kedarnath is located at an altitude of 3,583 m (11,968 ft) in Rudraprayag district of Uttarakhand. To reach Kedarnath, one has to climb a 16-km-high mountain from Gaurigund. Devotees will be allowed from the months of April to November. About 2 million devotees visit Kedarnath annually during this period.
- Devotees who cannot climb the mountain have to travel by horses, palanquins or helicopters. In this situation, if the cable car project is completed, 1,800 passengers will be able to travel in an hour and about 18,000 passengers per day. The one-way travel time of devotees going to Kedarnath will be reduced from 9 hours to 36 minutes.
- The project will be built for a total distance of 12.9 kilometers from Sonprayag to Kedarnath. Rs.4,081.28 crore has been allocated for the cable car project, which will be developed in a public-private partnership. It will be built using state-of-the-art tri-cable gondola technology.
- Through this project, the number of devotees and tourists will increase throughout the year. Employment opportunities and traders will increase. With the project reports for this being finalized, the approval was given in the Union Cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday.
- The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi today decided to revise the Animal Health and Disease Control Scheme.
- The scheme has three components namely National Veterinary, Disease Control and Cow Dispensaries. The Intensive Animal Disease Control Scheme will help in establishing and strengthening the functioning of existing veterinary hospitals and dispensaries.
- It also has sub-components like Mobile Veterinary Unit and assistance to State Governments in controlling animal diseases. Cow Dispensaries is a new feature added to the scheme.
- The total outlay for these schemes for the two years 2024-25 and 2025-26 is Rs. 3,880 crore.
- This includes a financial allocation of Rs. 75 crore for providing good quality, affordable generic medicines and incentives for sale of medicines under Cow Dispensaries.
- Diseases like goiter, calf-killing disease, cerebrospinal fluid, and skin cancer severely affect the productivity of livestock. By implementing a sanitation program to help control and prevent such diseases, livestock losses can be reduced.
- The scheme provides for direct home-based animal health services through mobile veterinary units and makes common veterinary medicines available through cow dispensaries through Prime Minister's Agricultural Welfare Centers and cooperative societies.
- The scheme helps in preventing and controlling livestock diseases through vaccination, continuous monitoring, and improving health facilities. Furthermore, the scheme improves productivity, creates employment, and encourages entrepreneurship in rural areas, thereby preventing economic losses to farmers.
