It is the annual fair of artisans belonging to the weaker sections of the society from across the country.
It is organized by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment.
Artisans are assisted by the apex corporations of the ministry such as
National Backward Classes Finance & Development Corporation,
National Scheduled Caste Finance & Development Corporation,
National Handicapped Finance & Development Corporation and
National Safai Karamchari Finance & Development Corporation
Maternal Mortality Ratio
According to the recent special bulletin on MMR released by the Registrar General of India, MMR of India has declined by 8 points in one year.
MMR has declined from 130 per lakh live births in 2014-16 to 122 per lakh live births in 2015-17 (6.2% decline).
Under the National Health Policy 2017, India has set the ambitious target of MMR of 100 lakh live births by 2020.
Currently, 11 states in India have achieved the target - Kerala, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Jharkhand, Telangana, Gujarat, Uttarakhand, West Bengal, Karnataka and Haryana.
Four states namely Assam, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan are behind in containing MMR.
India is on the track of achieving the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) target for reducing MMR by 2025, five years ahead of timeline of 2030.
Initiatives such as LaQshya, POSHAN Abhiyan and SUMAN (Surakshit Matritva Aashwasan Initiative) are launched for reducing MMR.
NASA Artemis mission
NASA’s ongoing Artemis program aims to send astronauts to the Moon by 2024 with the ultimate goal to land humans on Mars.
The astronauts will be first sent to the Orion spacecraft using the new Space Launch System (SLS) rocket.
The spacecraft will take the crew to the lunar orbit and will return them to Earth as well.
The Orion spacecraft will be docked at the Gateway, from where the astronauts will take expeditions to the surface of the Moon in the human landing system.
For the mission, NASA announced it will also be accepting proposals from private space corporations to use their technologies for the exploration program.
Boeing has submitted a proposal to NASA about its integrated Human Lander System (HLS) that will minimise mission complexity with its ‘Fewest Steps to the Moon’ approach.
Housing Projects
The Union Cabinet has recently approved the establishment of a 'Special Window' fund for housing projects.
The fund will provide priority debt financing for the completion of stalled housing projects that are in the Affordable and Middle-Income Housing sector.
For the purposes of the fund, the government shall act as the Sponsor and the total commitment to be infused by the Government would be upto INR 10,000 crore.
It will be set up as a Category-II AIF (Alternate Investment Fund) debt fund registered with SEBI and would be professionally run.
It would provide relief to developers that require funding to complete a set of unfinished projects and consequently ensure delivery of homes to the home-buyers.
Lunar Exosphere
The thin gaseous layer encompassing the Moon is the ‘Lunar exosphere’, due to the gas atoms present in it very rarely collide with each other, thus making up a very tenuous structure.
Chandrayaan-2 currently orbiting the Moon has detected Argon-40 from an altitude of about 100 km in the lunar exosphere.
It has been able to do that with the help of its Chandra’s Atmospheric Composition Explorer-2 (CHACE-2) payload.
Argon-40 also known as 40Ar is an isotope of the noble gas Argon.
Argon is third most abundant gas in the Earth’s Atmosphere.
According to ISRO, Argon-40 originates from the radioactive disintegration of Potassium-40.
