Kakrapar-4 nuclear reactor | Criticality
Kakrapar-4 nuclear reactor attains criticality.
- Criticality – A condition in nuclear reactor operations where the number of neutrons produced by fission reactions is sufficient to sustain a self-sustaining chain reaction.
- Location – Gujarat
- Largest indigenous nuclear power reactor.
- Built by – Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL), Department of Atomic Energy.
- Kakrapar-4 – 2nd in the series of 16 indigenous Pressurised Heavy Water Reactors (PHWR) of 700 MW.
Cassini mission
According to a new study based on data from NASA’s Cassini spacecraft, Scientists found hydrogen cyanide (key molecule in creation of life) in oceans of Saturn’s icy moon Enceladus.
- Launched in 1997.
- Joint endeavor of NASA, ESA (European Space Agency), and Italian space agency (ASI).
- Designed to explore the Saturn system, including its rings and moons, with a special focus on Titan.
- Carried Huygens lander, which landed on Saturn’s largest moon, Titan.
Goldilocks Zone (Habitable zone)
New NASA study has discovered 17 ocean planets in habitable zones of distant stars that could have oceans of liquid water beneath their icy shells.
- Goldilocks zone – Area around a star where it is not too hot and not too cold for liquid water to exist on the surface of surrounding planets.
- Earth is in the Sun’s Goldilocks zone.
- Rocky exoplanets found in habitable zones of their stars, are more likely targets for detecting liquid water on their surfaces.
Vijay Diwas
Vijay Diwas or Victory Day is commemorated on December 16.
- Marking the end of the 1971 Indo-Pak War and the liberation of Bangladesh.
- On 16 December 1971, around 93,000 Pakistani soldiers surrendered to the Indian Army in Dhaka.
- Before 1971, Bangladesh was a part of Pakistan, which was known as ‘East Pakistan’.
- Leadership of Field Marshal Manekshaw.
- Vijay Diwas on 16th December is different than the Kargil Vijay Diwas as the latter is observed on July 26.