New Frog Species Discovered
- A new frog species, which closely resembles the Graceful tree frog (Litoria Gracilenta), was discovered in Australia’s largest virgin forest in Queensland on October 6, 2016.
- By looking at differences in its appearance, as well as its advertisement call and DNA, Cape York Graceful Tree frog is a distinct species, bringing the number of known frog species in Australia to 239.
- The new frog species was a momentous occasion for the scientists as globally a third of the world’s frogs were threatened with extinction.
- The Cape York Graceful Treefrog is known from between Moa Island in the Torres Strait in the North, to about 20 km South of the Cape York Peninsula.
Velrampet Lake Area Declared Open Defecation Free
- Velrampet lake and surrounding area declared as open defecation free on October 4, 2016.
- The lake was, tar roads laid in the area and fenced at a cost of Rs 75 lakh by the PWD (irrigation wing) earlier and was declared open defacation free under the Swatch Bharat programme.
- The Velrampet lake near Thengaittu which is the source of groundwater for the areas of Murungapakkam and Kombakkam, used to have palm trees lining its borders.
SPACE CURRENT AFFAIRS
ISRO Started Landing Tests for Chandrayaan-2 Mission
- The Indian Space Research Organsiation (ISRO) started a series of ground and aerial tests linked to the critical Moon landing of Chandrayaan-2 on October 26, 2016.
- ISRO Satellite Centre or ISAC, the lead centre for the second Moon mission, has artificially created close to ten craters to simulate the lunar terrain and test the Lander’s sensors. A small ISRO aircraft has been carrying equipment with sensors over these craters to plan the tasks ahead.
China Launched its Longest ever Manned Mission to Space
- China has successfully launched longest-ever manned mission by taking two astronauts Jing Haipeng (50) and Chen Dong (37) into the orbit on October 17, 2016. They were launched on board of Shenzhou-11 (heavenly vessel) spacecraft from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre near the Gobi Desert in North-West China.
- The spacecraft was put into orbit by a Long March-2F carrier rocket. Earlier in 2013, three Chinese astronauts in a manned space mission had spent 15 days in orbit and were docked with a space laboratory Tiangong-1.
- Tiangong-2 was launched in September, 2016 as part of China’s efforts to set-up its own permanent manned space station by 2022. It is China’s second experimental space station module and had upgraded habitat with improved life support systems, power, communications and research equipment.
