Current Affairs 9th December 2017

Current Affairs 9th December 2017 - Important Points

• NASA's SuperTIGER Balloon to study Heavy Cosmic Particles on - 6th December 2017

• SC/STs in Delhi can apply for Employment Loan through mobile app by - Delhi Government

Current Affairs 9th December 2017 - Details

NASA's SuperTIGER Balloon to study Heavy Cosmic Particles on - 6th December 2017

NASA scientists are set to release SuperTIGER Balloon in Antarctica, a balloon-borne tool, to study heavy cosmic particle, gather information on cosmic rays that enter Earth’s atmosphere daily. The statement was made by NASA on 6th December 2017. The launch is supposed by 10th December 2017, if weather allows.
The last flight of SuperTIGER lasted  for 55 days, making a record for the longest flight of any heavy-lift scientific balloon.

More about SuperTIGER Balloon-

• The balloon is referred as the Super Trans-Iron Galactic Element Recorder (SuperTIGER).
• SuperTIGER Balloon is fabricated to study rare heavy nuceli, which hold hints about where and how cosmic rays achieve speeds up to nearly the speed of light.
• With the support of SuperTIGER, scientists look forward for the unusual ultra-heavy cosmic ray nuclei beyond iron, from cobalt to barium.

Cosmic Ray Particles

• The most usual cosmic ray particles are protons or hydrogen nuclei, making up approximately 90% of the particles, followed by helium nuclei 8% and electrons 1%.
• The remaining cosmic ray particles contain the nuclei of other elements.
• When a cosmic ray hits the nucleus of a particle of atmospheric gas, both detonate triggering a cascade of particle crash.
• Few of these secondary particles reach detectors on the ground, providing statistics that can be used by scientists to infer the belongings of the original cosmic ray.
• The discharges also create conditions that result in heavy flood of subatomic particles known as neutrons. Many of these neutrons can hit to iron nuclei and some decay into protons.
• Supernova blast waves supply the boost that changes these particles into high-energy cosmic rays.
• Only 20% of cosmic rays were thought to emerge from massive stars and supernova debris, while 80% came from interstellar mist and gas.
• Neutron stars are the heaviest objects scientists can study directly. Neutron stars revolving each other in binary systems transmit gravitational waves, which are wavelets in space-time predicted by Einstein's general theory of relativity.

SC/STs in Delhi can apply for Employment Loan through mobile app by - Delhi Government

The Delhi Government on 9th December 2017 initiated a mobile application through which SCs, STs, OBCs, minorities, and handicapped persons can appeal for employment loans.
The application will facilitate applicants to appeal for the loan with Delhi SC/ST/OBC/Minorities and Handicapped Finance and Development Corporation without any issue.
The Government also announced that the inefficient officers, who do not process the loans on time, will be forced to take mandatory retirement.

Key Highlights-

• A person can appeal for loan through the application and the applicant can know the status of its approval in a month's time.
• If the request for loan is rejected, the officer will have give the reasons for which loan was disapproved.
• If an officer does not finish the formalities in a week, the file will be send to his senior officer and the inefficiency will be noted down in the officer's service record.
• Efficiency of the officers will be calculated through data from the app for taking further solutions.
  Presently, 100 students will be considered under the scheme and afterwards the number will be raised to 5000.
• The SC/ST fund will be utilized to pay coaching fees as well as Rs 2500 as assistance for purchasing books and other required goods.
• Additionally, students who want to register for different vocational courses can also do this through the application.