India’s first facility inaugurated: India’s first Transgenic and Gene knockout Mice facility costing Rupees 6 corers was inaugurated on October 3, 2002 at the Hyderabad based center for cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB). Facility will enable scientists and researchers to use animal models for human diseases to discover drugs and carry out research in functional genomics.
Sensors to predict monsoons: scientists of the ocean development department will deploy 15 Agro floats in the Indian Ocean. These floats will correctly forecast the monsoons.
Malaria: a team of scientists from oxford university department of Medicine have pioneered a vaccine against plasmodium flaciparam, the most dangerous of the four types of malaria affecting brain and responsible for 99% of malarial deaths.
India’s first –fledged meteorological satellite, METSAT, was successfully launched from he Satish Dhawan space centre at Sriharikota in Chennai on September 12, 2002, the new satellite will position itself between 250 km and 3600 km above the earth and would keep a continuous watch on the weather systems though its very High resolution radiometer.
INSAT -3 B was launched in March 2000 carry 12 extended C- banded transponders, ku-band transponders, and CXS Mobile satellite service transponders.
Astronomers in Los Angles have discovered a celestial body that is approximately 1287 km beyond Pluto. This is the biggest discovery in the solar system since the ninth planet was spotted 72 years ago. The object is about one-tenth the diameter of earth and orbits the sun once every 288 years.
By developing the country’s first indigenous supercomputer India has joined a select club of six advanced countries. The Pune based centre for development of advance computing (CDAC) built Param, the 64 –NODEC supercomputer which can reach peak power of 100 megaflops, which was raised to one gigaflop.
On April 28, 2002, a supersonic missile Brahmas with a range of 290 km and operating on fire –and –forget principle was successfully flight tested from the interim test rang (ITR) near Balasore in Orissa.
Polar science in India received a major boost when the 14 expedition successfully put Maitri –the Indian station on the icy continent- on the electronic mail network through the INMARSAT. This will aid in transmission of online data to various laboratories in the country.
