ISRO Mars Orbiter Mission team wins 2015 Space Pioneer Award

The team of ISRO’s Mars Mission has been awarded 2015 Space Pioneer Award in the Science and Engineering category by National Space Society (NSS).

They are being conferred with this award for achieving the rare feat of entering Mars orbit in maiden attempt.

Mars Orbiter Programme Team will receive the award during NSS’ 34th International Space Development Conference which will be held in Toronto.

ISRO’s Mars Orbiter Mission(MOM):

• It was launched on 5 November, 2013. It made history on 24 September 2014 after it entered Mars orbit in maiden attempt.

• It achieved two significant missions. First, entering into orbit around Mars and Secondly, taking full-disk colour imagery of Mars with its onboard high resolution camera.

• It should be noted that, the Mars Orbiter programme team located in Bengaluru, Karnataka. It is headed by eminent ISRO scientist Mylswamy Annadurai.

About Space Pioneer Award:

• It recognizes those individuals and teams whose accomplishments have helped to open the space frontier. It was instituted in 1988.

• This prestigious award is be given by the National Space Society (NSS), an American educational and scientific organization.

• Award memento consists of a silvery pewter Moon globe cast. It is casted by the Baker Art Foundry in Placerville, California. Originally, this sculpture was created by Don Davis, the well-known space and astronomical artist.

A FARMER'S SON FROM GUJARAT CRACKED UPSC EXAM

HITESH JOYSAR : RANK 116th

Q :What was your strategy for this examination?

• HIESH I had an integrated strategy. I selected common portions of prelims and mains exam and prepared these portions keeping the requirements of both the stages in consideration, for example in GS I referred same material of both. Rergarding subjects I focused more on understanding.

Q :How did you plan for preliminary examination?

• HITESH I made a schedule for all topics in GS & Pub. Ad & followed that schedule religiously. I also had a habit of solving objective questions regularly. Many a times I relied on rationale based preparation.

Q :What about General Studies ?

• HITESH GS is an aspect so I analyzed my strength & weakness and focused more on my strength. Initially I had difficulty with traditional portion but finally on solving objective questions I got a grip on GS.

Q :What is the best way to prepare current affairs ?

• HITESH One should update one’s daily. Reading the Hindu newspaper and magazines like Civil Services Chronicle help a lot. Watching news on Doordarshan also facilitates our preparation.

Q : What about time management ?

• HITESH One has to take care of time management in two ways. Firstly, during the preparation more time should be given to those subjects where one is weak. Separate time should be spared for all the topics. Secondly, during exam we one has to fix time slot depending on the marks of questions.

Q : : What was your strategy for Mains ?

• HITESH I had focused on rationales. I had also inculcated habit of thinking on almost everything I read. I then started making bullet points in GS & Subjects, which helped me a lot. I also restricted myself to limited material so that I could have solid control on relevant facts & analysis.

Q : Did you join any coaching institute ? What is your opinion about coaching institutes ?

• HITESH I had joined Sunil Gupta Sir’s inspiration IAS Academy (Delhi) for Public Administration mock tests and obtained personal counseling from him for Pub. Ad. I had also joined Sardar Patel Institute of Public Administration (Ahmadabad) where I got an excellent environment for study. If you feel that you alone cannot prepare well, then only you should join any coaching class which help you think on your own.

Q :What should be the criteria to select optional?

• HITESH First of all you should have interest in the subject you choose. You should also analyse the marks obtained in the same during last couple of years. Help of the subject of GS & Essay should also be taken into consideration

Q :Tell me something about interview ?

• HITESH UPSC interviews are conducted in highly positive environment. Members ask questions of areas of your interest & your subjects. I was asked on FRBM Act, SEZ policy, Land Acquisition, GM Crops, Banking, My hobbies etc. Questions asked started from factual ones and reached their analytical zenith. I really enjoyed this time.

Q : The biggest mistake you made in the examination ?

• HITESH During first year of my preparation I unnecessarily focused much on mugging the things and there was also a lack of analytical study. But I corrected this in due course.

Q :What are your suggestions for the newcomers ?

• HITESH You should feel that you are preparing for this exam just for the sake of enriching you knowledge. You try to enjoy this entire process. Don’t be focused too much on results, just put your best efforts. Select authentic sources of material and revise them frequently.

Q : What is your opinion about self-study ?

• HITESH Length of an answer convinces the examiner that you have ample ideas on the subject but it’s ultimately the quality which matters. Quantity plus quality both are important.

Q : What do you feel is the secret of your success ?

• HITESH Positive approach towards exam in particular & life in general, hard work, dedication & never say ‘Quit’ mindset.

Q : To whom do you give the credit of your success ?

• HITESH My Parents & family specially my sisters Preeti & Jashoda, my teachers & my friends who were always behind me during this journey.

TOI delivery boy cracks IIT entrance test (Most Inspiring Story)

C Prashanth of Mysore is now closer to realizing his dream of studying engineering in IIT Bombay or IIT Madras — he cracked the IIT-JEE (Advanced) with 255th rank (ST category). Prashanth, 18, is from a poor family as his father Chandra Nayak is a construction labourer. To supplement the family's finances, he delivered the Times of India newspaper to homes in Mysore when he was in high school.

"I was not expecting the 255th rank. It's a wonderful feeling.

All credit goes to my family and Rashtrothana Parishat and Base institutions which encouraged and gave me education free of cost," Prashanth said, adding that he couldn't afford to buy a newspaper but while selling them, he managed to read them and that helped him gain knowledge crack the prestigious exam.

Till SSLC, Prashanth did not know what IIT meant. "Initially, it was very difficult to follow the IIT subjects, but hard work and my teachers' interest made things easy for me," he added. He wants to pursue electronics, mechanical or civil engineering. His father and mother Jyothi saw to it that poverty didn't come in the way of providing education to their three children.

Prashanth's elder brother C Vasanth Kumar is pursuing BA in Mysore and sister C Chandana finished her SSLC this year with 87%.

His maternal uncle, Gopala, who is in the police department, ensured that once he finished schooling, he came to a Bangalore college. "I was scared of Bangalore.as it's a big city. But my uncle forcibly brought me to Bangalore to study," he said.

Tapas, coaching centre of Base institutions, provides free education for economically poor students who are keen on studying in the IITs.

Tapas office coordinator S Rukmini said: "Prashanth was a hard worker and he has made us proud."

Patna havildar's son makes it to IPS : Sujit Kumar Singh

As a personal security officer, he has provided shield to many an IPS officers. Now, with more than seven years of service still left, havildar Bhagwan Singh, an instructor in BMP-5 in Patna, hopes to stand guard to his son Sujit Kumar Singh, who has cracked the civil services this year.

Hailing from Nad, a township in Rohtas, where matriculates are worshipped, Sujit (25) has, in a way, broken the family tradition. Unlike his father, who is a matriculate, mother Suryakanti Devi and sister Binu, both non-matric, Sujit not only did graduation (from Hindu College, New Delhi), but also leapfrogged into the IPS (all-India rank 132) - a position his uncles would envy.

While one of the uncles, Ram Dayal Singh, is an assistant sub-inspector of police (posted in Konch, Gaya), Rajeshwar Singh is a sub-inspector in the BSF (in Tripura), Uday Singh another of Sujit's uncle is an airman in the Indian Air Force while yet another uncle, Ashok Singh, has retired as an Army havildar.

An ebullient Singh, whose son is expected to arrive in Patna from the national capital on Wednesday, said: "My son has been very different right from his childhood. He was a bookworm, who used to study for 16-18 hours a day. Even during the festival of Holi, when all children would play with colours, Sujit sat with his best companion — books."

Singh added, "Sujit was never a second divisioner. Having done his matriculation from Maner High School and intermediate from Patna College, he went to Hindu College, New Delhi, for graduation in History and Geography. Such was the stigma of Bihar that the college authorities did not believe his markssheet. Sent back thrice for re-confirmation, it was only after the intervention of B Bhamati, the then Director, Education Department, that the principal of Hindu College agreed to take him in. Even after admission there, his classmates used to look down upon Sujit because of his being a Bihari. "But my son silenced the doubting Thomases with his results. He topped the university in all the three years."

That was just the prologue of a success story, as Sujit, belonging to a family of cops, made it to the IPS in his second attempt.

Sujit, on the phone from Delhi, gushed: "It's a dream come true. I feel on top of the world. My father and I had nurtured the hope that one day I would become an IPS officer. I attribute my success to my parents and uncles."

Railway Ministry flagged off India’s first CNG train in Haryana

Railway Ministry has flagged off India’s first compressed natural gas (CNG) powered train between Rewari and Rohtak in Haryana.

It was flagged off by Union Minister for Railways Suresh Prabhu at Rewari junction of the Northern Railway zone.

Some facts about CNG train:

• It is powered by Diesel Electric Multiple Unit (DEMU). It is based on dual fuel system- diesel and CNG.

• This train is integrated with 1,400 HP engine to run on dual fuel through fumigation technology.

• It is capable of running at a speed of 100 km per hour.

• Train comprised of two power cars and six car coaches, manufactured by Integral Coach Factory at Chennai with the CNG conversion kit supplied by Cummins.

• Its successful implementation, marks a major landmark in adoption of green fuel by Indian Railways.

Implications:

• It will reduce greenhouse gas emissions of Railways and also the consumption of diesel. Thus, contributing in environment conservation.

• It will help to reduce the operating cost of locomotives by over 50% compared to conventional trains powered by diesel and electricity.