SriLanka’s 1st Satellite ‘Raavana-1’ Launched Into Space
- Sri Lanka’s first satellite ‘Raavana-1’ was launched into space from NASA’s Flight Facility on Virginia’s east shore. ‘Raavana 1’ weights around 1.05 kg and the lifespan of the satellite is around one and a half years.
- The satellite was designed and built at the Kyushu Institute of Technology in Japan by two Sri Lankan research engineers. Its camera mission is to capture images of Sri Lanka and its neighboring countries
Singapore’s Changi Airport touts the world’s tallest indoor waterfall
- Singapore’s Changi Airport has long been touted as the “Best Airport In The World.” ,when it will officially open a dazzling presecurity attraction known as Jewel.
- The Jewel Changi Airport is about $1.3 billion dollar project, connecting three of the four terminals at Changi Airport with the aim to increase the number of passengers coming to Singapore for visits and stopovers.
- Inside is a lush four-story tiered garden, more than 280 retail and dining outlets, a hotel, a multi-screen IMAX theater and its centerpiece: a 130-foot-tall Rain Vortex, which is the world’s tallest indoor waterfall.
Canara Bank becomes the first public sector bank in India to meet RBI’s EMV mandate
- ACI Worldwide, a global provider of real time electronic payment and banking solutions, announced that Canara Bank has successfully rolled out major new functionality to support EMV card acquiring across its ATM network and Aadhaar Authentication.
- Canara Bank, one of India’s largest public sector banks with nearly 6,300 branches and a network of more than 10,000 ATMs, is the 1st public sector bank to shift to EMV chip and PIN for card present transactions across the country’s vast ATM network.
- The EMV shift, as in other major global markets, is aimed at reducing lost and stolen card fraud and making counterfeit card fraud more difficult. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had set a deadline of December 31, 2018 for the switch, mandating use of an embedded chip to replace the traditional magnetic stripe card.
Indian Peacekeepers Awarded UN Medal of Honour
- A total of 150 Indian peacekeepers serving with the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) have received medals of honour for their dedicated service and sacrifice.
- Under the UNMISS, the Indian Horizontal Mobility Engineering Company had completed the renovation of 145 km of roadway connecting Bentiu and Leer in South Sudan, easing the way for the delivery humanitarian aid, trade, and inter-communal dialogue.
IMF and World Bank launches ‘Learning Coin’ to explore Blockchain technologies.
- International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank are launching their own Blockchain technologies and digital currency to familiarize staff with the concepts.
- The currency will only be accessible within the organizations and will not be able to buy real-world goods and services. But a model digital currency economy will operate, as a kind of trial run.
- Staff will earn the tokens by achieving training goals, then exchange their earnings for rewards of some kind.
- The tokens will be accessed on an app called ‘Learning Coin’ to emphasize its educational use. The app will also support the institutions’ blogs, research and video content.
Christina Koch To Set Record For Longest Spaceflight By A Woman
- NASA astronaut Christina Koch is going to have her mission on the International Space Station (ISS) extended to 328 days, which would set a record for the longest single spaceflight by a woman.
- Koch, who arrived at the space station on March 14 is scheduled to remain in orbit until February 2020, will eclipse the record of 288 days set by former NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson in 2016-17.
3 Indian teams win awards at NASA rover challenge
- 3 Indian student teams won awards in NASA’s annual Human Exploration Rover Challenge at the US Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama.
- The team from KIET Group of Institutions in Ghaziabad won the “AIAA Neil Armstrong Best Design Award” in the college/university division.
- The Mukesh Patel School of Technology Management and Engineering from Mumbai won the “Frank Joe Sexton Memorial Pit Crew Award”.
- Lovely Professional University from Punjab won the STEM Engagement Award.
Nepal successfully launches its First satellite NepaliSat-1.
- Nepal successfully launched its 1st satellite NepaliSat-1 into space from Virginia in the United States. The satellite, developed by two Nepalis Scientist Abhas Maskey and Hariram Shrestha at Japan’s Kyushu Institute of Technology
- It is a low orbit satellite.
- It will be stationed at the International Space Station for a month and then it will be sent to orbit the earth.
- The satellite will take photographs on a regular basis to gather geographical information of the country.
- It weighs 1.3 kilograms, making it a small satellite with limited capability
