Defence
INS Rajput to be Decommissioned

Relevance IN - Prelims ( about INS Rajput and about Kashin-class destroyer)
What's the NEWS

• On the 21^st of May, a glorious era will come to an end with the decommissioning of the first destroyer of the Indian Navy - INS Rajput.
• INS Rajput, the lead ship of the Kashin-class destroyers built by the erstwhile USSR was commissioned on 04 May 1980 and has rendered yeoman service to the Indian Navy for over 41 years.
• INS Rajput will now be decommissioned at a solemn ceremony at Naval Dockyard, Visakhapatnam.

Know! about INS Rajput

• INS Rajput was constructed in the 61 Communards Shipyard in Nikolaev (present-day Ukraine) under her original Russian name ‘Nadezhny' meaning ‘Hope'.
• The keel of the ship was laid on 11 Sep 1976 and she was launched on 17 Sep 1977.
• The ship was commissioned as INS Rajput on 04 May 1980 at Poti, Georgia
• Over her four decades of glorious service to the nation, the ship has the distinction of serving in both Western and Eastern Fleets.
• The ship has participated in several operations aimed at keeping the nation secure. Some of these include Operation Aman off Sri Lanka to assist IPKF, Operation Pawan for patrolling duties off the coast of Sri Lanka, Operation Cactus to resolve hostage situation off the Maldives, and Operation Crowsnest off Lakshadweep.
• In addition, the ship participated in numerous bilateral and multi-national exercises. The ship was also the first Indian Naval Ship to be affiliated with an Indian Army regiment - the Rajput Regiment.

Know! about Kashin class

• The Kashin class, Soviet designation Project 61, were series of anti-aircraft guided missile destroyers built for the Soviet Navy since the 1960s.
• As of 2020, no ships remain in service with the Russian Navy, but four modified ships continue in service with the Indian Navy as Rajput-class destroyers.
• They are commonly regarded as missile destroyers due to their size and armament.
• They were the first Soviet purpose-built anti-air warfare ships and the first to carry an ASW helicopter
• Six ships were modernised in the 1970s as the Project 61M or 61MP (Kashin-Mod)
• Project 61E ( Rajput class): Export version, used by the Indian Navy (5 ships).
• The Rajput-class modification built for Indian Navy has the aft gun turret replaced by a hangar for a helicopter, as well as SS-N-2C anti-ship missiles on the sides of the bridge.
• In all, twenty ships were built for the Soviet Navy, one ship (ORP Warszawa) was later transferred to Poland, while five similar ships were built to a modified design for the Indian Navy as Rajput class.

Government Schemes
Jal Jeevan Mission - Water Quality Management Information System (JJM-WQMIS)

Relevance IN - Prelims ( about JJM + about water quality monitoring & surveillance (WQM&S)
What's the NEWS

• National Jal Jeevan Mission (NJJM) issued an advisory to States/ UTs to undertake water quality monitoring & surveillance (WQM&S) activities to ensure potable drinking water to every rural home and public institution in all villages across country.

Water quality monitoring & surveillance (WQM&S)

• Jal Jeevan Mission, being implemented in partnership with States/ UTs, aims to provide assured tap water supply to every rural home by 2024.
• Under JJM, upto 2% of total fund allocation is to be used on water quality monitoring & surveillance activities which primarily comprise of water quality monitoring by Department through laboratory testing and water quality surveillance by community through testing local water sources using Field Test Kits (FTKs).
• All drinking water sources are to be tested once a year for chemical contamination and twice a year for bacteriological parameters (pre and post monsoon).
• With a view to empower the local community on water quality surveillance, States have been advised to identify and train 5 persons especially women in each village from local community, viz. ASHA workers, health workers, VWSC/ Pani Samiti members, teachers, SHG members, etc., to conduct water quality tests using FTKs/ bacteriological vials at village level, schools and anganwadi centres are procured and provided to every Panchayat to enable them conduct tests on regular basis.

Jal Jeevan Mission - Water Quality Management Information System (JJM-WQMIS)

• Jal Jeevan Mission - Water Quality Management Information System (JJM-WQMIS) has been developed in partnership with the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), Dept of Health Research (DHR) as an online portal along with mobile application for water quality management.
• All water quality testing data i.e. sample collection, tests results both in laboratories including mobile labs and through water quality testing kits, are uploaded on this portal.
• The availability of all water quality related data at one place will be helpful in easy access and tracing the history of every drinking water source so that timely remedial action is ensured for every home.

Defence
CONVERSION OF LIQUID OXYGEN TO LOW PRESSURE OXYGEN GAS FOR COVID PATIENTS
Relevance IN - Prelims (about the process of conversion of liquid oxygen into oxygen gas) + Mains ( GS III awareness in the field of S&T)
What's the NEWS

• Since oxygen was transported in liquid form in cryogenic tanks, quick conversion of liquid oxygen to oxygen gas and ensuring availability at the patients' bed was a critical challenge faced by all hospitals managing COVID patients.
• An Indian Army Engineers team undertook an initiative to find a solution to this challenge.
• A specialised task force was quickly put together for early execution of an innovation to ensure that oxygen is made available without the use of gas cylinders, thus obviating the need to refill them frequently.

Know! all about the process of conversion

• The team of Army Engineers in-direct consultation and material support from CSIR & DRDO put together a working solution using vaporisers, PRVs and liquid oxygen cylinders.
• In order to ensure continuous conversion of liquid oxygen into oxygen gas at the requisite pressure and temperature at the COVID bed, the team used a self pressuring liquid oxygen cylinder of small capacity (250 litres) and processed it through a specially designed vaporiser and directly usable outlet pressure (4 Bar) with requisite leak proof pipeline and pressure valves.
• The system is economically viable and is safe to operate since it obviates high gas pressure in the pipeline or cylinders and does not require any power supply to operate. The system is capable of replication in a quick time frame.
  
  

Prelims Factoids
Oxygen Recycling System (ORS)
Relevance IN - Prelims ( about ‘Oxygen Recycling System' (ORS)
What's the NEWS

• The Diving School of the Southern Naval Command of the Indian Navy has conceptualised and designed an ‘Oxygen Recycling System' (ORS) to alleviate the existing Oxygen (O2) shortages.
• The Diving School has expertise in this area as the basic concept is used in some of the diving sets used by the school.

Know! about ORS

• The ORS is designed to extend the life of the existing medical O2 cylinders two to four times, using the fact that only a small percentage of O2 inhaled by a patient is actually absorbed by the lungs, the rest being exhaled into the atmosphere along with carbon-dioxide (CO2) produced by the body.
• This exhaled O2 can be re-used, provided the exhaled CO2 is removed.
• To achieve this, the ORS adds a second pipe to the patient's existing O2 mask, which sucks out the air exhaled by a patient using a low-pressure motor.
• Both the mask inlet pipe (for O2) and the mask outlet pipe (for exhaled air) are fitted with non-return valves to maintain a positive pressure and unidirectional flow of gases at all times to ensure the patient's safety against dilution hypoxia.
• The exhaled gases, mainly CO2 carbon dioxide and O2, are then fed into a Bacterial Viral Filter and Heat and Moisture Exchanger Filter (BVF-HME filter) to absorb any viral contaminants.
• After viral filtration, the gases pass through a high-grade CO2 scrubber with a High Efficiency Particulate Air (HEPA) filter, which absorbs CO2 and other particulates, allowing enriched O2 to pass through unaffected.
• The enriched O2 from the scrubber is then pumped back into the inhalation pipe of the patient's face mask, thereby increasing the flow rate of O2 to the patient, and reducing the use of O2 from the cylinder.
• The air flow in the ORS is maintained by a medical-grade pump fitted ahead of the CO2 scrubber, which ensures a positive flow, facilitating comfortable breathing by the patient.

Prelims Factoids
Honey Testing Laboratory Project
Relevance IN - Prelims ( about honey testing laboratory project + about World Honey Day + about NBHM)
What's the NEWS

• On the occasion of World Bee Day and in the auspicious context of the ‘Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav', Union Agriculture & Farmers Welfare Minister Shri Narendra Singh Tomar launched the project of setting up of a honey testing laboratory at the Indian Agricultural Research Institute, Pusa, New Delhi.

• Inaugurating the project to establish a regional honey quality testing laboratory at the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI) for quality testing of honey and other products of beekeeping under the National Beekeeping and Honey Mission
• NBHM focus on the development of scientific beekeeping and achieving the target of "sweet revolution".
  
• Rs 500 crore has been allocated to NBHM by the Centre under the Atmanirbhar Bharat Campaign.
  A world-class state of art Honey Testing Lab has been established at National Dairy Development Board (NDDB), Anand with the help of Rs 5 crore.

National Beekeeping and Honey Mission (NBHM)

• Govt. of India has approved a new Central Sector Scheme entitled "National Beekeeping & Honey Mission (NBHM)" for 2 years for overall promotion and development of scientific beekeeping in mission mode to achieve the goal of "Sweet Revolution in the country
• Keeping in view the importance of beekeeping as part of the Integrated Farming System in the country, government approved the allocation for Rs. 500 crore for National Beekeeping & Honey Mission (NBHM) for three years (2020-21 to 2022-23).
• The mission was announced as part of the AtmaNirbhar Bharat scheme. NBHM aims for the overall promotion & development of scientific beekeeping in the country to achieve the goal of ‘Sweet Revolution' which is being implemented through National Bee Board (NBB).
• The main objective of NBHM is to promote holistic growth of beekeeping industry for income & employment generation for farm and non-farm households, to enhance agriculture/ horticulture production, developing infrastructural facilities, including setting up of Integrated Beekeeping Development Centre (IBDC)s/CoE, honey testing labs, bee disease diagnostic labs, custom hiring centres, Api-therapy centres, nucleus stock, bee breeders, etc. and empowerment of women through beekeeping.
• Besides, the scheme also aims to create awareness about scientific bee keeping under Mini Mission-I, post-harvest management of beekeeping, beehive products, including collection, processing, storage, marketing, value addition, etc. under Mini Mission-II and Research & Technology generation in beekeeping under Mini Mission-III. Rs 150.00 Crores has been allotted to NBHM for 2020-21.

World Bee Day

• It is celebrated on May 20. On this day Anton Janša, the pioneer of beekeeping, was born in 1734.
• The purpose of the international day is to acknowledge the role of bees and other pollinators for the ecosystem.
• The UN Member States approved Slovenia's proposal to proclaim 20 May as World Bee Day in December 2017.

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