National Seminar Cum Workshop on Statistics and Sustainable Development Goals                                                                                                                             

Chandrayaan-2 all set for 3.84 lakh km voyage                                                         

SC to decide on NGT’s power to take suo motu cognisance                                  

Elektorornis chenguang i had an extra long toe                                                       

Russia Launches Spektr-RG, a New X-Ray Observatory, into Space                     

Why is India opting for overseas bonds?                                                                  

National Seminar Cum Workshop on Statistics and Sustainable Development Goals

GS PAPER  - 02 GOVERNANCE - Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation.

Context :

• A two days’  National Seminar Cum Workshop on “Statistics and Sustainable Development Goals” was inaugurated by Chief Statistician of India and Secretary, Ministry of Statistics.

• For the first time, in 7th Economic Census, an IT based digital platform for data capture, validation, report generation and dissemination is being used.

7th Economic Census :

• Economic Census is a complete count of all establishments located within the geographical boundary of India.

• It provides valuable insight into geographical spread of economic activities, ownership patterns, persons engaged etc. of all economic establishments in the country.

• The Seventh Economic Census will be held in 2019 after a gap of five years.

• The upcoming economic census will identify villages with no economic activity, the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) has said.

                                                                                                                                 Source :- PIB

Chandrayaan-2 all set for 3.84 lakh km voyage

GS PAPER - 03 SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY - science & technology; indigenization of technology and developing new technology.

Context :

• Chandrayaan-2, which is the first Indian moon landing mission, is all set to head on its 3.84 lakh km voyage to the moon in the early hours of Monday, July 15, 2019.

• The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has scheduled the launch of its lunar probe, by a GSLV MkIII rocket, from the country’s Sriharikota spaceport for 2.51 a.m.

• A sequel to Chandrayaan-1, which was launched in 2008 and only orbited the moon at a distance of 100 km, Chandrayaan-2 entails the first attempt by any nation to make a landing on the moon’s mineral rich south pole.

Entering in to elite Group of Nation :

• The mission is to put a lander and a robotic, solar-powered rover with six wheels on the lunar terrain on September 6th, 2019 for a brief on-site exploration.

• If ISRO achieves the feat in its first attempt, it will make India only the fourth country to soft-land on the lunar surface.

• The erstwhile Soviet Union, the U.S. and China are the only countries to have achieved lunar landings.

More about the mission :

• Ever since the spacecraft left the U.R. Rao Satellite Centre in Bengaluru and was integrated with the GSLV MkIII launch vehicle around early July, 2019, Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota has been the hub of mission activities.

• During the journey, the lander rides on the parent spacecraft and the smaller rover nestles inside the lander. The entire assembly weighs about 3,840 kg, according to ISRO.

• The exercise would take 52 days, with the lander-rover combine programmed to reach the lunar terrain on September 6th, 2019.

• The rover would be launched from the lander after about four hours and would roam the terrain for about 500 m over the next 14 earth days — or one day on the moon.

• Imaging, sampling the soil for minerals and water are some of the mission’s tasks.

• Information will be conveyed to earth through the orbiter or lander, and via the Indian Deep Space Network at Byalalu near Bengaluru.

• The solar-powered lander and the rover are not expected to last beyond one lunar day, but 100 km above the moon’s surface, the orbiter will continue to scan the lunar features for at least a year.

                                                                                                                      Source :- The Hindu

SC to decide on NGT’s power to take suo motu cognisance

GS PAPER - 02 POLITY - Statutory, regulatory and various quasi-judicial bodies

Context :

• The Supreme Court agreed to examine a legal question whether the National Green Tribunal (NGT), established in 2010 to deal with cases pertaining to environmental issues, has the power to take cognisance of a matter on its own.

Background :

• The Madras High Court, in an order issued last week, restrained the tribunal to take suo motu cognisance of environmental matters and initiating proceedings.

• It noted that according to the provisions of the National Green Tribunal Act, 2010, the tribunal has no jurisdiction to act suo motu.

What the law states :

• Since its inception in 2010, NGT has been functioning on its mandate as a fast-track court for effective and expeditious disposal of cases relating to environmental protection and conservation in accordance with the principles of “sustainable development”, the “polluter pays” principle and the “precautionary principle”.

• Under the provisions of the NGT Act, there is no clear mention of the tribunal's mandate to take up matters on its own.

  • It only says that the tribunal should act on grievances brought before it by others.

• Section 19 of the Act notes that “subject to the provisions of the Act, the Tribunal shall have the power to regulate its own procedure.

                                                                                                                        Source :- The Hindu

Elektorornis chenguang i had an extra long toe

GS PAPER - 03 ENVIRONMENT - Conservation, environmental pollution and degradation, environmental impact assessment

Context :

• Elektroninis chenguangi – an extinct bird with an extra long toe – has been described in a study published in the journal Current Biology.

More in the news:

• The researchers named it Elektorornis chenguangi. Elektronis means “amber bird”.It belongs to a group of extinct birds called Enantiornithes, the most abundant type of bird known from the Mesozoic era.

• It is thought that Enantiornithines became extinct during the Cretaceous-Paleogene extinction event about 66 million years ago, along with dinosaurs.

• They have no living descendants.

• Based on the fossil,the team estimated that the Elektorornis was smaller than a sparrow and it was arboreal which means it spent most of its time in trees as opposed to on the ground or in water.

• Further,they have said that this bird may have used the long, sensitive toe to probe cracks in trees for insects and grubs.

                                                                                                                        Source :- The Hindu

Russia Launches Spektr-RG, a New X-Ray Observatory, into Space

GS PAPER - 03 SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY - science & technology; indigenization of technology and developing new technology.

Context :

• Russia has launched a space telescope, named Spektr-RG, in a joint project with Germany.

Spektr - RG :

• The Spektr-RG is a space observatory intended to observe black holes, neutron stars and magnetic fields.
   

• It has been developed by Russia with Germany.
   

• It was launched on a Proton-M rocket from the cosmodrome in Baikonur, Kazakhstan.
   

• The Spektr-RG intends to replace the Spektr-R, known as the “Russian Hubble”, which Roscosmos lost control of in January. Spektr-R was launched in 2011 to observe black holes, neutron stars and magnetic fields. Its successor will take up similar duties.

                                                                                                                       Source :- The Hindu

Why is India opting for overseas bonds?

GS PAPER - 02 GOVERNANCE - Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation.

Context :

• Finance Minister has announced in the Budget that it plans to raise a portion of its gross borrowing from overseas markets using sovereign bonds.

Benefits :

• The overseas borrowing programme allows the government to maintain its gradual reduction of the fiscal deficit.
   

• Borrowing overseas allows the government to raise funds in such a way that there is enough domestic credit available for the private sector.
   

• This would also have a beneficial impact on the demand for government securities in the India.

Risk involved :

• India might follow the path of some Central and South American countries such as Mexico and Brazil. In the 1970s, several of these countries borrowed heavily overseas.

  • But then, when their currencies depreciated sharply a decade later, these countries were in big trouble as they could not repay their debt.
     

• Another risk to India from overseas borrowings is that this would lead to a quicker increase to its foreign exchange reserves, which would lead to a stronger rupee.

  • A stronger rupee would encourage imports at a time when the government is trying to curb them.

                                                                                                        Source :- The Hindu​

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