PRELIMS
CEREBO: Indigenous Brain Injury Diagnostic Tool
Why in News: India has developed CEREBO, a hand-held portable device for early detection of Traumatic Brain Injuries (TBIs). Developed by ICMR, MDMS Secretariat, AIIMS Bhopal, NIMHANS Bengaluru, and Bioscan Research.
About CEREBO
- Non-invasive, radiation-free, portable brain diagnostic tool.
- Detects intracranial bleeding and edema within 1 minute.
- Uses near-infrared spectroscopy powered by machine learning.
- Safe for infants, pregnant women; operable by paramedics and even minimally trained staff.
- Provides colour-coded, cost-effective results.
- Deployed in ambulances, trauma centres, rural clinics, disaster units.
- Validated through multi-centre clinical trials; recommended for adoption in tertiary care.
What is Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)?
- Sudden trauma/injury to the head disrupting normal brain function.
- Can be mild (concussion) or severe, leading to long-term impairments.
Causes in India:
- Road traffic accidents: ~60%
- Falls: 20–25%
- Violence: ~10%
Impact:
- 1.5–2 million people injured annually in India; ~1 million deaths.
- Major public health challenge due to high morbidity, mortality, disability, and socio-economic losses.
Why Useful in Rural Areas?
- Lack of CT/MRI facilities and specialists in rural India.
- Delays in diagnosis → worsens patient outcomes.
- Portable, low-cost device enables early triage and referral, improving survival.
PRATUSH Radiometer
Why in News:India has developed PRATUSH, a compact radiometer designed to study the Cosmic Dawn — the epoch when the first stars and galaxies formed.
About PRATUSH
- Future space payload to orbit the Moon’s far side (radio-quiet zone).
- Detects faint 21-cm hydrogen line signal from the early Universe.
- Compact system based on a single-board computer (SBC), size of a credit card.
- Components: antenna + analog receiver + digital receiver + FPGA chip.
- SBC (similar to Raspberry Pi) acts as master controller, recording, calibrating, and storing cosmic radio data.
- Minimalist design: low mass, low power, low noise (~few millikelvins).
About Cosmic Dawn
- Period when the first stars lit up the Universe.
- Initiated reionisation of hydrogen gas → enabled cosmic structure formation.
- Direct observation difficult due to faint signals & terrestrial radio interference.
Significance
- Moon’s far side provides radio-quiet environment, free from Earth’s ionospheric noise.
- PRATUSH could unlock secrets of early star formation, reionisation, and cosmic evolution.
- Example of low-cost, high-efficiency space payloads enabling frontier cosmology.
Why Earthquakes Occur, Why Afghanistan is So Vulnerable
Why in News: A 6.0 magnitude earthquake struck north-east Afghanistan’s Nangarhar province on Sunday night, killing 800+ people and injuring over 2,000; the shallow depth (8 km) made it highly destructive.
What Causes an Earthquake?
- Intense shaking due to movement under Earth’s surface.
- Happens when two blocks of Earth slip past one another, releasing stored elastic strain energy.
- Earth’s crust is fragmented into tectonic plates.
- Plates collide, slide, or move apart at plate boundaries/faults.
Quake origin:
- Hypocenter: below Earth’s surface.
- Epicenter: directly above on the surface.
Why Does Depth Matter?
- Shallow quakes (≤70 km depth): More destructive → carry more energy to surface.
- Deeper quakes: Energy dissipates over longer distances → less destructive.
Magnitude increase:
- Each step (e.g., 6 vs. 5) = 10× amplitude and 32× energy.
Why Afghanistan is Vulnerable?
- Lies on fault lines where Indian & Eurasian plates meet.
- Plates move towards each other at ~45 mm/year → high tectonic activity.
- One of the most seismically active regions globally (≈15% of all seismic energy released annually).
- Hindu Kush region: 12 quakes ≥ magnitude 7 since 1900.
- Poor infrastructure, fragile governance, and lack of preparedness worsen impact.
SpaceX Starship
Why in News: On August 26, 2025, SpaceX’s Starship mega rocket successfully lifted off on its 10th test flight from the SpaceX Starbase in Texas.
About Starship Spacecraft
- Developed by SpaceX (USA).
Consists of:
- Starship spacecraft (upper stage).
- Super Heavy rocket (first stage booster).
- Fully reusable transportation system designed to carry crew and cargo to Earth orbit, Moon, Mars, and beyond.
Capacity
- World’s most powerful launch vehicle.
Payload:
- 150 metric tonnes (fully reusable).
- 250 metric tonnes (expendable).
Technical Highlights
- Height: 379 feet.
- Engines: 33 Raptor engines.
- Thrust: 16.5 million pounds.
- Designed for ultra-heavy payloads & deep-space missions.
Super Heavy Booster
- First stage booster of Starship system.
- Powered by 33 Raptor engines using sub-cooled liquid methane (CH4) and liquid oxygen (LOX).
- Fully reusable → re-enters atmosphere & lands back at launch site.
Raptor Engines
- Methane-oxygen staged combustion cycle.
- Twice the thrust of Falcon 9’s Merlin engine.
- Key enabler for reusability and deep-space exploration.
Minority-Run Schools & RTE Act
Why in News: The Supreme Court has referred to a larger Bench the issue of whether minority educational institutions are fully exempt from the Right to Education (RTE) Act, 2009, revisiting the 2014 Pramati Educational & Cultural Trust ruling.
Background
- RTE Act, 2009: Section 12(1)(c) mandates 25% reservation in private schools for children from weaker & disadvantaged groups.
- Pramati Educational & Cultural Trust case (2014): A five-judge Constitution Bench held Section 12(1)(c) unconstitutional for minority institutions.
- Result: Minority institutions placed outside the ambit of the RTE Act.
Current Concerns
- Justice Datta observed that the 2014 ruling diluted universal elementary education under Article 21A.
- Exemption of minority institutions leads to:
- Fragmentation of common schooling system.
- Weakening of inclusivity and universality in education.
- Misuse: Institutions seeking minority status to circumvent RTE obligations.
