Creation of CDS announced
In one of the biggest decisions for the military, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 15 August 2019 announced the creation of the Chief of Defence Staff to integrate the efforts, training, operations and planning of the three defence services.
Read More: http://www.ksgindia.com/index.php/study-material/news-for-aspirants/21231-creation-of-cds-announced
#CDS #73rdIndependenceDay #KargilWar #COSC #ACM #IAF #NarendraModi

Bimal Jalan panel finalises report
The Bimal Jalan committee, constituted to assess the adequate size of capital reserves that the RBI should hold, has finalised its report. The panel’s term was extended after the transfer of former Economic Affairs Secretary Subhash Chandra Garg to the Power Ministry.
Read More: http://www.ksgindia.com/index.php/study-material/news-for-aspirants/21230-bimal-jalan-panel-finalises-report
#BimalJalan #SubhashChandraGarg #RBI #RajivKumar #GDP #ECF

CORAS launched
Minister of Railways and Commerce & Industry, Shri Piyush Goyal launched CORAS (Commando for Railway Security) of Indian Railways and new establishment manual for Railway Protection Force.
Read More: http://www.ksgindia.com/index.php/study-material/news-for-aspirants/21229-coras-launched
#CORAS #RPF #RPSF #LWE #IndianRailways #Haryana #Goyal

New mission for clean water
Stressing on the need to conserve water, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 15 August 2019 said that the centre and the states will have to work together to save water and provide it to every household.
Read More: http://www.ksgindia.com/index.php/study-material/news-for-aspirants/21228-new-mission-for-clean-water
#mission #JalJeevanMission #MinisterModi #IndependenceDay

India’s Largest Rural Sanitation Survey
Jal Shakti Minister Shri Gajendra Singh Shekhawat launched the Swachh Survekshan Grameen 2019 (SSG 2019) in Delhi on 15 August 2019. To be instituted from August 14 to September 30, 2019, SSG 2019 will cover 17,450 villages in 698 districts across India and include 87,250 public places namely schools, anganwadi centers, public health centres, haat/bazaars/religious places, making it India’s largest rural sanitation survey.
Read More: http://www.ksgindia.com/index.php/study-material/news-for-aspirants/21227-india-s-largest-rural-sanitation-survey
#India #LRSS #SSG2019 #ODF #SwachhBharatMission #AjayDevgan

UNCCD COP 14 in India
A UN convention to combat desertification kicked off on 2 September 2019 at Greater Noida in which countries are expected to announce their targets for land restoration and agree on measures to address emerging threats including sand and dust storms and droughts.
Read More: http://www.ksgindia.com/index.php/study-material/news-for-aspirants/21369-unccd-cop-14-in-india
#UNCCD #COP14 #India #LDN #GreaterNoida #COP

India to chair A-WEB
The fourth general assembly of the Association of World Election Bodies (A-WEB) is being hosted by the Election Commission of India in Bengaluru on September 3. On the same day, India will take over as the chair of A-WEB for 2019-21.
Read More: http://www.ksgindia.com/index.php/study-material/news-for-aspirants/21368-india-to-chair-a-web
#India #AWEB #EMB #AAEA #Bengaluru #SunilArora #WorlDElectionBodies

Moon lander separation successful
In a key event of India's second moon mission Chandrayaan-2, lander 'Vikram' was separated from the orbiter on 2 September 2019, five days ahead of its planned lunar touchdown.
Read More: http://www.ksgindia.com/index.php/study-material/news-for-aspirants/21367-moon-lander-separation-successful
#Moon #India #Chandrayaan2 #ISTRAC #IDSN #ISRO #Pragyan

Yutu-2 discovers ‘gel-like’ substance
China’s Yutu-2 rover, which landed on the far side of the Moon as part of the Chang’e 4 mission, has made an unusual find on the satellite’s surface. According to a report from Space.com, the Yutu-2 rover has found “gel-like” substance inside a crater.
Read More: http://www.ksgindia.com/index.php/study-material/news-for-aspirants/21366-yutu-2-discovers-gel-like-substance
#Yutu2 #gellike #Moon #SPA #satellite #mission #China

World safest cities index
There’s a new surprise member of the world’s safest cities club. Washington, DC, has entered the top 10 in the Safe Cities index for the first time, while Hong Kong is a noticeable no-show after plummeting down the rankings.
Read More: http://www.ksgindia.com/index.php/study-material/news-for-aspirants/21365-world-safest-cities-index
#World #safest #HongKong #Washington #ranking #EconomistIntelligenceUni

NGOs come under RTI Act
Non-Government 0rganisations (NGOs) that are “substantially financed, directly or indirectly”, by government funds will fall within the ambit of “public authority” under the Right to Information (RTI) Act, 2005, the Supreme Court ruled.
Read More: http://www.ksgindia.com/study-material/news-for-aspirants/21505-ngos-come-under-rti-act.html
#NGOs #RTIAct #CIC #substantial #SCIC #DeepakGupta

A glimpse of its biodiversity
A team of researchers have reported the discovery of two new plant species belonging to the Asclepiadaceae or milkweed family from the shola forests of the Western Ghats, highlighting its rich biodiversity and the need for a conservation strategy for the fragile ecosystem.
Read More: http://www.ksgindia.com/study-material/news-for-aspirants/21504-a-glimpse-of-its-biodiversity.html
#glimpse #biodiversity #Gujarat #MSSRF #MSSwaminathan

NASA’s Juno spacecraft
NASA’s Juno mission recently went around Jupiter and released a set of raw images of the giant gaseous planet and its moon Io which cast an eclipse on it. The images showed a small but perfect dark shadow over Jupiter.
Read More: http://www.ksgindia.com/study-material/news-for-aspirants/21503-nasa-s-juno-spacecraft.html
#NASA #spacecraft #mission #planet #Jupiter

Tax cut means for economy
In its boldest gambit yet to stir up the economy, the government on 20 September 2019 issued an ordinance to reduce the corporate tax rate for domestic firms and new manufacturing units by 10 to 12 percentage points, effectively bringing India’s tax rates on par with its competing Asian peers.
Read More: https://www.ksgindia.com/study-material/news-for-aspirants/21531-tax-cut-means-for-economy.html
#NirmalaSitharaman #Tax #budget #manufacturing #economy #EastAsia

Chandrayaan-2 achieved 98% objectives
Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Chairman K Sivan on 21 September 2019 said the Chandrayaan-2 mission has achieved 98 per cent of its objectives, even as scientists are working hard to establish contact with lander 'Vikram'. Chandrayaan-2 orbiter is doing well and performing scheduled science experiments.
Read More: https://www.ksgindia.com/study-material/news-for-aspirants/21530-chandrayaan-2-achieved-98-objectives.html
#Chandrayaan2 #ISRO #Vikram #ChairmanKSivan #mission

Mysterious magnetic pulses on Mars
The magnetic field of Mars at times tends to pulsate in ways which have never been observed before in the middle of the night. But, the reason behind this is currently not known.
Read More: https://www.ksgindia.com/study-material/news-for-aspirants/21529-mysterious-magnetic-pulses-on-mars.html
#Mars #NASA #Mysterious #EPSC #InSight #HP3 #SEIS

PTA with Chile
For further expansion of the existing Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA), India and Chile have signed the terms of reference. According to the ambassador of Chile to India Juan Angulo Monsalve.
Read More: https://www.ksgindia.com/study-material/news-for-aspirants/21528-pta-with-chile.html
#PTA #Chile #MoP #TPCI #NewDelhi #PacificAlliance

No trace of Chandrayaan-2 Vikram
NASA has found no evidence of Chandrayaan-2's Vikram lander in the latest images captured by its Moon orbiter of the lunar south pole region where India's ambitious mission attempted a historic soft landing.
Read More: https://www.ksgindia.com/study-material/news-for-aspirants/21779-no-trace-of-chandrayaan-2-vikram.html
#Chandrayaan2 #NASA #Vikram #ISRO #mission

Brahmos test fired successfully
The Indian Air Force has carried out successful firing of BrahMos surface-to-surface missiles from a mobile platform at Trak Island in Andaman Nicobar islands.
Read More: https://www.ksgindia.com/study-material/news-for-aspirants/21778-brahmos-test-fired-successfully-2.html
#Brahmos #IndianAirForce #DRDO #ITR #missile #IAF

First national repository of cyber tech
The National Cybersecurity Coordinator’s office in partnership with Data Security Council of India (DSCI), a not-for-profit, industry body on data protection set up by Nasscom, has opened India’s first national cybertech’s repository portal named TechSagar(www.techsagar.in).
Read More: https://www.ksgindia.com/study-material/news-for-aspirants/21777-first-national-repository-of-cyber-tech.html
#DSCI #PPmodel #Cybersecurity #India #TechSagar #NCC

'Hope' mission delayed
The United Arab Emirates plans to make history on 15 July 2020 with the scheduled launch of the "Hope" mission, which will make it the first Arab nation to send a probe to Mars.
Read More: https://www.ksgindia.com/study-material/news-for-aspirants/24380-hope-mission-delayed.html
#Hope #mission #Mars #firstArabnation #UnitedArabEmirates

Today's Headlines - 19 July 2023
India, US notify WTO of mutual resolution
GS Paper - 2 (International Relations)

India and the US have mutually resolved all six trade disputes pending at the World Trade Organisation (WTO), in line with the commitment made by the two countries during the US visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently. Both countries have informed the WTO's dispute settlement body (DSB) about the resolution of all the pending disputes. The WTO has already issued a communication with regard to one of the disputes related to the imposition of additional customs duties by India on 28 US products.

More about the News

The United States and India are pleased to notify the DSB (dispute settlement body), in accordance with Article 3.6 of the Understanding on Rules and Procedures Governing the Settlement of Disputes, that the parties have reached a mutually agreed solution to the matter raised in this dispute, according to a communication of the WTO dated 17 July 2023.
The two countries have urged the dispute panel that its report should be confined to a brief description of the case and information that a solution has been reached by the two.
The trade dispute which was resolved pertains to a complaint filed by the US in 2019 against India.
India had imposed additional customs duties on 28 US products including chickpeas, lentils and apples in retaliation to the US increasing duties on certain steel and aluminium products.
Against this resolution, India would remove additional duties on eight US products, including chickpeas, lentils and apples, which were imposed in 2019 in response to America's measure to increase tariffs on certain steel and aluminium products.
During the recent state visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the US, both countries decided the termination of six WTO (World Trade Organisation) disputes and the removal of these retaliatory tariffs on certain US products.
Flashback

In 2018, the US imposed an import duty of 25 per cent on steel products and 10 per cent on certain aluminium products on grounds of national security. In retaliation, India in June 2019 imposed customs duties on 28 American products.
The US is the largest trading partner of India. In 2022-23, the bilateral goods trade increased to USD 128.8 billion as against USD 119.5 billion in 2021-22. The six disputes include three initiated by India and as many by the US.
These included a complaint by India against the US with regard to the imposition of countervailing duties on certain hot rolled carbon steel flat products from India.
On 9 September 2016, India filed a case against the US pertaining to domestic content requirements and subsidies instituted by the governments of the states of Washington, California, Montana, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Michigan, Delaware and Minnesota, in the energy sector.
Another dispute filed by the US against India was related to domestic content requirements under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission for solar cells and solar modules. In 2018, the US filed a case against India's alleged export subsidy measures.
Similarly on 3 July 2019, the US filed a dispute against New Delhi on imposition of additional duties with respect to certain products originating in the US.

#upsc #news #international #relations #WTO #primeminister #DSB #mutually #solution #termination #india #domestic #jawaharlalnehru #national #solar #mission #measures #newdelhi

Today's Headlines - 31 July 2023
ISRO PSLV-C56 mission successful
GS Paper - 3 (Space Technology)

India space agency, ISRO, on 30 July 2023 successfully launched its proven PSLV rocket carrying seven Singaporean satellites from Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota. After lift-off, the primary satellite got separated and it was followed by six other co-passenger satellites, which were deployed into the intended orbits sequentially.

The primary payload

The primary payload carried by ISRO's trusted workhorse Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle is the DS-SAR Radar Imaging Earth Observation satellite, which has been developed under a partnership between DSTA (representing the Government of Singapore) and ST Engineering, Singapore.
The 360-kg satellite, upon deployment at an altitude of 535 km into a Near-equatorial Orbit (NEO), would be used to support the satellite imagery requirements of various agencies within the Government of Singapore.
ST Engineering would use the satellite for multi-modal and higher responsiveness imagery and geospatial services for their commercial customers.
The satellite carries a Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) payload developed by Israel Aerospace Industries.
The payload allows DS-SAR to provide for all-weather day-and-night coverage and it is capable of imaging at 1-metre resolution.

The co-passenger satellites are:

VELOX-AM, a 23 kg technology demonstration microsatellite
ARCADE Atmospheric Coupling and Dynamics Explorer (ARCADE), an experimental satellite
SCOOB-II, a 3U nanosatellite flying a technology demonstrator payload
NULloN by NuSpace, an advanced 3U nanosatellite enabling seamless Internet of Things connectivity in both urban and remote locations
Galassia-2, a 3U nanosatellite that would be orbiting at low earth orbit
ORB-12 STRIDER, a satellite developed under an international collaboration.

About Launch Vehicle

This mission is the 58th flight of PSLV and using the 17th vehicle with Core Alone Configuration.
A Core Alone version of the rocket means the vehicle would not use solid strap-on motors on its sides in the first stage as compared to other variants like PSLV-XL, QL, and DL which use six, four, or two boosters, respectively.
PSLV has earned its title as the 'Workhorse of ISRO' through consistently delivering various satellites into low earth orbits.
This is the second campaign to be undertaken by ISRO after the much-awaited Chandrayaan-3 mission which was launched on 14 July 2023 from the second launch pad, at Satish Dhawan Space Centre.

#upsc #news #todayheadline #ISRO #PSLV #mission #space #technology #india #agency #launched #singaporean #satellite #satishdhawan #sriharikota #singapore #NEO #geospatial #SAR #aerospace #industries #israel #VELOXAM #ARCADE #SCOOB #NULION #GALSSSIA2 #ORB12 #chandrayaan3

Today's Headlines - 08 August 2023
Chandrayaan enters moon orbit
GS Paper - 3 (Space Technology)

TWENTY-THREE days after it left earth, Chandrayaan-3, aiming to become the first Indian spacecraft to make a soft landing on the moon, entered lunar orbit, completing another milestone in its journey. This means that the spacecraft which had been moving towards the moon for the last five days — since it emerged out of its earth-bound orbit — has now begun to circle around the moon.

More about the Mission

MOX, ISTRAC, this is Chandrayaan-3. I am feeling lunar gravity, said ISRO, putting words to what must only be an electronic signal from the spacecraft to the Mission Operations Complex (MOX) at the ISRO Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC).
As of now, the spacecraft is in an elliptical orbit around the moon, that is 18,074 km from the lunar surface at its farthest and 164 km at the nearest.
This orbit altitude would be lowered progressively over the next few days, ultimately achieving a circular orbit of 100 km x 100 km, from which a final descent on the lunar surface is planned around 23 August 2023.
This is the third time that an Indian spacecraft has entered lunar orbit. The previous two Chandrayaan missions had also reached this phase.

Flashback

Chandrayaan-1 was only meant to be an orbiter, it did send out an instrument called Moon Impact Probe to crash land on the lunar surface.
Chandrayaan-2 was supposed to make a soft landing but could not, faltering in the last few seconds of its journey.
Chandrayaan-3 has taken slightly less time to reach the lunar orbit compared to Chandrayaan-2, which reached this destination in 30 days. But Chandrayaan-3 will spend more time in the lunar orbit, before attempting the soft landing.
If the soft landing is successful, it will make India the fourth country in the world to do so after the US, Russia and China.
Chandrayaan-3 is attempting to become the first mission to land near the lunar south pole. Other missions have so far landed close to the moon’s equator.

#upsc #news #headline #chandrayaan #moon #orbit #space #technology #indian #spacecraft #softlanding #milestone #mission #ISRO #MOX #telemetry #tacking #network #ISTRAC #lunar

Today's Headlines - 09 August 2023
The legacy of the Voyager mission
GS Paper - 3 (Space Technology)

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) lost communication with Earth’s longest-running space probe, Voyager 2, the space agency detected a “heartbeat” signal from the spacecraft. Although too faint for extraction of data, the detected signal confirms that Voyager 2, which is about 19.9 billion kilometres away from Earth, is still operating.

Why were the Voyager spacecraft sent into space?

In 1972, NASA cancelled its plans of exploring the five outer planets (Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune) with four highly complex spacecraft — the proposal, estimated to cost $ 1 billion, was scrapped due to budgetary constraints.
Instead, it proposed to send the Voyager probes, initially slated to explore only Jupiter and Saturn. In 1974, however, it was decided that if one spacecraft completes the mission, the other one would be redirected towards Uranus and then Neptune.
Interestingly, the spacecraft were scheduled for a take-off towards the end of the 1970s for a reason.
NASA chose the particular launch window to take advantage of a rare alignment of Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune that occurs once every 175 years.
The alignment allowed the spacecraft to harness the gravity of each planet and swing from one to the next using relatively minimal amounts of fuel. NASA first demonstrated the technique with its Mariner 10 mission to Venus and Mercury from 1973 to 1975.
Voyager 2 was launched on 20 August 1977, two weeks before the 5 September Voyager 1 takeoff.
This reversal of order took place as the two spacecraft were put on different trajectories — Voyager 1 was set on a path to reach Jupiter and Saturn, ahead of Voyager 2.

What are the most notable achievements of the Voyager spacecraft?

Fifteen months after its launch, Voyager 1 reached its first target planet, Jupiter, on 5 March 1979, and was soon followed by Voyager 2, which arrived there on 9 July.
The most interesting discoveries made by Voyager 1 included the finding that Io, one of Jupiter’s moons, was geologically active.
After the Saturn expedition, as Voyager 1 headed on a trajectory to escape the solar system, Voyager 2 was redirected towards Uranus — both probes had fulfilled their primary mission goals but scientists kept them operational for further exploration.
Voyager 2 arrived at Uranus in 1986, becoming the first human-made object to fly past the aquamarine planet.
The spacecraft took stunning photographs and confirmed that the main constituents of Uranus are hydrogen and helium.
Then, the probe went to Neptune. Becoming the first human-made object to fly by the planet in 1989, Voyager 2 made some more notable discoveries there.
Apart from finding new moons and rings, it discovered that Neptune is more active than previously thought — winds on the planet blow at the speed of 1,100 kph.
After the Neptune encounter, Voyager 2, like Voyager 1, was put on the path to head out of the solar system. While Voyager 1 officially entered interstellar space in August 2012, Voyager 2 made its entry in November 2018.

#upsc #news #headline #voyager #mission #legacy #space #technology #national #aeronautics #spacecraft #data #NASA #planets #jupiter #saturn #uranus #neptune #mars #mercury #solar #moons

Today's Headlines - 12 August 2023
Russia’s Luna-25 mission
GS Paper - 3 (Space Technology)

As the Chandrayaan-3 mission tightens its orbit around the Moon, Russia was launched its first moon-landing spacecraft in 47 years on 11 August 2023. The Luna-25 mission is scheduled to land on the Moon on 23 August 2023, the same day as Chandrayaan-3’s planned landing.

More about Luna-25

Luna-25 was launched from the Vosthochny cosmodrome in the Russian Far East less than a month after Chandrayaan-3 launched from the Satish Dhawan Space Center in Sriharikota.
The Russian mission will try to land on the lunar South Pole just like the Indian mission, aiming for a prized destination that may hold significant quantities of ice that could be used to extract oxygen and fuel in the future.
If either of the missions succeeds before the other, it will be the first one to land on the lunar South Pole in human history.
Roscosmos, Russia’s ISRO counterparts said that Luna-25 will practice soft-landing, analyse soil samples and conduct long-term scientific research on the Moon’s surface.
The Chandrayaan-3 mission is carrying an orbiter, a lander and a rover. The lander and rover are carrying many scientific payloads.
This is Russia’s first lunar mission since 1976 when the country was part of the Soviet Union and it will be completed without equipment from the European Space Agency (ESA). ESA ended its cooperation with Roscosmos after Russia invaded Ukraine.
Luna-25 has a mass of 1.8 tons and carries 31 kilograms of scientific equipment, including some that it will use to take rock samples from up to a depth of 15 centimetres to test for the presence of water that could be used to support future crewed missions to the Moon.
The mission was originally scheduled to launch in October 2021 but was marred by many delays.
The Russian mission will take a lot less time to reach the Moon than Chandrayaan-3 because the latter is taking a longer route that takes advantage of the gravities of the Earth and the Moon to use a lot less fuel.
Russia willevacuate villagers from a village near the launch site due to a “one in a million chance” that one of the rocket stages that launches could fall to the Earth there.

#upsc #news #headline #russia #luna #mission #space #technology #chandrayaan #moon #spacecraft #vosthochny #cosmodrome #lunar #southpole #indianmission #oxygen #soil #history #land #human #orbiter #ESA #launch #gravaities #earth #october #rover #ISRO #fuel

Today's Headlines - 14 August 2023
Parachute deployment tests for Gaganyaan
GS Paper - 3 (Space Technology)

ISRO has successfully conducted a series of tests on drogue parachutes, which would play a pivotal role in stabilising the crew module and reducing its velocity to a safe level during re-entry in the planned Gaganyaan human space flight mission.

More about the Mission

The Gaganyaan mission hopes to safely transport astronauts to Space and back. Drogue parachutes are deployed to decrease speed and stabilise rapidly moving objects.
ISRO's Thiruvananthapuram-based Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) successfully conducted a series of Drogue Parachute Deployment Tests at the Rail Track Rocket Sled (RTRS) facility of the Terminal Ballistics Research Laboratory in Chandigarh during 8-10 August.
The tests were conducted in collaboration with Aerial Delivery Research and Development Establishment (ADRDE)/DRDO.
The drogue parachutes, packed within pyro-based devices known as mortars, are cleverly designed to eject the parachutes into the air upon command.
These conical ribbon-type parachutes, boasting a diameter of 5.8 metres, employ a single-stage reefing mechanism, ingeniously minimising canopy area and mitigating opening shock, ensuring a smooth and controlled descent.
During the three comprehensive tests conducted at the RTRS facility, a range of real-world scenarios were simulated to rigorously evaluate the performance and reliability of the drogue parachutes.
The first test simulated the maximum reefed load, marking a groundbreaking introduction of reefing in a mortar-deployed parachute within India.
The second test emulated the maximum dis-reefed load, while the third test showcased the deployment of the drogue parachute under conditions mirroring the maximum angle of attack experienced by the crew module during its mission.
These successful RTRS tests serve as a critical qualification milestone for the drogue parachutes, confirming their readiness for integration into the upcoming Test Vehicle-D1 mission.
Notably, earlier this year, theRTRS tests of Pilot and Apex cover separation parachutes were also conducted, further accentuating the progress of the Gaganyaan mission's parachute system development.
Theintricate parachute sequence for the Gaganyaan crew module's deceleration system encompasses a total of 10 parachutes.

#upsc #news #headline #parachute #gaganyaan #space #technology #mission #flight #ISRO #deploment #VSSC #RTRS #ADRDE #DRDO #rail #diameter #mortars #mechanism #drogue #Pilot #system #world #ribbon #speed #vikramsarabhai #centre #conical #crew

Today's Headlines - 16 August 2023
Isro’s space probe to study the Sun
GS Paper - 3 (Space Technology)

The Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) released images of the Aditya-L1 mission — the space agency’s first attempt to study the Sun. The satellite has reached the Satish Dhawan Space Center (SDSC) in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh, for its integration with the launch vehicle, PSLV.

What is the Aditya-L1 mission?

The Aditya-L1 will observe the Sun from a close distance, and try to obtain information about its atmosphere and magnetic field.
It’s equipped with seven payloads (instruments) on board to study the Sun’s corona, solar emissions, solar winds and flares, and Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs), and will carry out round-the-clock imaging of the Sun.

Why is studying the Sun important?

Every planet, including Earth and the exoplanets beyond the Solar System, evolves — and this evolution is governed by its parent star.
The solar weather and environment affect the weather of the entire system. Variations in this weather can change the orbits of satellites or shorten their lives, interfere with or damage onboard electronics, and cause power blackouts and other disturbances on Earth. Knowledge of solar events is key to understanding space weather.
To learn about and track Earth-directed storms, and to predict their impact, continuous solar observations are needed.
Every storm that emerges from the Sun and heads towards Earth passes through L1, and a satellite placed in the halo orbit around L1 of the Sun-Earth system has the major advantage of continuously viewing the Sun without any occultation/eclipses.
L1 refers to Lagrangian/Lagrange Point 1, one of five points in the orbital plane of the Earth-Sun system. Lagrange Points, named after Italian-French mathematician Josephy-Louis Lagrange, are positions in space where the gravitational forces of a two-body system (like the Sun and the Earth) produce enhanced regions of attraction and repulsion.
These can be used by spacecraft to reduce fuel consumption needed to remain in position. The L1 point is home to the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory Satellite (SOHO), an international collaboration project of NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA).
The L1 point is about 1.5 million km from Earth, or about one-hundredth of the way to the Sun. Aditya L1 will perform continuous observations looking directly at the Sun.
NASA’s Parker Solar Probe, launched in 2018, has already gone far closer — but it will be looking away from the Sun.
The earlier Helios 2 solar probe, a joint venture between NASA and the space agency of erstwhile West Germany, went within 43 million km of the Sun’s surface in 1976.

#upsc #news #headline #ISRO #study #sun #space #technology #india #space #research #technology #aditya #mission #SDSC #satishdhawanspacecenter #srihorikota #andhrapradesh #PSLV #distance #magnetic #corona #solar #planet #weather #earth #repulsion #gravitational #forces #fuel #SOHO #NASA #germany #surface

Today's Headlines - 18 August 2023
Chandrayaan-3 lander separates from propulsion module
GS Paper - 3 (Space Technology)

The Chandrayaan-3 lander, which carries within it the 26kh rover, separated from the propulsion module on 17 August 2023 for its onward journey to the surface of the moon on 23 August 2023. The lander module will descend further down from the current near-circular orbit of 153 x 163 km after a de-boosting manoeuvre.

What is Propulsion module

The propulsion module, meanwhile, will continue orbiting the moon and studying the spectral signatures of Earth using a payload that was tacked on to the mission in addition to the science experiments carried on board its predecessor.
By studying Earth from the moon, the Spectro-polarimetry of Habitable Planet Earth (SHAPE) will help scientists understand the markers of life on exoplanets.
Although the planned mission life for the propulsion module – which was added to the mission in place of the orbiter to help carry the lander rover to the moon – was three to six months, it is likely to keep functioning beyond that. Meanwhile, the Propulsion Module continues its journey in the current orbit for months/years.
Since the orbiter of Chandrayaan-2 had functioned normally and the instruments on board carried out all the observations and experiments as intended, there was no need to include an orbiter component to Chandrayaan-3.
More about lander module

However, the lander module still needed to be transported to lunar orbit, and the propulsion module had this limited task to perform.
The Chandrayaan-3 mission has been designed to achieve what Chandrayaan-2 could not – soft landing and roving on the surface of the moon.
After the separation, the instruments on board the lander, including the three scientific payloads, will be activated and tested to check whether everything is functioning normally.
The lander will carry out two orbit-reduction manoeuvres on its own, first getting into the circular 100 x 100 km orbit, and then further closer to the moon in the 100 x 30 km orbit.
This powered descent was described as “fifteen minutes of terror” by the previous Isro chief K Sivan.
Flashback

Chandrayaan-2 had crash-landed just kilometres from its intended landing spot due to flaws in the algorithm of the onboard navigation software.
The software did not provide for an immediate error-correction step when the engines produced a higher-than-intended thrust.
The algorithm was designed to make the corrections after performing a few other urgent tasks. But this allowed the errors to accumulate and become unmanageable.

#upsc #news #headline #chandrayaan #lander #propulsion #module #spacetechnology #moon #journey #signatures #earth #orbit #mission #softlanding #playloads #manoeuvres #terror #crashlanded #kilometres #error #correction #unmanagable

Today's Headlines - 28 August 2023
Indore named best city in Smart Cities Mission
GS Paper - 2 (Infrastructure)

The Union Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry named Indore the best city and Madhya Pradesh the best state in the Smart Cities Mission in its India Smart Cities Awards 2022. Surat and Agra were named second and third best among cities and Tamil Nadu second in states, with the third prize being shared by Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh. A total of 66 winners in different categories were announced; the awards would be presented by President Droupadi Murmu at a ceremony in Indore on 27 September 2023.

More about the News

The cities were selected based on their ranking in terms of progress of projects, project outcomes and presentations submitted for the awards.
Indore has topped the cleanliness rankings under the Swachh Bharat Mission, being named the cleanest city for the past six years in a row.
Madhya Pradesh, too, won the tag of the cleanest state in the Swachh Survekshan 2022. In the Smart Cities awards, Indore had shared the first place with Surat last time.
In the Smart Cities Awards 2022, Coimbatore’s project of model roads, restoration and renovation of lakes was ranked the best in the category of built environment, while Jabalpur won the award for its incubation centre in the economy category.
Chandigarh’s public bike sharing and e-governance services won in the mobility and governance categories, respectively. Chandigarh also won the overall award in the Union Territory category.
Flashback

Under the Smart Cities Mission, which was launched in 2015, the 100 selected cities have completed 76% of the proposed projects worth Rs.1.10 lakh crore, while the remaining projects worth Rs.60,095 crore “will be completed by 30 June 2024, a ministry statement said.
Earlier this year, the mission’s deadline was extended from June 30 to next year to allow all 100 cities to complete their projects.
Most notable milestone achieved in the mission has been the Integrated Command and Control Centers (ICCC), which is operational in all 100 Smart Cities.
These ICCCs work as the brain and nervous system for city operations, using technology for urban management.
The urban services have significantly improved in diverse fields like crime tracking, safety and security of citizens, transport management, solid waste management, water supply, disaster management etc.

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Today's Headlines - 29 August 2023
Crew-7 mission to space station
GS Paper - 3 (Space Technology)

Four astronauts from four countries, including the US, Denmark, Japan, and Russia, launched aboard a SpaceX rocket towards the International Space Station (ISS) from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. This was the first US take-off in which all the astronauts atop the spacecraft belonged to a different country — until now, NASA had always included two or three of its own on its SpaceX flights. The mission has been known as Crew-7.

Why has such a diverse group of astronauts gone to the ISS?

The Crew-7 mission is a result of the ongoing cooperation among different countries in space, especially since the launch of the space station in 1998.
The International Space Station Program involves the US, Russia, Canada, Japan, and the participating countries of the European Space Agency, and is one of the most ambitious international collaborations ever attempted.
The program “brings together international flight crews, multiple launch vehicles, globally distributed launch, operations, training, engineering, and development facilities; communications networks, and the international scientific research community”.
What is the mission?

The Crew-7 is the eighth flight operated by NASA and Elon Musk-owned SpaceX as part of the agency’s commercial crew program, which has been taking astronauts to the ISS since SpaceX’s first crewed mission in 2020.
During their stay at the space station, the Crew-7 astronauts will conduct more than 200 science experiments and technology demonstrations to prepare for missions to the Moon, Mars, and beyond.
The research will include a collection of microbial samples from the exterior of the space station.
The team will also analyse how sleeping in the microgravity environment differs from Earth by examining astronauts’ brain waves while they sleep.
Yet another experiment will look at the formation of biofilms in wastewater on the space station, which could be key to finding better ways to recycle water for drinking and hygiene while in space (Yes, astronauts have long used recycled sweat and urine to drink and shower on the station).

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The points can be used as ‘parking spots’ for spacecraft in space to remain in a fixed position with minimal fuel consumption.
They have been named after Italian-French mathematician Joseph-Louis Lagrange (1736-1813), who was the first one to find the positions. So, between the Earth and the Sun, a satellite can occupy any of five Lagrangian points. “Of the five Lagrange points, three are unstable and two are stable. The unstable Lagrange points – labelled L1, L2, and L3 – lie along the line connecting the two large masses. The stable Lagrange points – labelled L4 and L5 – form the apex of two equilateral triangles. The L4 and L5 are also called Trojan points and celestial bodies like asteroids are found here.

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Today's Headlines - 04 September 2023
NITI Aayog, UNDP join hands to fast-track SDGs
GS Paper - 2 (Polity)

Central think tank NITI Aayog and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) signed a memorandum of understanding to formalise a cooperative framework to fast-track India's pursuit to achieve its sustainable development goals (SDGs), the Aayog said.

More about the memorandum of understanding

The memorandum of understanding will focus on the two organisations' cooperation on a range of areas, including SDG localisation, data-driven monitoring, Aspirational Districts and Blocks, among others.
Over the years, NITI Aayog and UNDP's collaboration has grown from strength to strength. This partnership would foster data-driven policy interventions and programmatic action.
NITI Aayog is the nodal body for the monitoring of SDGs in India and reviews the process through a nationwide SDG index. The memorandum of understanding between the think tank and UNDP was signed for a period of years.
Midway to 2030, India's leadership is critical for making the SDGs a reality. India nearly halved multidimensional poverty between 2015-2016 and 2019-2021, demonstrating that despite complex challenges, accelerating progress towards the Goals is possible.
Through this memorandum of understanding with NITI Aayog, UNDP will also provide support for NITI Aayog's work on women's livelihoods, innovation, and Mission LiFE.

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Today's Headlines - 05 September 2023
A sunrace of significant global missions
GS Paper - 3 (Space Technology)

In the wake of the Indian Space Research Organisation's successful launch of its inaugural solar mission, Aditya-L1,, let's embark on a journey through key missions from space agencies worldwide, all dedicated to unravelling the enigmatic secrets of the Sun.
A Sunrace
USA
US: National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the US space agency, launched the Parker Solar Probe in August 2018. In December 2021, Parker flew through the Sun's upper atmosphere, the corona, and sampled particles and magnetic fields there. This was the first time ever that a spacecraft touched the Sun, according to NASA.
In February 2020, NASA joined hands with the European Space Agency (ESA) and launched The Solar Orbiter to collect data to find out how the Sun created and controlled the constantly changing space environment throughout the solar system.
Other active solar missions by NASA are Advanced Composition Explorer launched in August, 1997; Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory in October, 2006; Solar Dynamics Observatory in February, 2010; and Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph launched in June, 2013.
Also, in December, 1995, NASA, ESA and JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) jointly launched the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO).
Japan
JAXA, Japan's space agency, launched its first solar observation satellite, Hinotori (ASTRO-A), in 1981. The objective was to study solar flares using hard X-rays, according to JAXA. JAXA's other solar exploratory missions are Yohkoh (SOLAR-A) launched in 1991; SOHO (along with NASA and ESA) in 1995; and Transient Region and Coronal Explorer (TRACE), along with NASA, in 1998.
In 2006, Hinode (SOLAR-B) was launched, which was the successor to Yohkoh (SOLAR-A), the orbiting solar observatory. Japan launched it in collaboration with the US and the UK. The objective of Hinode, an observatory satellite, is to study the impact of the Sun on the Earth.
Yohkoh's objective was to observe solar flares and the solar corona. It was the first satellite to track almost an entire 11-year solar activity cycle.
Europe
In October, 1990, the ESA launched Ulysses to study the environment of space above and below the poles of the Sun, giving scientists information about the variable effect the Sun has on the space surrounding it. Other than solar missions launched in collaboration with NASA and the JAXA, the ESA launched Proba-2 in October, 2001.
Proba-2 is the second of the Proba series, building on nearly eight years of successful Proba-1 experience, even as Proba-1 was not a solar exploratory mission. On-board Proba-2 were four experiments, two of them were solar observation experiments.
Proba stands for Project for On-Board Autonomy. Upcoming solar missions of the ESA include Proba-3, scheduled for 2024 and Smile, scheduled for 2025.
China
The Advanced Space-based Solar Observatory (ASO-S) was successfully launched by the National Space Science Center, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), in October, 2022. The ASO-S mission is designed to reveal connections among the solar magnetic field, solar flares, and coronal mass ejections (CMEs).
Solar flares and CMEs are eruptive solar phenomena, thought to be driven by changes in the Sun's magnetic field.

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International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD)

The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), a specialised agency of the United Nations, was one of the major outcomes of the 1974 World Food Conference in Rome.
The conference was organised by the United Nations in response to the food crises of the early 1970s, when global food shortages were causing widespread famine and malnutrition.
Global Environment Facility (GEF)

Established in 1991 on the eve of the 1992 Rio Summit, the Global Environment Facility (GEF) provides grant funds to developing countries for projects and activities that aim to protect the global environment.
This is to cover areas like biodiversity, climate change, international waters, ozone depletion, land degradation, primarily desertification, deforestation and persistent organic pollutants.
African Development Bank (AfDB)

The African Development Bank Group (AfDB) comprises (i) the African Development Bank, (ii) the African Development Fund and (iii) the Nigeria Trust Fund. It was established in 1963 with membership being open only to regional countries, initially.
To mobilise external resources for the development of Regional Member Countries, AFDB extended its membership.

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