India is aiming to be the 4th country to land on the lunar surface after the USA, Russia and China.
ISRO will launch Chandrayaan-2, its second spacecraft to the moon on July 15, 2019.
Chandrayaan-1 was designed to just orbit the Moon and make observations, while Chandrayaan-2 is created to land on the Moon.
This mission is aimed at landing a rover near the unexplored South Pole.
According to ISRO, there is a possibility of the presence of water in permanently shadowed areas around it.
South Pole region also has craters that are cold traps and contain a fossil record of the early Solar System.
Chandrayaan 2, has three important components — the Orbiter, the Lander ‘Vikram’, and Rover ‘Pragyan’.
The Chandrayaan will be tucked into the GSLV Mk-III rocket.
It is also called as ‘Baahubali’, the country’s heaviest and most powerful rocket to date.
It is a three-stage heavy-lift launch vehicle developed by ISRO.
The vehicle has two solid strapons, a core liquid booster and a cryogenic upper stage.
This mission will help us to better understand the origin and evolution of the moon.
Studies of lunar topography, mineralogy, elemental abundance, and signatures of water ice are the prime objectives.
The orbiter has 8 instruments fitted into it and 7 of them are India’s.
NASA has one payload onboard called the Laser Retroreflector Array (LRA).
The ‘Terrain Mapping Camera-2’(TMC-2) will map the lunar surface and help to prepare 3D maps of it.
The ‘Miniature Synthetic Aperture Radar’(Mini SAR) will also map the surface of water-ice in the South Pole and thickness of the lunar dust on the surface.
The ‘Dual Frequency Radio Science’(DFRS) will study the density of the electrons in the moon’s ionosphere.
The orbiter has a high-resolution camera (OHRC) that ensures that the lander makes a safe touchdown on the lunar surface by taking 3D images of the landing site.
The ‘Solar X-ray Monitor’(XSM) measures the intensity of the solar rays and the outer most part of the atmosphere or its corona.
CLASS (Chandrayaan 2 Large Area Soft X-ray Spectrometer) measures the light absorbed by the Moon and will check for different metals that are present in its spectrum.
Thermo-physical property of the lunar surface and seismic activities will also be measured.
The orbiter will continue to orbit the Moon for a year, at an altitude of 100 kilometres.
The Rover which is 6-wheeled, AI-powered and the Lander are designed to work for only 14 days (1 lunar day).
Merchant Discount Rate (MDR)
It is a fee charged by a bank to a merchant for payment processing services from customers on debit and credit card transactions.
It is also referred to as the ‘Transaction Discount Rate’ or TDR.
To give a push to digital payments adoption, government has proposed no charge or merchant discount rate for companies with over Rs 50 cr turnover accepting payments digitally
The MDR will instead be borne by supporting banks and the Reserve Bank of India.
Necessary amendments are being made in the Income Tax Act and the Payments and Settlement Systems Act, 2007 to give effect to these provisions.
Contrary to public perception, the MDR has not been made zero.
The FM’s decision has just shifted its incidence on to the RBI and banks.
So many payments providers apprehend that the banks will find a way of passing on the costs to them.
In turn, this will negatively impact the health of a sector that needs nurturing.
Great Indian bustard
The Environment Ministry initiated a project to save the ‘Great Indian bustard’.
With just 130 great Indian bustards left in the country, this project focuses on their conservation and protection.
It is a Centrally Sponsored Scheme.
Through ‘Integrated Development of Wildlife Habitats’, government provides funds to states & Union Territories under the component ‘Species Recovery Programme’.
The fund is for conservation and protection of 21 critically endangered species, including the Great Indian Bustard.
The ministry has also initiated ‘Habitat Improvement and Conservation Breeding of Great Indian Bustard’ – An Integrated Approach.
The important objective of this is to, build up captive population of great Indian bustard and to release the chicks in the wild for increasing the population.
Rajasthan, Gujarat and Maharashtra are the important range states involved in this programme.
Currently, there are two centres for breeding and hatching, in Jaisalmer and in Kota, both in Rajasthan.
Key Facts about Great Indian bustard,
Schedule I of the Indian Wildlife (Protection)Act, 1972
Appendix I of CITES
Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List
Habitat - Found in the Indian-subcontinent
Threats -
Agriculture & aquaculture
Energy production & mining
Transportation & service corridors
Human intrusions & disturbance
Invasive and other problematic species and diseases
However, the government does not recognise noise pollution as a cause of danger to the bird.
LaQshya
“LaQshya” (Labour room Quality improvement Initiative) is to improve quality of care in labour room and maternity operation theatres in public health facilities.
It’s under the ‘Ministry of Health and Family Welfare’.
It aims to give qualitative care to the pregnant mother in the Labour Room to minimize the risks associated with childbirth.
Objectives-
To reduce maternal and newborn mortality & morbidity due to hemorrhage, retained placenta, preterm, obstructed labour, newborn sepsis, etc.
To improve Quality of care during the delivery and immediate post-partum care, stabilization of complications and ensure timely referrals, and enable an effective two-way follow-up system.
To enhance satisfaction of beneficiaries visiting the health facilities and provide Respectful Maternity Care (RMC) to all pregnant women attending the public health facilities.
The healthcare facilities identified for the implementation of LaQshya program are -
Government medical college hospitals.
District Hospitals & equivalent health facilities.
Designated FRUs and high case load CHCs with over 100 deliveries/month ( 60 in hills and desert areas)
It also plans to conduct quality certification of labour rooms and provide facilities to achieve the outlined targets.
